Prospective contractors are invited to comment on how much it might cost them.
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/
Someone called it a matter of breaking through the “institutional density” of an organization.
One 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.
