The Procurement Integrity Act prohibits the disclosure of information about the selection of sources and the contractor's offer or proposal. The Procurement Integrity Act, which restricts the period after hiring, prohibits a former employee who has performed any of these functions from receiving compensation from the contractor, including compensation as an employee, officer, director or consultant, for a period of one year after performing that function. An official website of the United States Government Subpart 3.2 - Tips from contractors to government personnel Subpart 3.3 - Allegations of alleged antitrust violations Subpart 3.5 - Other improper business practices Subpart 3.6 - Contracts with government employees or organizations owned or controlled by them Subpart 3.7 - Cancellation and termination of contracts Subpart 3.8 - Limitations on payment of funds to influence federal transactions Subpart 3.9 - Whistleblower protection for contractor employees 3.10 - Code of ethics and business conduct for contractors Subpart 3.11: Preventing conflicts of personal interest for contractor employees who perform procurement functions This part prescribes policies and procedures to avoid inappropriate business practices and conflicts of personal interest and to address their apparent or actual occurrence. Government activities shall be carried out in an irreproachable manner and, unless authorized by law or regulation, with total impartiality and without preferential treatment for anyone.
Transactions related to the expenditure of public funds require the highest degree of public trust and an impeccable standard of conduct. The general rule is to strictly avoid any conflict of interest or even the appearance of a conflict of interest in relations between the government and contractors. While many federal laws and regulations impose restrictions on the actions of government personnel, their official conduct must also be such that they are not reluctant to make their actions public. As a general rule, no government employee may request or accept, directly or indirectly, a tip, gift, favor, entertainment, loan, or anything of monetary value from any person who (a) has or seeks to obtain government business with the employee's agency, (b) carries out activities regulated by the employee's agency, or (c) has interests that could be substantially affected by the employee's performance or non-performance of official duties. Agency regulations allow for certain limited exceptions.
A) Agencies are required by Executive Order 11222 and 5 CFR 735 to prescribe rules of conduct. These agency rules contain: agency-authorized exceptions to 3.101-2 and disciplinary measures for individuals who violate the rules of conduct. The contracting officer shall insert provision 52.203-2, Certificate of Independent Pricing, in requests when contemplating a firm fixed-price contract or a fixed-price contract with economic price adjustment, unless: A) The purchase is made according to the simplified acquisition procedures in part 13; C) The request is a request for technical proposals through sealed tender procedures in two steps; or D) The request is for public services for which rates are set by law or regulation. A) Evaluation guidelines. I) The fact that a company has published price lists, rates or tariffs for items purchased by the government.
ii) The fact that a company has informed its potential customers of the proposed or pending publication of new or revised price lists for items purchased by the Government. iii) The fact that a company has sold the same items to commercial customers at the same prices offered to the Government. Iv) Participate in a reverse auction (see subpart 17,. For the purposes of paragraph (b) () of the certificate, a person may use a general authorization to act as an agent for the persons responsible for determining the prices offered if: I) The proposed contract to which the certificate applies is clearly within the scope of the authorization; and ii) The person granting the authorization is the person in the provider's organization who is responsible for determining the prices offered at the time the certification is made in the particular offer. If two or more companies submit an offer jointly, the certification provided by each company's representative applies only to the activities of that company.
B) Rejection of offers suspected of being collusive. If the bidder deleted or modified paragraph (a) (or (or paragraph (b)) of the certificate, the contracting officer will reject the bidder's offer or proposal. If the bidder deleted or modified paragraph (a) () of the certificate, he must have attached to his offer a signed statement setting out the circumstances in which the prices contained in the offer or proposal were announced. The head of the contracting office will review the amended certificate and statement and will determine in writing whether the disclosure was made for the purpose of restricting competition or had the effect of restricting competition.
If the decision is positive, the offer or proposal will be rejected; if it is negative, the offer or proposal will be considered for award. The determination made pursuant to paragraph () of this section will not prevent or inhibit the prosecution of any criminal or civil action involving the facts or transactions to which the certificate relates. The contractor who successfully issued the certificate before the award does not have to submit a separate certificate with each proposed execution of a work order or similar ordering instrument issued in accordance with the terms of the contract, when government requirements cannot be satisfied from another source. Agency Ethics Officer means the designated ethics officer of the agency described in 5 CFR 2638.201 or another designated person, including the associate ethics officers described in 5 CFR 2638.204, to whom the designated ethics officer of the designated agency has delegated authority under Article 3.104-6; and the alternate designated ethics officers of the agency described in 5 CFR 2638.202 (b). Compensation means salaries, fees, commissions, professional fees, and any other form of compensation, provided directly or indirectly for the services provided. Compensation is provided indirectly if it is paid to an entity other than the individual, specifically in exchange for the services provided by the individual.
Data on costs or prices (as defined in 10 direct labor rates and indirect costs) in the U.S. UU. Exclusive information about manufacturing processes, operations, or techniques set up by the contractor in accordance with applicable laws or regulations. Information marked by the contractor as the contractor's offer or proposal information in accordance with applicable law or regulation. Information marked in accordance with article 52.215-1 (e).
The decision to award a subcontract or modify a subcontract means the decision to assign the award to a particular source. The value, or estimated value, at the time of award, of the contract, including all options; the estimated total value at the time of the award of all orders under an indefinite delivery contract, indefinite quantity, or requirements; any contract with a multiple award schedule, unless the contracting officer documents a lower estimate; the value of a delivery order, a task order, or an order under a basic order agreement; the amount paid or payable in liquidation of a claim; or the estimated monetary value of negotiated overheads or other fees when applied to the Government Party of the applicable allocation base. An official, as defined in 5 U, S, C, 2104; an employee, as defined in 5 U, S, C, 2105; a member of the uniformed services, as defined in 5 U, S, C, 2101 (; or personally and substantially participating in an acquisition of a federal agency means: ii) Preparing or developing the application. iii) Evaluating offers or proposals, or selecting a source. V) Review and approve the award of the contract.
I) Agency-level boards, panels, or other advisory committees that review program milestones or evaluate and make recommendations on alternative technologies or approaches to meet general missions or objectives at the agency level. Iii) Administrative functions that support the making of a particular acquisition. iv) For acquisitions to be carried out in accordance with the procedures of OMB circular A-76, participation in management studies, preparation of internal cost estimates, preparation of the most efficient organizational analyses, and provision of data or technical support for others to use in developing performance standards, statements of work or specifications. A source selection and evaluation board means any board, team, board, or other group that evaluates bids or proposals.
A) This section implements 41 U, S, C.Chapter 21, Restrictions on Obtaining and Disclosing Certain Information. Agency Supplement to 3,104, which includes specific definitions to identify individuals who hold the positions specified in Article 3,104—3 (d) (ii), and any clause required by 3,104 must be approved by the agency's senior purchasing executive, unless a law establishes a higher level of approval for that agency. B) Agency officials are reminded that there are other laws and regulations that refer to the same prohibited conduct or related conduct, for example: post-employment restrictions are covered by 18 U, S, C. Additional restrictions apply to certain high-ranking government employees and, for particular matters under the official responsibility of an employee; parties 14 and 15 impose restrictions on the disclosure of information related to acquisitions and other information that contractors must protect yourself under the 18 U, S, C.The person described in paragraph (a) () of this subsection must not, except as provided by law, knowingly disclose information about the contractor's bids or proposals or information about the selection of sources prior to the award of an acquisition contract from a federal agency to which the information relates.
See 3,104-4 (a). B) Prohibition of obtaining information about acquisitions (41 U.S. Department of State, C. (Except as provided by law), no person should knowingly obtain information about bids or proposals from a contractor or information about the selection of sources before awarding an acquisition contract from a federal agency to which the information relates.
