Reply: The procurement exercise for the supply of microchips was carried out at the level of the Mauritius Society for Animal Welfare (MSAW). The letter of award was issued to Purpleblue Medical Ltd on 01 October 2025. The Letter of Award to the successful bidder is hereby being placed in the Library of the National Assembly. It is to be noted that bids were invited under Restricted Bidding method from 13 Bidders. The bidding documents were launched on 22 August 2025 and the closing date for submission of bids was 05 September 2025. At the time of the opening, only two bids were received within the scheduled timeframe. With regard to part (a) of the question, I am informed that a Bid Evaluation Committee was set up at the MSAW and both bids were found to be technically responsive. As regards part (b) of the question, the letter of award was issued to Purpleblue Medical Ltd given that the latter was the lowest technically responsive bidder.

138 Regarding part (c) of the question, the specifications of the microchip include, amongst others, the size of the transponder, syringe applicator, 15 digits identification number. The Bidding Document comprising all requirements to be fulfilled by the Suppliers is hereby being placed in the Library of the National Assembly. As for the procurement of scanners, same were not included in the procurement exercise since MSAW has the required number of scanners. The microchips will only provide an identification number which will be used by the MSAW to identify the owner of the dog. No software is required for the scanner to read the microchip. As such, the MSAW has not procured any software for this exercise. For this procurement exercise, 15,000 microchips have been ordered and the contract price amounts to Rs724,500, inclusive of VAT. PUBLIC HOSPITALS – AUTOCLAVES & BOILERS – INSPECTION