In brief

With judgment No. 705 of 21 May 2022, the Administrative Court of the Tuscany Region upheld the complaint against the decision to award a tender for a framework agreement for the supply of coronary stents to the regional health service, under which tenderers were required to offer the “most recently marketed” device. In his regard, the plaintiff complained that the successful tenderer offered a product that was on the market for years, although the same product was in line with the technical requirements set out in the tender specifications.

Key Takeaways

According to the regional administrative court, the “most recently marketed” requirement does not refer to the possession of specific technical qualities but to the product’s technological update, linked to a precise and non-fungible time element that tenderers cannot derogate. Moreover, this requirement provides an objective time reference unlike the “latest generation”, which instead requires the fulfilment of specific technical requirements.

In light of the above considerations, the administrative judge held that the product offered by the successful tenderer did not meet the “most recently marketed” requirement, since it was a “latest generation” product that only complied with the technical requirements provided for in the tender specifications.