Executive Decree PCM-041-2021 declaring a State of Emergency in the Passport Issuance System and Migration Services

This decree declares an emergency in Honduras' passport issuance system because the current system is 17 years old and fails constantly. It authorizes the National Migration Institute to directly purchase a new passport system in the international market without public bidding, ensuring that Honduras owns the system and passport templates.

Whereas, in accordance with Article 245, numerals 2, 11, and 45 of the Constitution of the Republic, it is the responsibility of the President of the Republic, among other Attributions: to direct the General Policy of the State and represent it; to issue Agreements, Decrees, and to enact Regulations and Resolutions in accordance with the Law; and such other powers as are conferred upon him by the Constitution and the Laws.

Whereas, in accordance with Article 11 of the General Law of Public Administration, the President of the Republic is in charge of the supreme direction and coordination of the Centralized and Decentralized Public Administration. The President of the Republic, in the exercise of his functions, may act on his own or in Council of Ministers.

Whereas, the Secretaries of State are collaborators of the President of the Republic in the handling of public matters and in the orientation, coordination, direction, and supervision of the organs of the Centralized Public Administration and the coordination of Deconcentrated Entities and Organs or Decentralized Institutions in the areas of their competence.

Whereas, by means of Legislative Decree No. 208-2003, published in the Official Gazette "La Gaceta" on March 3, 2004, Edition No. 30,331, the Law of Migration and Foreigners is enacted, a legal instrument that assigns attributions for the formulation and execution of the State's migration policy, migration regulation and control in the entry and exit of nationals and foreigners, the permanence of the latter in national territory, and the issuance of migration documents and services.

Whereas, by means of Executive Decree Number PCM-031-2014, published in the Official Gazette "La Gaceta" on July 2, 2014, Edition No. 33,468, amended by Executive Decree Number PCM-063-2014, published in the Official Gazette "La Gaceta" on September 29, 2014, Edition No. 33,543, the National Migration Institute (INM) was created as a deconcentrated entity of the Secretariat of State in the Offices of Governance, Justice, and Decentralization, with its own legal personality, administrative, labor, and functional independence, responsible for the application of the Law of Migration and Foreigners and its Regulations, as well as the execution of the Migration Policy established by the Government of the Republic.

Whereas, by means of Legislative Decree No. 108-2007, the General Directorate of Migration and Foreigners, now the National Migration Institute, was declared a National Security Organism, attached to the Secretariat of State in the Offices of Governance, Justice, and Decentralization, establishing that its function is linked to national security; likewise, it declares that the issuance of travel documents for Hondurans and the management of migration flows are matters of National Security. Likewise, by means of Executive Decree Number PCM-009-2018, it was established that the National Migration Institute is coordinated by the Cabinet for Prevention, Security, and Defense.

Whereas, the passport is an internationally accepted travel document and, abroad, constitutes one of the means of proof of Honduran nationality and the identity of the holder, whose issuance is an attribution of the National Migration Institute in accordance with Article 4, literal b) of Executive Decree Number PCM-031-2014, related to Article 8, numeral 4) of the Law of Migration and Foreigners.

Whereas, by means of Executive Agreement No. 032-2019, published in the Official Gazette "La Gaceta" on May 22, 2019, Edition No. 34,950,

Whereas, it is in the public interest and national security for the State of Honduras to have a System for the Issuance of Passports, Migration Services, and their respective supplies, passport booklets, that is secure and reliable; that permits guaranteeing the right to identification of Hondurans, covering demand in a timely manner at the national and international level.

Whereas, in accordance with Article 9 of the State Contracting Law, the declaration of a State of Emergency shall be made by Decree of the President of the Republic in Council of Ministers, when emergency situations occur due to exceptional circumstances that substantially affect the continuity or timely and efficient provision of public services, and the supply of goods or services that are strictly necessary may be contracted without subjecting themselves to the requirements of public bidding and other regulatory provisions, without prejudice to supervisory functions.

Whereas, in accordance with Article 63, numeral 1) of the State Contracting Law, direct contracting may be carried out when it has as its purpose to provide for the needs caused by an emergency situation under the protection of what is established in the aforementioned Article 9 of said Law, the National Migration Institute was authorized to subscribe a Service Management Agreement with an Organism of the United Nations, International Civil Aviation Organization by its acronym (ICAO), so that this Organism on behalf of the State of Honduras would acquire and implement a System for the Issuance of Passports and Migration Services including its maintenance and supply of Electronic Passport Booklets; notwithstanding, by means of Official Letter Ref.: HND/19/801-PR 21101755, after more than three (03) months of this Organism having launched the bidding process, it has notified that "It will cancel the bidding process No. ST22502105, as a result of an exhaustive examination carried out by ICAO, through which it was established that various internal instances compromised the acquisition process" among other aspects. Therefore, the risk of interrupting the provision of Passport Issuance Services and Migration Services at the national and international level is imminent, a situation that reflects that there are not sufficient timeframes to carry out ordinary contracting processes.

Whereas, the current GENIE Passport Issuance System has reached the end of its useful life with more than seventeen (17) years of operation, presenting constant and repeated failures, causing intermittent interruptions in services, high risks and vulnerability of the database, which does not allow for updates, configurations, or adaptations.

Whereas, Article 7, literal p) of the Regulation of the State Contracting Law defines direct contracting as: "The contracting or acquisition procedure that excludes the formal requirements of public or private bidding, public or private competition". The body responsible for contracting shall negotiate the contract price to obtain the most advantageous conditions for the Administration.