The Dominican Republic's early childhood agency Inaipi has suspended six food supply contracts worth 401.5 million pesos over alleged collusive practices in tender bidding.
The decision by the Purchasing and Contracting Committee of the National Institute for Comprehensive Early Childhood Care halts awards and contracts stemming from National Public Tender INAIPI-CCC-LPN-2025-0029. The public tender had been launched to secure the supply and distribution of food for specialized early childhood centers across the Santo Domingo metropolitan area.
Six commercial vendor companies were affected by the temporary administrative order after an internal due diligence review raised concerns regarding irregularities in the bidding process.
Suspended contracts and awarded firms
The suspended procurement decisions involve two separate groups of commercial suppliers that had been awarded contracts totaling 401,541,565 Dominican pesos.
The first group of awarded companies consists of Panaco, S.R.L., García Tejera & Asociados, S.R.L., and Tenedora Gaboc, S.R.L. These three corporate entities had collectively been granted contracts valued at 232,075,217 Dominican pesos.
The second group comprises Food Truck Dominicana-Vimica, S.R.L., Viramica, S.R.L., and Nurks, S.R.L. Inaipi had selected these three firms for contract awards totaling 169,466,348 Dominican pesos under the same national catering tender.
Together, the two contract packages covered the complete distribution network for food and nutritional supplies intended for children enrolled in metropolitan care programs.
Findings of collusive bidding
Inaipi stated that the preventive measures were triggered by findings from a due diligence investigation conducted by the institution's Purchasing and Contracting Committee. The investigative results were formally recorded in Administrative Act CC-2026-0144, which documented preliminary indications of collusive practices among participating bidders.
Collusive practices in public procurement generally involve anti-competitive agreements between bidding companies to fix prices, divide contracts, or rig tender outcomes. Such practices violate Dominican public procurement regulations designed to guarantee fair commercial competition.
Following the investigation, the committee issued Administrative Act CC-2026-0103 to enforce the preventive suspension of all six contracts. The committee explained that the administrative action was necessary to preserve institutional transparency, legality, and procedural integrity.
Oversight bodies and regulatory review
The suspension is preventive and temporary. Inaipi confirmed that the order will remain in effect until external regulatory authorities complete their formal reviews or until the committee decides otherwise within the legal framework.
The case has been referred to two primary state regulators. The General Directorate of Public Procurement, known as DGCP, regulates national government purchasing. The National Competition Defense Commission, known as Pro-Competencia, is the statutory antitrust authority tasked with investigating market manipulation.
Both regulatory institutions are evaluating the documentation to determine whether legal violations occurred and to issue final administrative rulings on the tender process.
Status of food supplies and payments
Inaipi emphasized that none of the six suspended contracts had entered active execution when the administrative decision was adopted. The agency confirmed that no food items had been requested or delivered to any child care facility under the contracts.
The institute also confirmed that no goods, services, commercial invoices, or payment requests had been received or processed by its administrative departments. The contracts remained in an initial administrative phase prior to their formal registration.
As part of the procedural order, the Purchasing Committee directed officials to formally notify the affected vendor companies, DGCP, Pro-Competencia, and internal administrative departments. The committee also ordered the complete text of the administrative act to be added to the public tender file to maintain full transparency and auditability.
Early childhood care framework
Inaipi is the primary government body responsible for early childhood care, education, and protection services across the Dominican Republic. Executive director Josefa Castillo Rodríguez leads the institution, which manages comprehensive state programs targeting vulnerable infants and young children.
The suspended catering contracts were structured to support two main service models in the capital region: Comprehensive Early Childhood Care Centers, known as CAIPI, and Child and Family Care Centers, known as CAFI.
CAIPI centers operate as day-care facilities providing daily nutrition, health monitoring, and early education for children up to five years old. CAFI centers provide community-based early childhood guidance, home visits, and family education programs across local neighborhoods.
Public procurement oversight in the Dominican Republic is governed by Law 340-06, enforced by DGCP, while market competition laws fall under Pro-Competencia oversight to prevent collusive bidding in public contracts.