C) Measures required when an agency official contacts or is contacted by an offeror in connection with non-federal employment (41 U.S. Department of State, S, C. If an agency official, who is personally and substantially involved in hiring a federal agency for a contract that exceeds the simplified acquisition threshold, contacts or is contacted by a person who is an offeror in hiring that federal agency in connection with potential non-federal employment for that official, the official must: I) Immediately report the contact in writing to the officer's supervisor and the agency's ethics officer; and Ii) Reject the possibility of non-federal employment or be disqualified from continuing to personally and substantially participate in the acquisitions of that federal agency (see 3.104) until the agency authorizes the official to resume participation in that acquisition, in accordance with the requirements of 18 U.S. A contact is any of the actions included as a job search in 5 CFR 2635.603 (b).
In addition, unsolicited communications from tenderers about potential employment are considered contacts. Agencies must keep employment contact reports for 2 years from the date the report was submitted. Conduct that complies with 41 U.S. D) Prohibition of a former official accepting compensation from a contractor (41 U.S. Department of State, C) A former official of a federal agency cannot accept compensation from a contractor who has been awarded a competitive or single-source contract, as an employee, officer, director or consultant of the contractor within a period of 1 year after the former official: iii) Takes personally for the federal agency the decision to: The 1-year ban begins on the date: I) of the award of the contract for the positions described in paragraph (d) (i) of this subsection, or the date of selection of the contractor if the The official was not in the position at the date of the award; ii) The official last held one of the positions described in paragraph (d) (ii) of this subsection; or iii) The official made one of the decisions described in paragraph (d) (iii) of this subsection. Nothing in paragraph (d) () of this subsection may be interpreted to prohibit a former official of a federal agency from accepting compensation from any division or subsidiary of a contractor that does not produce products or services the same or similar to those of the entity of the contractor responsible for the contract mentioned in paragraph (d) (of this subsection).
A) Except as specifically provided in this subsection, no person or other entity may disclose information about the contractor's bids or proposals or source selection information to any person other than a person authorized, in accordance with applicable agency regulations or procedures, by the agency's director or contracting officer to receive such information. B) Information about the contractor's bids or proposals and information about the selection of sources must be protected against unauthorized disclosure in accordance with applicable laws and agency regulations. D) Except as provided in paragraph (d) () of this subsection, the contracting officer must notify the contractor in writing if the contracting officer believes that the contractor's confidential information, information about offers or proposals, or information marked in accordance with article 52, 215-1 (e) has been inappropriately marked. The contractor who placed the mark must have an opportunity to justify it.
If the contractor agrees that the brand is not justified or does not respond within the time specified in the notification, the contracting officer may remove the mark and disclose the information. If, after reviewing the contractor's justification, the contracting officer determines that the brand is not justified, he must notify the contractor in writing before disclosing the information. E) This section does not restrict or prohibit a contractor from disclosing information about their own offer or proposal or from receiving that information to the recipient. During reverse auctions, agencies may disclose the prices offered to all bidders, but they will not reveal the identity of any bidder, except the identity of the successful bidder after the award resulting from the auction (see subpart 17,; The disclosure or receipt of information, not otherwise protected, related to an acquisition by a federal agency after the federal agency has canceled it, prior to the award of the contract, unless the federal agency plans to resume the acquisition; meetings individuals between an agency official and an offeror or potential bidder of, or the recipient of, a contract or subcontract pursuant to an acquisition of a federal agency, provided that information about offers or proposals from the contractor or information on the selection of sources is not disclosed or received; or the Government's use of technical data in a manner consistent with the Government's rights to the data.
F) This section does not authorize: the retention of information in accordance with an appropriate request from Congress, any committee or subcommittee of Congress, a federal agency, the Comptroller General, or an Inspector General of a federal agency, except as otherwise authorized by law or regulation. Any communication containing information about contractor bids or proposals or source selection information must clearly identify the information such as information about contractor bids or proposals or source selection information related to making an acquisition from a federal agency and notifying the recipient that the disclosure of the information is restricted by 41 U, S, C. Chapter 21; Retaining information from the Comptroller General or restricting its receipt by the Comptroller General in the course of a protest against the award or proposed award of an acquisition contract by a federal agency; The disclosure of information after the award of a contract or the cancellation of an acquisition if such information is information about offers or proposals from a contractor or information about the selection of sources related to another acquisition; or A) Contacts through agents or other intermediaries. Employment contacts between the employee and the offeror, which are made through agents or other intermediaries, may require disqualification under Article 3.104-3 (c) (. These contacts may also require disqualification under other laws and regulations.
See 3,104-2 (b) (. C) Resumption of participation in a contract. The official must remain disqualified until the agency, in its sole and absolute discretion, authorizes him to resume his participation in the acquisition in accordance with Article 3,104-3 (c) (ii). Once the conditions of Article 3.104-3 (c) (ii) (A) or (B) have been met, the hiring manager (HCA), after consulting with the agency's ethics officer, may authorize the disqualified official to resume participation in the hiring or may determine that an additional period of disqualification is necessary to protect the integrity of the acquisition process.
In determining the period of disqualification, the HCA must consider any factor that makes it appear that the disqualified official acted without complete impartiality in the hiring. The decision to reinstate the HCA must be recorded in writing. The government official or employee must also comply with the provisions of 18 U, S, C, 208 and 5 CFR, part 2635, in connection with the resumption of participation in an acquisition matter. A government official or employee cannot be reinstated to participate in a hiring matter affecting the financial interests of a person with whom the person seeks employment, unless the person receives: I) An exemption in accordance with 18 U, S, C.
B) The request for an advisory opinion must be made in writing, include all relevant information reasonably available to the official or former official, and be dated and signed. The request must include information about acquisitions or decisions on matters included in article 3.104-3 (d) (iii), involving a particular contractor, in which the person was or is involved, including contract or request numbers, the dates of the request or award, a description of the supplies or services purchased or to be purchased and the amount of the contract; the person's participation in the acquisition or decision, including the dates or periods of that participation and the nature of the duties, responsibilities, or actions of the person; and the Contractor, including a description of the products or services produced by the division or subsidiary of the contractor from which the person intends to accept compensation. If the request does not include complete information, the agency's ethics officer may ask the applicant to provide more information or request information from others, including the source selection authority, hiring officer, or the applicant's immediate supervisor. In issuing an opinion, the agency's ethics officer may rely on the accuracy of the information provided by the applicant or other agency sources, unless he has reason to believe that the information is fraudulent, misleading, or incorrect. A) A contracting officer who receives or obtains information about a violation or potential violation of 41 U, S, C.
If the contracting officer concludes that there is no impact on the hiring, the contracting officer must send information regarding the violation or potential violation and documentation supporting the determination that there is no impact on the acquisition to a designated person in accordance with agency procedures. I) If that person agrees, the contracting officer can continue with the acquisition. Ii) If that person does not agree, they must promptly submit the information and documentation to the HCA and recommend that the contracting officer suspend the award. If the contracting officer concludes that the violation or potential violation affects the hiring, the contracting officer must promptly forward the information to the HCA. B) The HCA must review all available information and, in accordance with agency procedures, take appropriate action, such as advising the contracting officer to continue with the acquisition; referring the disclosed information to the appropriate criminal investigation agencies; concluding that a violation has occurred; or recommending that the director of the agency determine that the contractor, or someone acting on behalf of the contractor, has committed conduct that constitutes a crime punishable under the 41 United States, C.C) Before concluding that a bidder, contractor or person has violated Chapter 21 of Article 41 of the United States, C., the HCA may consider that it is in the best interest of the Government to request information from the appropriate parties regarding the violation or potential violation.
