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December 21, 2020 By cs

GSA proposes to standardize policies on reverse auctions

The General Services Administration (GSA) has proposed revisions to the Federal Acquisition Regulation on use of reverse auctions by federal agencies, saying that while they have been in common practice for more than 20 years, their use has been inconsistent.

In reverse auctions, multiple vendors compete with one another to win a contract by lowering the offered price.

They generally are used for acquiring commercial products and most often result in the award of a fixed price contract valued less than $150,000 to a small business, a Federal Register notice says.

The notice says GAO reports in 2013 and 2018 found that:

“Confusion exists concerning a lack of documentation about reverse auction service provider fees and their application to federal contracts;

“There is a lack of sufficient data available for agencies to verify actual cost savings resulting from a reverse auction; and

“The potential benefits of reverse auctions are not being maximized, as many reverse auctions are resulting in the receipt of only one offer or a lack of interactive competition amongst offerors.”

Keep reading this article at: https://www.fedweek.com/federal-managers-daily-report/gsa-proposes-to-standardize-policies-on-reverse-auctions/

 

Filed Under: Government Contracting News Tagged With: FAR, Federal Register, federal regulations, fixed price, GSA, inconsistency, reverse auction, reverse auctions, small business

July 23, 2020 By cs

Cutting Chinese suppliers from government supply chains will cost billions every year

Prospective contractors are invited to comment on how much it might cost them.
Click on image above to see Federal Register notice.

Implementation of a rule barring federal agencies from entering into contracts with entities that use equipment from a selection of Chinese telecommunications and surveillance companies is expected to cost the government $11 billion in year one, and just over $2 billion each subsequent year, according to an action published in the Federal Register on July 14th.

The Federal Register action details an interim rule from the Department of Defense, the General Services Administration and NASA to implement the second part of section 889 of the John S. McCain National Defense Authorization Act of 2019.

Starting Aug. 13., Contracting Officers will include provisions in their solicitations that prohibit contractors from using the covered equipment and require bidders to state whether they do.  Agency leaders can issue waivers in the case of emergencies, or other conditions, under the interim rule.

Covered equipment and services refer to those provided by Huawei, ZTE, Hytera Communications Corporation, Hangzhou Hikvision Digital Technology Company or Dahua Technology Company, or any subsidiary or affiliate of those entities.

Keep reading this article at: https://www.nextgov.com/cybersecurity/2020/07/cutting-chinese-suppliers-government-supply-chains-will-cost-billions-every-year/166846/

Filed Under: Government Contracting News Tagged With: acquisition workforce, China, Chinese firms, DoD, FAR, FAR Council, Federal Register, GSA, interim rule, NASA, NDAA, public comment, supply chain, supply chain management, supply chain security, telecommunications

December 12, 2016 By AMK

Breaking the ‘institutional density’ of industry, government communications

Two mythbusters memos from the Office of Federal Procurement Policy (OFPP); the reestablishment of the Frontline Forum for contracting officers; a host of Web and in-person educational sessions over the last five years, and still the idea that government and industry can communicate about contracts is hard for many acquisition workers to grasp.

federal-register-tiltedSomeone called it a matter of breaking through the “institutional density” of an organization.

The latest attempt to break through that historic blockage is a proposed rule by the Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council in Nov. 29’s Federal Register.

The proposed rule says “government acquisition personnel are permitted and encouraged to engage in responsible and constructive exchanges with industry, so long as those exchanges are consistent with existing laws and regulations, and promote a fair competitive environment.”

Keep reading this article at: http://federalnewsradio.com/reporters-notebook/2016/12/breaking-institutional-density-industry-government-communications/

Filed Under: Government Contracting News Tagged With: acquisition reform, acquisition workforce, communication, FAR, FAR Council, Federal Register, innovation, mythbusting, myths, OFPP, procurement reform, proposed rule, risk

October 19, 2016 By AMK

FAR Councils make 10 FAR changes in end-of-fiscal-year blitz

On the last day of fiscal year 2016, the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Councils issued ten FAR amendments — nine final and one interim — on a broad range of topics.

FAROne rule imposes new risks for contractors with delinquent taxes or felony convictions. Other rules address small business concerns by providing new authority for women-owned small business sole source awards and amending the current policy against unnecessary or unjustified consolidation. Another confirms a previously imposed cap on allowable employee compensation and another may open up new sources of services and supplies in Ukraine and Moldova.

Many of these final rules are implementations of previously issued “interim” rules that have been in effect for the past year or two. All of the new rules were published on Sept. 30, 2016.

A summary of these ten amendments, with links to the Federal Register, appears here: http://www.mondaq.com/article.asp?articleid=533410.

Filed Under: Government Contracting News Tagged With: Code of Federal Regulations, FAR, FAR Council, Federal Register, federal regulations

January 19, 2016 By AMK

Proposed DFARS amendment would augment multi-year contract oversight

A proposed rule issued by the Defense Department would allow Congress to put DoD’s multi-year contracts on a shorter leash.

Federal RegisterThe proposal, which the Federal Register published Dec. 30, 2015 seeks to amend the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS) and implement a requirement under the 2015 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).

The proposal would require Congressional defense committees to be notified 30 days before a multi-year contract is terminated.

The NDAA also requires the DFARS to clarify that a multi-year contract can’t be entered into unless the Secretary of Defense certifies in writing no later than 30 days before the contract’s award that it meets certain requirements.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.fiercegovernmentit.com/story/proposed-dfars-amendment-would-augment-multi-year-contract-oversight/2016-01-06

See the proposed rule in the Federal Register at: https://www.federalregister.gov/articles/2015/12/30/2015-32873/defense-federal-acquisition-regulation-supplement-multiyear-contract-requirements-dfars-case

Filed Under: Government Contracting News Tagged With: DFARS, DoD, Federal Register, multi-year contracts, NDAA, proposed rule

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