The 1st meeting of the INTOSAI Working Group on Public Procurement Audit chaired by the Accounts Chamber of the Russian Federation was held in the capital of the Portuguese Republic, Lisbon.

The meeting was attended by representatives of the Supreme Audit Institutions from 12 states: Russia, Armenia, Belarus, China, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Pakistan, Portugal, Serbia, Slovenia and Thailand. The group is comprised of 17 countries.

During the opening ceremony, the President of the Supreme Audit Institution of the Portuguese Republic, Vitor Kaldiera, welcomed the participants with his opening speech.

The focus of the meeting was on issues related to the standard for public procurement audit currently in the process of development by the Working Group.

In particular, the meeting participants received a report on the initial assessment of the standard, discussed the timing and procedures required for the preparation of the draft project proposal, agreed on its structure as well as on the format for proposal submissions for its finalization, and decided on the deadline and on terms for its harmonization and approval in accordance with the INTOSAI procedures.

The main constituent documents of the Working Group were also considered and approved during the meeting: Terms of Reference and work plan for 2017-2019.

In addition, new members of the WG (SAIs of Kuwait, Pakistan, Serbia and Thailand) presented their reports on their national best practice and characteristics of public procurement audits. Armenian and Portugal SAIs have also made their own presentations.