Highlights: For a long time, sustainability has been more present in contracting services in public tenders, especially those issued by agencies that are part of the federal government. This is because the government has, as its primary function, the characteristic of boosting, even if indirectly, social development without damaging the environment, thus ensuring better living conditions for Brazilian citizens. Aim: Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the collection of sustainable criteria and practices in the reference terms of federal contracts for insect control services in 2018—the year immediately following the year of the effectiveness of IN No. 05/2017—and, thus, verify whether, in fact, the federal public agents, who are responsible for preparing the bidding artifacts, are observing the new guidelines contained in the models of the Office of the Federal Attorney’s Office (AGU) to ensure sustainable development when performing the services. Design/Methodology/Approach: As a design to obtain the information for analysis, the following variables were adopted regarding pest control services to enter and obtain data on the website of the Federal Government Price Panel: Year of Purchase (2018), Material/Service Code (3417), Description (Disinsectization, Deratization, and Fumigation), Unit of Supply (M2, M², and SQUARE METER), Mode of Purchase (Auction), and Sphere (Federal). From then on, based on the definition of the data designed for the research, the methodology used to carry out the research was to enter this information into the website and generate a report containing several calls for tender, which were analyzed one by one concerning the charging of sustainable criteria and practices as requirements for contracting. Practical Implications: From this, it was possible to verify how aligned public agents are with the propositions and recommendations existing in the models of reference terms proposed by AGU. Originality/value: As the purpose of this article is to analyze how much the collection of sustainability criteria and practices was present as requirements for contracting in the reference terms in the year after IN No. 05/2017 came into effect, this article contributed to verifying how much the public agents responsible for the call for tenders were aligned with what was proposed in the models available from the Federal Attorney’s Office. Research limitations: The analysis of the reference terms was limited to the bidding documents of the federal sphere since these bidding instruments are commonly analyzed by federal attorneys working in the Federal Attorney’s Office, who provide advisory services to the organs of the administration. Conclusion: 74.4% of the calls for tender for hiring pest control services in 2018 included sustainability criteria and practices as requirements, according to the AGU model. Thus, it is considered that this index is below expectations since it is the government's role to prioritize the proper management of contracted services based on environmental preservation.
Keywords: Sustainability; Hiring; Services; Tenders; Government.