D) If the HCA concludes that Chapter 21 of 41 U, S, C has been violated, the HCA may order the contracting officer to: If a contract has not been awarded: I) cancel the acquisition; ii) disqualify a bidder; or iii) take any other appropriate action in the interest of the Government. If a contract has been awarded: I) Make appropriate contractual remedies, including the recovery of benefits under clause 52, 203-10, the adjustment of prices or fees for illegal or improper activity or, if the contract has been terminated pursuant to paragraph (d) (ii) of this subsection, the recovery of the amount spent under the contract; ii) Cancel or terminate the contract in respect of which: A) The contractor or someone acting on behalf of the contractor has been convicted of a crime in which the conduct constitutes a violation of 41 U, S, C. Refer the matter to the agency to suspend and disqualify an official. E) The HCA must recommend or order an administrative or contractual remedy commensurate with the seriousness and effect of the violation. F) If the HCA determines that urgent and compelling circumstances justify the award, or if the award benefits the Government, the HCA, in accordance with the agency's procedures, may authorize the contracting officer to award the contract or execute the contract modification after notifying the director of the agency.
G) The HCA may delegate its authority under this subsection to a person who has at least one organizational level higher than the contracting officer and who has a rank of general officer, flag, senior executive service, or equivalent. Criminal and civil sanctions, as well as administrative remedies, may be applied to conduct that violates the provisions of article 41 of the Criminal Code. See Article 33.102 (f) for special rules regarding protests against tenders. For administrative remedies related to contracts, see Article 3,104-7.C) An official who refuses to end employment conversations (see 3.104) may be subject to administrative action by the agency under 5 CFR 2635.604 (d) if the employee's disqualification from participating in a particular hire substantially interferes with the individual's ability to perform the assigned tasks.
In requests and contracts that exceed the simplified acquisition threshold, except for commercial products or services, insert clauses A) 52.203-8, Cancellation, Termination and Recovery of Funds for Illegal or Improper Activity; and B) 52.203-10, Adjustment of Prices or Fees for Illegal or Improper Activity. This subpart applies to all executive agencies, except that coverage for exemplary damages applies only to the Department of Defense (10 U.S. U.S., C. The contracting officer shall insert clause 52, 203-3, Tips) in requests and contracts with a value that exceeds the simplified acquisition threshold, except those for personal services and those between military departments or defense agencies and foreign governments that do not commit any funds allocated to the Department of Defense. Agency personnel must report alleged violations of the tip clause to the hiring officer or other designated official in accordance with agency procedures.
The agency's reporting procedures will be published as an implementation of this section 3.203 and will clearly specify: B) The channels through which complaints must be transmitted, including the role and authority of each designated official to review them. A) Before taking any action against a contractor, the director of the agency or a designated person shall determine, after notification and hearing in accordance with agency procedures, whether the contractor, his agent or other representative, under a contract containing the tip clause. Offered or awarded a tip (for example, B) Agency procedures will provide the contractor with an opportunity to appear before an attorney, present documentary evidence, present witnesses, and face anyone the agency presents. Procedures should be as informal as possible, in accordance with the principles of fundamental equity. C) When the agency director or designee determines that a violation has occurred, the Government may: rescind the contractor's right to continue; initiate disqualification or suspension measures as established in subpart 9.4; and evaluate exemplary damages, if the contract uses money allocated to the Department of Defense.
A) Practices that eliminate competition or restrict trade often result in excessive prices and may justify criminal, civil or administrative action against participants. Some examples of anti-competitive practices are collusive tenders, price fixing following the leader, low rotating bids, collusive price estimation systems and the distribution of the company. B) Contracted personnel are an important potential source of investigative leads for the application of antitrust rules and, therefore, must be sensitive to signs of illegal behavior on the part of bidders and contractors. Agency personnel must report, in accordance with agency rules, evidence of alleged antitrust violations in acquisitions for possible referral to.
Identical offers mean offers for the same item that are determined to be identical in terms of the unit price or the total amount of the item, with or without the application of evaluation factors (for example, B). Antitrust laws are intended to ensure that markets operate competitively. Any agreement or mutual understanding between competing companies that restrict the natural functioning of market forces is suspect. Paragraph (c) of this section identifies behavioral patterns that are often associated with antitrust violations. Activities that meet the descriptions in paragraph (c) are not necessarily inappropriate, but are questionable enough to justify notification to the appropriate authorities, in accordance with agency procedures.
C) Practices or events that may evidence violations of antitrust laws include: the existence of a price list or industrial price agreement that contractors refer to when formulating their offers; a sudden change from a competitive offer to an identical offer; simultaneous price increases or the leader's follow-up prices; the rotation of offers or proposals, so that each competitor takes a sequential turn as the lowest bidder, or for certain competitors to make low bids only in certain sizes of contracts and high other sizes; division of the market, so that certain competitors make low bids only for contracts awarded by certain agencies, or for contracts in certain geographical areas or on certain products, and with high bids for all other jobs; establishment by competitors of a collusive price estimation system; submission of a joint bid by two or more competitors when at least one of the competitors has sufficient technical and productive capacity to execute the contract; any incident that suggests direct collusion between competitors, such as the appearance of identical spelling or calculation errors in two or more competitive offers or submission by a company of offers for other firms; and statements by the employees, former employees, or competitors of the bidders that there is an agreement to restrict trade. D) Identical offers will be stated in this section if the agency has any reason to believe that the offers are the result of collusion. E) In the case of offers from foreign contractors for the execution of contracts outside the United States and its peripheral areas, contracting officers may refer alleged collusive offers to interested foreign government authorities for appropriate action. F) Agency reports should be addressed to: A brief statement describing the suspicious practice and the reason for the suspicion; and the name, address, and telephone number of a person from the agency who can be contacted for more information.
G) Questions related to this reporting requirement can be contacted by telephone directly to the Office of the Deputy Attorney General of the Antitrust Division. A good faith agency means an established commercial or sales agency, maintained by a contractor for the purpose of ensuring business activity, that does not exercise or intend to exert undue influence to request or obtain government contracts, nor does it intend to exercise any undue influence to request or obtain government contracts. through undue influence. A good-faith employee is a person, employed by a contractor and subject to the contractor's supervision and control as to the time, place and manner of performance, who does not exercise or intend to exert undue influence to request or obtain government contracts or maintains that he can obtain any government contract or contracts through undue influence.
Contingent commission means any commission, percentage, brokerage, or other charge that depends on the success of an individual or company in obtaining a contract with the government. Undue influence is any influence that induces or tends to induce a government employee or official to consider or act in connection with a government contract for any reason other than the substance of the matter. It has long been considered that the provisions adopted by contractors to pay possible fees for applying for or obtaining public contracts are contrary to public order, since they may give rise to an attempt or to the actual exercise of undue influence. In 10 U.S.
Department of Justice, C. These laws: A) require a guarantee by the contractor against contingent fees in every negotiated contract; B) they allow, as an exception to the warranty, contingent fee agreements between contractors and good-faith employees or agencies; and C) They provide that, in the event of a breach or violation of the warranty by the contractor, the Government may cancel the contract without liability or deduct from the price or consideration of the contract, or otherwise recover, the amount of the contingent commission. This subpart applies to all contracts. The legal requirements for negotiated contracts extend, by policy, to sealed tender contracts.
The contracting officer shall insert clause 52, 203-5, “Contingent Tariff Pact”, in all requests and contracts that exceed the simplified acquisition threshold, except those for commercial products or services (see parts 2 and 1.A). Government personnel who suspect or have evidence of an actual attempt or exercise of undue influence, misrepresentation of a contingent rate agreement, or other violation of the Contingent Fees Covenant shall promptly report the matter to the contracting officer or to an appropriate higher authority in accordance with agency procedures. If you are before the award, reject the offer or proposal. If it is after the award, assert the Government's right to cancel the contract or to recover the fee.
Refer criminal or fraudulent matters to the Department of Justice, as prescribed in agency regulations. For compliance purposes, agencies shall keep any specific evidence of one or more of the violations mentioned in Article 3,405 (a), along with all other relevant data, including a record of the actions taken. Contracting offices will not remove or destroy these records until they are certain that they are no longer needed to enforce the law. If the original record is kept in a central file, a copy must be kept in the contract file.
