Compliance with the Global Fund requirements

UNDP Country Offices implementing Global Fund grants should ensure that all health products are procured in compliance with both the UNDP QA Policy for Health Products and the Guide to the Global Fund Policies on Procurement and Supply Management of Health Products, which includes the Global Fund QA policies for pharmaceuticals, medical devices, and vector control products.

In the case of any disbursement that is not used in accordance with the Grant Agreement, or that finances goods or services that are not used in accordance with the relevant Grant Agreement, the Global Fund may require the Principal Recipient to refund the amount of such disbursement to the Global Fund (Article 8 of the UNDP Global Fund Framework agreement).

The Global Fund Guidelines for Grant Budgeting provides the Global Fund’s definition of non-compliant expenditures, which refer to expenses incurred that do not align with the provisions of the signed grant agreement or the appropriate financial and procurement procedures of the implementer or grant. Pages 42-45 of these guidelines provide the non-exhaustive list of expenditures that could be classified as non-compliant by the Global Fund.

Among them, the following items relate to QA: “Non-compliance with quality assurance for health products, and related issues: procurement of products that do not meet the requirements outlined in the Global Fund’s quality assurance policies; biased/tailored tender specification limiting competition and favoring a specific product (or group of products).”

Price and Quality Reporting (PQR)

Countries implementing Global Fund-funded programmes are required to electronically submit information related to health product pricing and quality to the Global Fund for publication in its Price and Quality Reporting Mechanism, a publicly accessible online database.

Upon receipt of health products in the country in the categories indicated below, recipients should promptly report the required procurement information to the Global Fund as specified in, and using the forms required by, the Price and Quality Reporting (PQR) mechanism available on the Global Fund website. This includes reporting information on the price paid and other information related to the quality of the health products. Information can be entered by using this link. Recipients are required to report unit prices independently of freight and insurance charges, which must be separately itemized.

The recipients are currently required to report the following categories of health products:

1. ARVs;
2. Anti-malarial pharmaceutical products;
3. Anti-TB pharmaceutical products;
4. Anti-hepatitis C pharmaceutical products;
5. Long lasting insecticidal nets or other insecticide treated nets with WHO Policy recommendation;
6. Insecticides for indoor residual spraying activities;
7. Condoms (male and female);
8. Diagnostic tests for HIV, TB, malaria, and co-infections such as syphilis, hepatitis B and hepatitis C; and
9. Laboratory equipment for HIV, hepatitis, TB and malaria testing; Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) equipment for HIV viral load and HIV early infant diagnostics (EID), hepatitis and malaria; TB liquid culture equipment, TB molecular and cartridge based molecular testing; CD4 and enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) test equipment.
10. Surgical and non-surgical masks and respirators.

Timely entry of procurement information in the PQR mechanism for relevant health products is a prerequisite for the Global Fund to approve disbursements. Disbursements may be delayed if such reporting is not duly completed.

UNDP Country Offices (COs) should follow the guidance detailed in A Quick Guide to the Global Fund’s Price and Quality Reporting System when entering data in the PQR system. The Guide includes step-by-step guidance, frequently asked questions and various examples.

In order to ensure the accuracy and completeness of reporting by recipients, the Global Fund requires that Local Fund Agents (LFA) verify all data entries on an ongoing basis, as relevant.

To verify the entries in the PQR for accuracy and completeness, the LFA typically requires scanned invoices in the “Attachments” Section of the PQR. However, as per UNDP policy and internal UNDP regulations detailed in the Global Fund/LFA Access To Information Guidance Note, UNDP COs cannot share or show procurement documentation such as: Invoices paid by UNDP or any other UN agency; cost estimates; Quotations; Contracts for goods and services; Delivery notes signed with a UN agency; clearing documents and bills of landing; and payment vouchers or supplier invoices for UN. Therefore, COs should not upload such documents into the PQR.

Instead, COs should complete the UNDP excel spreadsheet (see the template here) containing the requested information, obtain the signature of the Procurement and Supply Management (PSM) Specialist or the Programme Manager, and upload it in the “Attachments” section of the PQR. It is recommended that the spreadsheet is reviewed internally prior to data entry into the PQR. The accuracy of the spreadsheet presented to the LFA is extremely important, and inconsistencies and/or inaccuracies may result in disbursement delays.

COs can upload the quality-related documents (e.g., Certificate of Analysis, Certificate of Conformity) to PQR.

Information reported by all PRs can be viewed by selecting the “Price Reference Report” or “Transaction Summary” links on the site.

Additional guidance to support this area of work are also available through a number of resources listed below:

• Courtesy Consolidation of UNDP Global Fund Framework agreement

• PQR Sample Template