American Samoa § 12.0217 - Ethical standards in procurement

§ 12.0217. Ethical standards in procurement

(a) Public employment is a public trust. In governmental contracting, public employees discharge their duties impartially so as to assure fair competitive access to governmental procurement by responsible contractors and conduct themselves in a manner as to foster public confidence in the integrity of the government. To achieve this purpose, the Governor shall include in his procurement rules general standards of ethical conduct for government employees and contractors, fixing employee disclosure requirements, defining employees conflicts of interest, restricting the use of confidential information prohibiting gratuities, kick backs, and contingent fees, and defining the scope of participation by present and former employees in the contract source, bidding, and award process as set forth in this chapter and the procurement rules. (b) Collusion or secret agreements between bidders for the purpose of securing an advantage to the bidders as against the authorizing agent in the awarding of contracts is prohibited. The authorizing agent may declare the contract void if he finds sufficient evidence after a contract has been let that the contract was obtained by a bidder or bidders by reason of collusive or secret agreement among the bidders to the disadvantage of the government.