Buying, as used in this section, means submitting an offer below the anticipated costs, in the hope of: increasing the amount of the contract after the award (e.g.A) The purchase may decrease competition or result in poor contract performance. The contracting officer must take appropriate steps to ensure that the contractor does not recover the purchase losses by pricing subsequent contracts, subject to a cost analysis. B) The Government should minimize purchasing opportunities by requesting a price commitment that covers most of the entire program in question as practical through the use of: multi-year contracting, with the requirement in the request that a price be submitted only for the total quantity of several years; or pricing options for additional quantities that, together with the quantity of the firm contract, match the requirements of the program (see subpart 17,. C) The contracting officer has other safeguards in place to prevent the recovery of purchase losses (e.g.Bribery is any money, fee, commission, credit, gift, tip, value, or compensation of any kind that is given to any prime contractor, employee of the prime contractor, subcontractor, or employee of the subcontractor for the purpose of unduly obtaining or rewarding favorable treatment in connection with a main contract or in connection with a subcontract related to a main contract.
Persona means a corporation, partnership, business association of any kind, trust, limited company, or individual. A main contract is a contract or contractual action entered into by the United States for the purpose of obtaining supplies, materials, equipment or services of any kind. A prime contractor is a person who has entered into a prime contract with the United States. Employee of the prime contractor, as used in this section, means any officer, partner, employee, or agent of a prime contractor. A subcontract means a contract or contractual action entered into by a prime contractor or subcontractor for the purpose of obtaining supplies, materials, equipment or services of any kind under a main contract.
It refers to any person, other than the main contractor, who offers to supply or supply supplies, materials, equipment or services of any kind under a main contract or a subcontract concluded in connection with that main contract; and includes any person who offers to supply or supply general supplies to the main contractor or to a higher-level subcontractor. The Anti-Bribery Act of 1986 (now codified in 41 United States, United States, C. Chapter 87 (Bribes) was approved to discourage subcontractors from making payments and contractors from accepting payments in order to unduly obtain or reward favorable treatment in connection with a main contract or a subcontract related to a main contract. Bribery law: providing, attempting to provide or offer any bribe; solicit, accept or attempt to accept any bribe; or include, directly or indirectly, the amount of any bribe in the contract price charged by a subcontractor to a prime contractor or a higher-level subcontractor or in the contract price charged by a prime contractor to the United States.
B) Imposes criminal penalties on anyone who knowingly and deliberately engages in the prohibited conduct mentioned in paragraph (a) of this section. C) Establishes the possibility for the United States to impose civil penalties on any person who knowingly engages in such prohibited conduct and on any person whose employee, subcontractor, or subcontractor employee provides, accepts, or collects a bribe. The contracting officer may offset the amount of a bribe with money owed by the United States to the prime contractor under the main contract to which the bribe relates; the contracting officer may order a prime contractor to withhold from any amount owed to a subcontractor under a subcontract of the main contract the amount of any bribe that has been or can be offset against the prime contractor under paragraph (d) () of this section is a claim by the Government for the purposes of 41 U, S, C. E) Authorizes contracting officers to order that the amounts withheld pursuant to paragraph (d) () of this section be paid to the contracting agency or, if the amount has already been compensated with the main contractor, to be withheld by the main contractor.
F) Requires that the main contractor notify the contracting officer when the withholding has been made under paragraph (d) () of this section, unless the amount withheld has been paid to the Government. G) Requires that the main contractor or subcontractor report in writing to the inspector general of the contracting agency, to the director of the contracting agency if the agency does not have an inspector general, or to the Attorney General of any potential violation of the bribery law when the main contractor or subcontractor has reasonable grounds to believe that such a violation may have occurred. H) Establishes that, in order to determine if there has been a violation of the bribery law with respect to any main contract, the Government Accountability Office and the inspector general of the contracting agency, or a representative of such contracting agency appointed by the director of the agency if the agency does not have an inspector general, shall have access to and may inspect the facilities and audit the books and records, including any electronic data or record, of any prime contractor or subcontractor by virtue of a primary contract awarded by that agency. Establish and follow reasonable procedures designed to prevent and detect violations of bribery law in its own operations and direct business relationships (for example, J) Notwithstanding paragraph (i) of this section, the prime contractor will fully cooperate with any federal government agency that investigates a violation of 41 U, S, C. The contracting officer shall insert the clause in 52.203-6, Restrictions on the sale of subcontractors to the government, in requests and contracts that exceed the acquisition threshold simplified. For the purchase of commercial products or services, the contracting officer will use the clause with its alternative I.
A) Except as specified in 3.602, a contracting officer will not knowingly award a contract to a government employee or to a commercial enterprise or other organization that is owned or substantially controlled by one or more government employees. This policy is intended to avoid any conflict of interest that may arise between the interests of employees and their governmental obligations, and to avoid the appearance of favouritism or preferential treatment by the Government towards its employees. B) For the purposes of this subpart, special government employees (as defined in 18 EE. UU., C).
The director of the agency, or a designated person who is not below the level of the head of the hiring activity, can authorize an exception to the policy in case 3,601 only if there is a very compelling reason to do so, for example, when government needs cannot be met in any other reasonable way. A) Before awarding a contract, the contracting officer will obtain an authorization lower than 3,602 if: The contracting officer knows, or has reason to believe, that a potential contractor is someone to whom award is otherwise prohibited by virtue of 3,601; and there is a very compelling reason to award an award to that potential contractor. B) The contracting officer must comply with the requirements and guidelines of Subpart 9.5 before awarding a contract to an organization that is largely owned or controlled by government employees. A) This subpart prescribes government policies and procedures to exercise discretionary authority to declare null and void contracts in connection with which: There has been a definitive conviction for bribery, conflict of interest, disclosure or receipt of information about offers or proposals from contractors or information about selecting sources in exchange for something of value or for giving someone a competitive advantage in the award of a federal agency acquisition contract, or similar misconduct; or there has been a determination principal of the agency that the contractor offers or proposes information or source selection information has been disclosed or received in exchange for something of value, or for the purpose of obtaining or giving someone a competitive advantage in the award of an acquisition contract from a federal agency. B) This subpart does not prescribe policies or procedures for, nor does it govern the exercise of, any other remedy available to the Government with respect to such contracts, including, but not limited to, the customary right of cancellation, termination or cancellation.
A) An administrative remedy with respect to contracts in connection with which there has been: a final conviction for bribery, conflict of interest, disclosure or receipt of information about offers or proposals from contractors or source selection information in exchange for something of value or to give someone a competitive advantage in the award of a federal agency acquisition contract, or similar misconduct; or the determination of the head of an agency that the contractor's bid or proposal information or information from source selection has been disclosed or received in exchange for something of value, or for the purpose of obtaining or giving anyone a competitive advantage in the award of an acquisition contract from a federal agency; and B) A means to deter similar misconduct in the future by those involved in the award, enforcement, and administration of government contracts. A final conviction means a conviction, whether handed down on the basis of a verdict or a guilty plea, including the declaration of nolo contdere, for which a sentence has been imposed. B) 41 EE. UU., C.
A) In cases where there is a firm conviction for any violation of 18 U, S, C. B) From a final conviction of less than 18 U, S, C. C) If there is a firm conviction for a crime punishable under 41 U, S, C. The facts related to any final conviction for any violation of 18 U, S, C.The head of the agency or designee will immediately notify the Civil Division of the Department of Justice that action is being considered under this subpart.
B) Decision. After an evaluation of the facts, the director of the agency or the person he designates may declare null and void contracts for which a final conviction has been issued, and recover the amounts spent and assets transferred by the agency under the terms of the contracts in question. The notification of the proposed measure to declare null and void the contract must be made in writing and sent by certified mail, with acknowledgment of receipt. A period of thirty calendar days from the receipt of the notification, for the contractor to submit the relevant information before a final decision is made.
