The technical specifications are determined and approved before the start of the procurement procedure (Articles 61 & 120, Law 4412/2016). EKAPY operates as the National Central Purchasing Authority (EHIC) for public procurement contracts for the supply of medical devices, pharmaceutical goods and related services (Article 41, Law 4412/2016). According to the provision of article 54 par. 9 of Law 4412/2016, the contracting authorities take into account the uniform technical specifications formulated by EKAPY (for supply and service contracts of article 41 of article 41 par. 1 case c’ of Law 4412/2016), but these specifications are not in principle mandatory, in the sense that they may deviate from them.

In order to make the use of certain uniform technical specifications of EKAPY mandatory, the issuance of a relevant Ministerial Decision is required, in accordance with the provisions of article 54 par. 9 of Law 4412/2016. In this case, however, the contracting authorities may again depart from the technical specifications, but they will have to justify their deviation specifically in the contract documents.

The uniform technical specifications are published in ESIDIS.