<div id="readability-page-1">Swire Coca-Cola has secured a HK$31.9 million (US$4 million) contract to supply Bonaqua water to some Hong Kong government offices, following a HK$52.9 million bottled water procurement scandal last year. According to a Government Logistics Department notice, Swire Coca-Cola was awarded the 27-month contract on Tuesday to supply more than 1.46 million bottles of drinking water to offices on Hong Kong Island and parts of the outlying islands. The selection followed an open tender launched in December. In its tender documents, the department added several requirements, including requiring suppliers to prove they held a market share over the past 10 years, had a minimum of 50 sales channels, and possessed a daily order delivery capacity of at least 100 orders. If the bottled water is imported, the supplier must meet the qualifications of a food importer and submit a safety test report. If the total bid price exceeds HK$15 million, bidders must pass a financial review, pay a contract deposit and allow authorities to conduct an on-site inspection. In June 2023, Swire Coca-Cola also won a bid to supply bottled water involving 1.35 million bottles of drinking water for HK$40.5 million. The government came under scrutiny last August over a three-year HK$52.9 million bottled water supply contract awarded to Xin Ding Xin Trade. It was the first time mainland Chinese suppliers won the contract, supposedly saving the city’s 170,000 civil servants an average of about HK$16.2 million a year on bottled water supplies. The company allegedly submitted fraudulent documents and is suspected of defrauding the department and breaching the Trade Descriptions Ordinance. Following the scandal, authorities promptly terminated the contract and said they would pick a new supplier of bottled drinking water for government offices on Hong Kong Island and some outlying islands through open tendering.  Before the new contract took effect, the department arranged for Watson Group to temporarily supply bottled drinking water to government offices on Hong Kong Island and some outlying islands for a period of four months, amounting to about HK$7.1 million. The Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau said the government’s procurement process would involve strengthened requirements, with minister Christopher Hui Ching-yu chairing a task force set up in the wake of the scandal in August, to review the procurement process. They include stipulating specific due diligence requirements, expanding the roles of the logistics department’s audit team and revising standard government contracts to empower authorities to conduct site inspections during the vetting process. After the scandal emerged, a separate government audit review released in October last year revealed that the logistics department had repeatedly ignored signs of fraud – including an incorrect name on the company chop – during the vetting process and in the initial stage of contract operations. This oversight allowed the company, accused of allegedly using falsified water quality test certificates, to win the government tender and supply substandard products. A police investigation found that Xin Ding Xin Trade sourced water from a Dongguan plant instead of the Guangzhou supplier named in its contract. The force also discovered the company had no connection with the Guangzhou company it claimed to be sourcing water from. Instead, the firm used a water quality certificate provided by the Guangzhou plant to meet tender requirements, without the plant’s knowledge. The scandal last year also prompted the government to rescind the head of the logistics department Carlson Chan Ka-shun’s Silver Bauhinia Star nomination. </div>

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<p>Swire Coca-Cola has won a HK$31.9 million contract to supply Bonaqua water to Hong Kong government offices, following a previous procurement scandal involving HK$52.9 million. The 27-month contract, awarded after an open tender, requires suppliers to meet specific criteria, including market share and delivery capacity. This follows scrutiny over a contract awarded to Xin Ding Xin Trade, which was terminated due to alleged fraud. The government has since strengthened its procurement process to prevent future issues.</p>

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Swire Coca-Cola wins HK$32 million government deal after bottled water scandal