If the request is submitted within the period for the submission of the relevant information, an opportunity will be provided to hold a hearing at which witnesses can appear and any witnesses presented by the agency can be questioned. However, no investigation will be conducted into the validity of a conviction. I) Establishes that determination; ii) reflects consideration of the fair value of any tangible benefit received and retained by the agency; and iii) establishes the amount due and the assets to be returned to the agency. D) Notification of the proposed action. The notification of the proposed action, at a minimum, must indicate that the possibility of declaring null and void the contracts awarded by the agency, and recovering the amounts spent and the assets transferred by them, is being considered, in accordance with the provisions of 18 U, S and C.
The conclusion of any cooperation agreement. Extend, continue, renew, amend or modify any contract, grant, loan or federal cooperation agreement. The indigenous tribe and tribal organization have the meaning provided in section 4 of the Indian Self-Determination and Educational Assistance Act (25 U, S, C. Influencing or attempting to influence means making, with the intention of influencing, any communication or appearance before an official or employee of any agency, a member of Congress, an official or employee of Congress, or an employee of a member of Congress in connection with any covered federal action). Local government means a unit of government of a State and, if a State has been authorized, established or otherwise recognized by a State to perform a governmental function, including a local public authority, a special district, an intrastate district, a council of governments, an organization representing a sponsoring group and any other body of a local government.
A person who is appointed to a position in the Government under Title 5 of the United States Code, including a position under a temporary appointment. A member of the uniformed services, as defined in subsection 101 (Title 37 of the United States Code). A special government employee, as defined in section 202, title 18 of the United States Code. Reasonable compensation means, with respect to an official or employee of any regularly employed person, compensation that is compatible with the normal compensation received by that official or employee for work not provided, funded or performed in collaboration with the Federal Government. Reasonable payment means, in respect of professional and other technical services, a payment in an amount that is commensurate with the amount normally paid for such services in the private sector. The recipient includes the contractor and all subcontractors.
This term excludes a tribe, tribal organization, or any other indigenous organization that is eligible to receive contracts, grants, cooperation agreements, or federal loans from an agency, but only with respect to the expenses of that tribe or organization that are incurred for the purposes specified in paragraph 3.802 (a) and are permitted by other federal laws. Regularly employed means, with respect to an officer or employee of a person applying for or receiving a federal contract, an officer or employee who is employed by that person for at least 130 business days within the year immediately preceding the filing date that initiates consideration of that person by the agency for receiving such a contract. An officer or employee who is employed by such person for less than 130 business days within the year immediately preceding the filing date that initiates consideration of such person by the agency shall be considered a regular employee as soon as he is employed by that person for 130 business days. State means a state of the United States, the District of Columbia, a peripheral area of the United States, an agency or instrument of a state, and a multistate, regional, or interstate entity that has governmental functions and powers. A) 31 U, S, C, 1352 prohibits the recipient of a federal cooperation contract, grant, loan, or agreement from using appropriate funds to pay any person for influencing or attempting to influence an official or employee of any agency, member of Congress, official, or employee of a member of Congress in connection with any covered federal action.
For the purposes of this subpart, the term appropriated funds does not include profits or charges from a covered federal action. To the extent that a person can demonstrate that they have sufficient funds, other than funds allocated by the federal Government, the Government will assume that these other funds were spent on influencing activities that would not be allowed if they were paid with funds allocated by the federal government. B) 31 U, S, C, 1352 also requires that bidders submit a declaration that consists of both a certification and a disclosure, with regular updates of the disclosure following the award of the contract. These requirements are contained in provision 52, 203-11, on the certification and disclosure of payments to influence certain federal transactions, and in clause 52, 203-12, on limiting payments to influence certain federal transactions.
Link between the agency and the legislation by own employees. I) The payment of reasonable compensation to an official or employee of a person who requests or receives covered federal action if the payment is intended for liaison activities between agencies and legislators that are not directly related to a covered federal action. For the purposes of this paragraph, you are permitted to provide any information specifically requested by an agency or Congress at any time. Ii) Engage with an agency in conversations that are not related to a specific request for any covered federal action, but relate to: A) The qualities and characteristics (including individual demonstrations) of the individual's products or services, conditions or terms of sale, and service capabilities; or B) The application or adaptation of the individual's products or services for the use of an agency. iii) Provide, before the formal request for any covered federal action, any information that is not has specifically requested but is necessary for an agency to make an informed decision about initiating covered federal action.
Iv) Participate in technical discussions related to the preparation of an unsolicited proposal before its official submission. V) Make capacity submissions before formally requesting any covered federal action when seeking an award from an agency in accordance with the provisions of the Small Business Act, as amended by the Pub. I) The payment of reasonable compensation made to an official or employee of a person who requests or receives covered federal action, if the payment is for professional or technical services provided directly in the preparation, presentation or negotiation of any offer, proposal or request for that federal action or to meet requirements imposed by law or in accordance with the law as a condition for receiving that federal action; ii) Any reasonable payment to a person, other than an official or employee of a person who apply for or receive a federal Action, if the payment is intended for professional or technical services provided directly in the preparation, presentation or negotiation of any offer, proposal or request for that federal action, or to meet the requirements imposed by or in accordance with the law as a condition for receiving that federal action. Persons other than officers or employees of a person seeking or receiving covered federal action include consultants and business associations.
iii) As used in paragraph (a) () of this section, professional and technical services are limited to advice and analysis, directly applying any professional or technical discipline. For example, the drafting of a legal document that accompanies an offer or proposal by a lawyer is allowed. In the same way, technical advice provided by an engineer on the performance or operational capacity of equipment provided directly in the negotiation of a contract is allowed. However, under this section, communications with the intent to influence made by a professional or technical person are not allowed, unless they provide advice and analysis directly applying their professional or technical expertise and unless the advice or analysis is provided directly and solely for the purpose of preparing, filing or negotiating a contemplated federal action. Therefore, for example, communications with the intent to influence made by an attorney that do not provide legal advice or analysis directly and solely related to the legal aspects of their client's proposal, but generally defend one proposal rather than another, are not allowed under this section because the lawyer does not provide professional legal services. Likewise, communications with the intent to influence made by an engineer who performs an engineering analysis prior to the preparation or submission of an offer or proposal are not permitted under this section, since the engineer provides technical services, but not directly in the preparation, filing, or negotiation of a covered federal action.
Iv) The requirements imposed by or in accordance with the law as a condition for receiving a covered federal award include those required by law or regulation and any other requirements contained in the award documents themselves. B) Only communications and services that are expressly authorized by paragraph (a) of this section are allowed. C) The disclosure requirements of paragraph 3.802 (b) do not apply with respect to reasonable compensation payments made to regularly employed officers or employees of a person. The Secretary of Defense may exempt, on a case-by-case basis, a covered federal action from the prohibitions of this subpart provided that the Secretary determines, in writing, that such exemption is in the national interest.
The Secretary will transmit a copy of the exemption to Congress immediately after making the determination. The hiring officer shall report alleged violations of the requirements of Article 31 U, S, C, 1352 in accordance with agency procedures. Agencies shall impose and collect civil penalties in accordance with the provisions of the Programmatic Fraud and Civil Remedies Act, 31 U, S, C, 3803 (except subsection (c)), 3804-3808 and 3812, provided that the provisions of the Act are not inconsistent with the requirements of this subpart. This subpart implements several legal wrongdoing reporting programs.
This subpart does not implement 10 EE. Department of Justice, DoD, NASA and the Coast Guard; nor any element of the intelligence community, as defined in section 3 () of the National Security Act of 1947 (50 U.S. UU., S, C.) Sections 3,900 to 3,906 do not apply to any disclosure made by an employee of a contractor or subcontractor of an element of the intelligence community if such disclosure (I) relates to an activity of an element of the intelligence community; or ii) It was discovered while providing services by contract or outsourcing to an element of the intelligence community. Abuse of authority means an arbitrary and capricious exercise of authority that is incompatible with the mission of the executive agency in question or with the successful performance of a contract by that agency. An authorized official of the Department of Justice means any person responsible for the investigation, application, or prosecution of any law or regulation.
A subcontract means any contract, as defined in subpart 2.1, entered into by a subcontractor to supply supplies or services for the execution of a main contract or a subcontract. It includes, but is not limited to, purchase orders and order changes and modifications for purchase. Subcontractor means any supplier, distributor, vendor, or company (including a consultant) that supplies supplies or services to or for a prime contractor or other subcontractor. Contractors and subcontractors are prohibited from firing, demoting or otherwise discriminating against an employee in retaliation for disclosing, to any of the entities listed in paragraph (b) of this section, information that the employee reasonably believes to be: I) Evidence of serious mismanagement of a federal contract; ii) a serious waste of federal funds; iii) an abuse of authority in connection with a federal contract; iv) a substantial and specific danger to public health or safety; or V) A violation of a law, rule or regulation related to a federal contract (including competition or the negotiation of a contract).
Retaliation is prohibited even if adopted at the request of an executive branch official, unless the request takes the form of a non-discretionary directive and is within the competence of the executive branch official making the request. A member of Congress or a representative of a committee of the Congress. A federal employee responsible for overseeing or administering contracts in the appropriate agency. An authorized official of the Department of Justice or other law enforcement agency An administrative officer or other employee of the contractor or subcontractor who has a responsibility to investigate, discover, or address misconduct.
C) An employee who initiates or presents evidence of misconduct by a contractor or subcontractor in any judicial or administrative proceeding related to waste, fraud, or abuse of a federal contract shall be considered to have done a revelation. An employee of a contractor or subcontractor who believes that he has been fired, demoted, or otherwise discriminated against the provisions of article 3,903 may file a complaint with the Inspector General of the agency in question. Procedures for filing complaints of fraud, waste, abuse and reporting of wrongdoing are usually consulted on the agency's Office of the Inspector General hotline or on websites for whistleblowers, or the complainant can contact the competent Office of the Inspector General directly for instructions on filing complaints. The employee cannot file a complaint under Article 41 U, S, C.
A) The investigation of complaints will be conducted in accordance with Article 41 U, S, C. B) At the conclusion of the investigation, the head of the agency shall ensure that the Inspector General has provided the report of the findings to the director of the agency and to the complainant and to any person acting on his behalf; and A) the agency's response to the Inspector General's report. No later than 30 days after receiving a report in accordance with Article 3.904-2, the agency director shall determine if there is sufficient basis to conclude that the contractor or subcontractor has subjected the employee who filed the complaint to retaliation, as prohibited by 3.903; and I) Order the contractor or subcontractor to take affirmative action to reduce retaliation. Iii) Order the contractor or subcontractor to pay the reporting employee an amount equal to the total amount of all costs and expenses (including attorney's fees and expert fees) that the complainant reasonably incurred to file the complaint related to or in connection with the retaliation, as determined by the director of the agency.
(iv) Consider taking disciplinary or corrective action against any official of the executive agency, if applicable. B) The plaintiff's right to go to court. Paragraph (b) (of this section applies if I) the director of the agency issues an order denying relief; or A) The director of the agency has not issued an order within 210 days after the filing of the complaint; or within 30 days after the expiration of an extension granted pursuant to 41 U, S, C. If the conditions of any of the paragraphs (b) (i) or (ii) of this section I) The complainant will be considered to have exhausted all administrative remedies with respect to the complaint; and ii) The plaintiff may bring a de novo action of law or equity against the contractor or subcontractor to seek compensation for damages and other remedies available under 41 U, S, C.
A) Such action will be tried by the court with a jury, at the request of either party to the action. B) An action under this authority may not be brought more than 2 years after the date on which the remedies are considered to have been exhausted. D) No exemption. The rights and remedies provided in 41 U, S, C. (B) Any person adversely affected or aggrieved by an order issued under article 3905—1 (a) () may obtain a review of the order's compliance with 41 U, S, C.
Circuit Court of Appeals where retaliation is alleged in the order in which it occurred. No request to request such a review can be filed more than 60 days after the issuance of the order by the agency director. Filing such an appeal will not suspend the execution of an agency's director's order, unless the court specifically declares a suspension. The hiring officer shall insert clause 52.203-17, relating to the rights of contractor employees to report irregularities, in all calls and contracts, except for calls and contracts from the DoD, NASA, the Coast Guard or relevant elements of the intelligence community (see 3,900 (a)).
Board refers to the Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board established by Section 1521 of the Recovery Act. Covered funds mean any contract payment, gift or other payment that a contractor receives if: the Federal Government provides a portion of the money or property that is provided, requested or required; and at least part of the funds are allocated or otherwise made available under the Recovery Act. Covered information means information that the employee reasonably believes is evidence of serious mismanagement of the contract or subcontract related to covered funds, a serious waste of covered funds, a substantial and specific danger to public health or safety related to the implementation or use of covered funds, an abuse of authority related to the implementation or use of covered funds, an abuse of authority related to the implementation or use of covered funds, or a violation of a law, rule or regulation related to an agency contract ( including competition or the negotiation of a contract) granted or issued in connection with the funds covered. Non-federal employer, as used in this section, means any employer that receives funds from the Recovery Act, including a contractor, subcontractor, or other recipient of funds under a contract or other agreement granted and administered in accordance with the Federal Procurement Regulations. A state or federal regulatory or law enforcement agency.
A person with supervisory authority over the employee or other person who works for the employer and who has the authority to investigate, discover, or stop misconduct. A) An employee who believes that he has been the subject of retaliation prohibited by the Recovery Act (Article 1553), as established in Article 3907, must file a complaint about retaliation with the Inspector General of the agency that awarded him the contract. B) The complaint shall be signed and shall contain: the contract number, if known; otherwise, a description reasonably sufficient to identify the contracts involved; the covered information that gave rise to the disclosure; the nature of the disclosure that gave rise to the discriminatory act; and the specific nature and date of the retaliation. C) The contracting officer who receives a retaliatory complaint of the type described in article 3907-2 will forward it to the Office of the Inspector General and other designated officials in accordance with agency procedures (for example, the investigation of complaints will be conducted in accordance with section 1553 of the Recovery Act). A) The employee who alleges retaliation under this section will have access to the Inspector General's investigation file, in accordance with the Privacy Act, 5 U, S, C.
The Inspector General's investigation will be considered closed for purposes of disclosure under that section when an employee files an appeal with the director of the agency or a court of competent jurisdiction. B) In the event that the employee who alleges retaliation files a civil action under section 1553 (c) (of the Recovery Act), the employee who alleges retaliation and the non-federal employer will have access to the Inspector General's investigation file in accordance with the Privacy Act. C) The Inspector General may exclude from disclosures made pursuant to Article 3.907-5 (a) or (b): information protected from disclosure by a legal provision; and any additional information that the Inspector General determines whose disclosure would prevent the continuation of the investigation, provided that such information is disclosed once such disclosure no longer prevents such investigation, unless the Inspector General determines that the disclosure of law enforcement techniques, procedures or information could be at risk to avoid legislating or disclosing the identity of a confidential source. D) The Inspector General investigating alleged retaliation under this section may not respond to any inquiry or disclose any information from or about any person alleging such retaliation, except in accordance with Article 5 U, S, C. Disclosure as a contributing factor to retaliation.
I) An employee who alleges retaliation under this section will be considered to have affirmatively established the existence of retaliation if they demonstrate that the disclosure described in section 3.907-2 was a contributing factor to the retaliation. A) Evidence that the retaliatory official knew about the disclosure; or B) Evidence that the retaliation occurred within a period of time after the disclosure, so that a reasonable person could conclude that the disclosure was a contributing factor to the retaliation. The director of an agency may not determine that retaliation has occurred with respect to a retaliation that is affirmatively established under Article 3.907-6 (a) (if the non-federal employer demonstrates with clear and convincing evidence that the non-federal employer would have taken the action that constitutes retaliation had the information not been disclosed). Order the employer to take affirmative action to reduce retaliation.
Order the employer to pay the plaintiff an amount equal to the total amount of all costs and expenses (including attorney fees and expert witness fees) reasonably incurred by the plaintiff to file the complaint related to or in connection with the retaliation. The plaintiff will be considered to have exhausted all administrative remedies with respect to the complaint, and the plaintiff may bring a de novo action, legal or in equity, against the employer to seek compensation for damages and other remedies available under this section in the appropriate district court of the United States, which will have jurisdiction over such action regardless of the amount in dispute if: I) The director of an agency: A) Issues an order denying relief in whole or in part by virtue of of paragraph (a)) of this section; B) You have not issued an order within 210 days after the filing of a complaint pursuant to section 1553 of the Recovery Act, or in the case of an extension pursuant to section 1553 of the Recovery Act, within 30 days of the expiration of the extension; or C) Decides, in accordance with section 1553 of the Recovery Act, not to investigate or interrupt an investigation; and ii) There is no evidence that such delay or decision is due to the plaintiff's bad faith. Such action, at the request of either party to the action, will be tried by the court with a jury. D) When an employer fails to comply with an order issued under this section, the director of the agency will request the Department of Justice to file an action to enforce that order in the United States district court for a district where retaliation has been determined to have occurred.
In any action brought under this section, the court may grant appropriate relief, including injunctive relief, compensatory and exemplary compensation, and attorneys' fees and costs. E) Any person adversely affected or aggrieved by an order issued pursuant to paragraph (b) of this subsection can obtain a review of the order's compliance with the law and with this section in the United States Court of Appeals for a circuit where retaliation is alleged to have occurred in the order. B) The prohibition in paragraph (a) of this section does not violate the requirements applicable to standard form 312 (classified information confidentiality agreement), form 4414 (confidentiality agreement for confidential compartmentalized information), or any other form issued by a federal department or agency governing the non-disclosure of classified information. A) To be eligible for the award of a contract, the bidder must declare that it will not require its employees or subcontractors to sign internal confidentiality agreements or statements that prohibit or otherwise restrict such employees or subcontractors from legally reporting waste, fraud or abuse related to the execution of a government contract to a designated research or law enforcement representative of a federal department or agency authorized to receive such information (e.g.Any bidder who does not represent you is not eligible for the award of a contract.
B) The contracting officer can rely on the representation of the bidder, unless the contracting officer has reason to question the representation. When using funds subject to the prohibitions of 3.909-1 (a), the contracting officer must: include the provision of article 52.203-18, Prohibition of Contracting with Entities that Require Certain Internal Confidentiality Agreements or Representational Statements, in all requests, except as provided in paragraph (a) (of this section); and shall not insert the provision in requests for a personal services contract with an individual if the services are to be provided entirely by the person, than by an employee of the contractor or subcontractor. Include clause 52, 203-19, Prohibition of requiring certain internal confidentiality agreements or statements, in all resulting requests and contracts, except for personal service contracts with individuals. A) Implement 41 U, S, C. Subcontract means any contract entered into by a subcontractor to supply supplies or services for the execution of a main contract or a subcontract.
A subcontractor means any supplier, distributor, vendor or company that has supplied supplies or services to or for a prime contractor or other subcontractor. The United States means all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and outlying areas. A) Government contractors must behave with the highest degree of integrity and honesty. Adjust to the size of the company and the degree of its participation in public procurement; facilitate the timely discovery and disclosure of misconduct related to government contracts; and ensure that corrective measures are instituted and implemented promptly.
A) Contractor requirements. B) Notification of a possible violation by the contractor. If the contracting officer is notified of a potential violation by the contractor of federal criminal law related to fraud, conflict of interest, bribery, or tip violations listed on the Title 18 (U.S. Fraud Hotline) poster UU., C). Agency IGOs are responsible for determining the need and content of their respective agencies' OIG fraud hotline posters.
When requested by the Department of Homeland Security, agencies must ensure that contracts funded with disaster assistance funds require the display of any applicable fraud hotline poster to the specific contract. As established by the agency's OIG, such posters may be displayed in place of or in addition to the agency's standard poster. Unless the contract is for the purchase of a commercial product or service or is carried out in its entirety outside the United States, insert clause at 52.203-14, Show hotline poster (s), if: A) The agency has a fraud hotline poster; or B) The contract is funded by disaster assistance funds. In paragraph (b) (of the clause, the contracting officer must: I) Identify the applicable posters; and determine what supplies or services the Government will purchase, including the preparation of statements of work.
Develop or approve any contractual document, to include documents that define requirements, incentive plans and evaluation criteria. Administer contracts (including requesting changes or giving technical instructions on contract compliance or quantities, evaluating contractors' performance, and accepting or rejecting contractors' products or services). Determine if contract costs are reasonable, allocable, and permissible. A) A covered employee means a person who performs a procurement function closely related to intrinsically governmental functions and who is: an employee of the contractor; or a self-employed subcontractor who is treated as a covered employee of the contractor because there is no employer to whom that person can submit the required information.
Personal conflict of interest is a situation in which a covered employee has a financial interest, personal activity, or relationship that could affect the employee's ability to act impartially and for the benefit of the government when performing under the contract. This definition does not cover a de minimis interest that does not impair the employee's ability to act impartially and for the benefit of the Government. Government policy is to require contractors to: a) identify and avoid personal conflicts of interest of their covered employees; and b) prohibit covered employees from having access to non-public information because they comply with a government contract from using such information for personal gain. A) Using the contract clause in 52.203-16, as prescribed in 3.1106, the hiring officer shall require that each contractor whose employees perform procurement functions closely related to inherently governmental functions to: Have procedures for evaluating covered employees to detect potential personal conflicts of interest through: A) The financial interests of the covered employee, their close family members, or other members of the covered employee's household. B) Other employment or financial relationships of the covered employee (including seeking or negotiating potential employment or business).C) Gifts, including travel; and ii) Require each covered employee to update the disclosure statement whenever the employee's personal or financial circumstances change in such a way that a new personal conflict of interest may occur due to the task the covered employee is performing.
I) Preventing personal conflicts of interest, including not assigning or allowing a covered employee to perform any task under the contract for which the contractor has identified a personal conflict of interest for the employee that the contractor or employee cannot prevent or mitigate satisfactorily in consultation with the hiring agency; ii) prohibiting the use of non-public information accessed through the execution of a government contract for personal gain; and iii) obtaining a confidentiality agreement signed to prohibit the disclosure of non-public information accessed through the execution of a government contract; and iii) Obtain a signed confidentiality agreement to prohibit the disclosure of non-public information accessed through the execution of a government contract; and iii) Obtain a signed confidentiality agreement to prohibit the disclosure of non-public information accessed through the execution of a government contract; and iii) through the execution of a government contract. Inform covered employees of their obligation: I) Disclose and prevent conflicts of personal interest; ii) Do not use non-public information accessed through the execution of a government contract for personal gain; and iii) Avoid even the occurrence of conflicts of personal interest; maintain effective oversight to verify compliance with personal safeguards regarding conflicts of interest; take appropriate disciplinary action in the case of covered employees who do not comply with the policies established in accordance with this section; and report to the hiring officer any personal conflict of interest violations committed by a covered employee as soon as they are identified. This report will include a description of the violation and the proposed measures that the contractor will take in response to the violation, as well as follow-up reports on the corrective measures taken, as needed. B) If a contractor reports a personal conflict of interest violation committed by a covered employee to the contracting officer in accordance with paragraph (b) () of clause 52.203-16, Prevention of Personal Conflicts of Interest, the contracting officer must: review the measures taken by the contractor; determine if any action taken by the contractor has resolved the violation satisfactorily; and if the contracting officer determines that the contractor has not resolved the violation satisfactorily, in consultation with the legal agency lawyer.
A) In exceptional circumstances, if the contractor cannot satisfactorily avoid a personal conflict of interest, as required by paragraph (b) (i) of clause 52.203-16, Prevention of Personal Conflicts of Interest, the contractor may submit a request, through the contracting officer, for the head of the contracting activity to: agree on a plan to mitigate the conflict of personal interest; or waive the requirement to prevent personal conflicts of interest. B) If the head of the contracting activity determines in writing that such action benefits the Government, the head of the contracting activity may impose conditions that mitigate a personal conflict of interest or grant an exemption. C) This authority will not be re-delegated. A) Insert clause 52.203-16, Prevention of conflicts of personal interest, in requests and contracts that exceed the simplified acquisition threshold; and include a requirement that contractor employees provide services that involve the performance of procurement functions closely associated with inherently governmental functions for or on behalf of a federal agency or department. B) If only part of a contract is for the performance of procurement functions closely associated with inherently governmental functions, the contracting officer will continue to insert the clause, but will limit the applicability of the clause to the part of the contract that is for the provision of such services.
C) Do not insert the clause into requests or contracts with a self-employed person if the procurement functions closely associated with inherently governmental functions must be performed entirely by the self-employed person, and not by an employee of the contractor. An official website of the General Services Administration. The contracting officer shall insert provision 52.203-2, Certificate of Independent Pricing, in requests when contemplating a firm fixed-price contract or a fixed-price contract with economic price adjustment, unless: A) The purchase is made according to the simplified acquisition procedures in part 13; C) The request is a request for technical proposals through sealed tender procedures in two steps; or D) The request is for public services for which rates are set by law or regulation. Cost or price data (as defined in 10 U, S, C.
A) This section implements 41 U, S, C.B) Agency officials are reminded that there are other laws and regulations that relate to the same prohibited conduct or related conduct, for example: post-employment restrictions are covered by 18 U, S, C. C) Actions required when an agency official contacts or is contacted by an offeror in connection with non-federal employment (41 U, S, C. D) Prohibition of a former employee accepting compensation from a contractor (41 U, S, C. A) Except as specifically provided in this subparagraph section, no An individual or other entity may disclose information about the contractor's bids or proposals or source selection information to anyone other than a person authorized, in accordance with applicable agency regulations or procedures, by the agency's director or contracting officer to receive such information. B) Information about the contractor's bids or proposals and information about the selection of sources must be protected against unauthorized disclosure in accordance with applicable laws and agency regulations.
E) This section does not restrict or prohibit a contractor from disclosing their own offer or proposal information or the recipient from receiving that information. F) This section does not authorize: the retention of information pursuant to an appropriate request from Congress, any committee or subcommittee of Congress, a federal agency, the Comptroller General, or the Inspector General of a federal agency, unless otherwise authorized by law or regulation. B) The HCA must review all available information and, in accordance with agency procedures, take appropriate action, such as advising the contracting officer to continue with the acquisition; referring the disclosed information to the appropriate criminal investigation agencies; concluding that a violation has occurred; or recommending that the director of the agency determine that the contractor, or someone acting on his behalf , has engaged in conduct constituting a crime punishable under 41 United States. USA, C.C) Before concluding that a bidder, contractor or person has violated 41 U, S, C.
D) If the HCA concludes that 41 U, S, C. If a contract has been awarded: I) Make appropriate contractual remedies, including the recovery of benefits under clause 52.203-10, the adjustment of price or fee for illegal or improper activity, or if the contract has been terminated pursuant to paragraph (d) (ii) of this subsection, the recovery of the amount spent under the contract; ii) Cancel or terminate r the contract for which: A) The contractor or someone acting on your behalf has been convicted of a crime where the conduct constitutes a violation of 41 U, S, C. E) The HCA must recommend or order an administrative or contractual remedy commensurate with the seriousness and effect of the violation. F) If the HCA determines that urgent and compelling circumstances justify an award, or if the award benefits the Government, the HCA, in accordance with agency procedures, may authorize the contracting officer to award the contract or execute the contract modification after notifying the agency director. C) An official who refuses to end employment conversations (see 3.104) may be subject to administrative action by the agency under 5 CFR 2635.604 (d) if the employee's disqualification from participating in a particular hire substantially interferes with the individual's ability to perform the assigned tasks.
The agency's reporting procedures will be published as an implementation of this section 3.203 and will clearly specify: B) The channels through which reports must pass, including the role and authority of each designated official to review them. A) Before taking any action against a contractor, the director of the agency or a designated person shall determine, after notification and hearing in accordance with agency procedures, whether the contractor, his agent or other representative, under a contract containing the tip clause. Offered or awarded a tip (for example, B) Agency procedures will provide the contractor with an opportunity to appear before an attorney, present documentary evidence, present witnesses, and face anyone the agency presents. A) Practices that eliminate competition or restrict trade often result in excessive prices and may justify the adoption of criminal, civil measures or administrative against participants. B) Antitrust laws are intended to ensure that markets operate competitively.
These laws: A) require in every negotiated contract a guarantee by the contractor against contingent fees; B) they allow, as an exception to the warranty, contingent fee agreements between contractors and good-faith employees or agencies; and C) stipulate that, in the event of a breach or violation of the warranty by the contractor, the Government may cancel the contract without liability or deduct from the price or consideration of the contract, or otherwise recover, the full amount of the contingent fee. A) Government personnel who suspect or have evidence of an actual attempt or exercise of undue influence, a misrepresentation of a contingent fee agreement, or other violation of the Contingent Fees Covenant shall promptly report the matter to the contracting officer or appropriate higher authority in accordance with agency procedures. A) The purchase may reduce competition or result in poor contract performance. C) The contracting officer has other safeguards in place to prevent the recovery of purchase losses (e.g.A) Except as specified in Article 3.602, a contracting officer shall not knowingly award a contract to a government employee or to a commercial enterprise or other organization that is substantially owned or controlled by one or more government employees. B) For the purposes of this subpart, special government employees (as defined in 18 U.S.
A) Before awarding a contract, the contracting officer will obtain an authorization of less than 3,602 if: The contracting officer knows or has reason to believe that a potential contractor is someone to whom award is otherwise prohibited by virtue of 3,601; and there is a very compelling reason to award an award to that potential contractor. B) The contracting officer must comply with the requirements and guidelines of Subpart 9.5 before awarding a contract to an organization that is largely owned or controlled by government employees. A) This subpart prescribes government policies and procedures to exercise discretionary authority to declare null and void contracts in connection with which: There has been a definitive conviction for bribery, conflict of interest, disclosure or receipt of information about offers or proposals from contractors or information about selecting sources in exchange for something of value or for giving someone a competitive advantage in the award of a federal agency acquisition contract, or similar misconduct; or there has been a the agency's primary determination that the contractor offers or proposes information or source selection information has been disclosed or received in exchange for something of value, or for the purpose of obtaining or giving someone a competitive advantage in the award of an acquisition contract from a federal agency. B) This subpart does not prescribe policies or procedures for, nor does it govern the exercise of, any other remedy available to the Government with respect to such contracts, including, but not limited to, the customary right of cancellation, termination or cancellation. A) In cases where there is a firm conviction for any violation of the 18 laws of the United States, the United States and C.
C) If there is a final conviction for a crime punishable by less than 41 U, S, C. Ii) Participate with an agency in discussions that are not related to a specific request for any covered federal action, but that relate to: A) The qualities and characteristics (including individual demonstrations) of the person's products or services, conditions or terms of sale and service capabilities; or B) The request or adaptation of the person's products or services for use from an agency. B) Only those communications and services that are expressly authorized by paragraph (a) of this section are allowed. C) The disclosure requirements of paragraph 3.802 (b) do not apply with respect to reasonable compensation payments made to regularly employed officers or employees of an individual. Paragraph (b) (of this section applies if I) the agency director issues an order denying relief; or A) The agency director has not issued an order within 210 days after the filing of the complaint; or within 30 days after the expiration of an extension granted pursuant to 41 U, S, C.
A) Such action will be tried by the court with a jury, at the request of either party to the action. B) An action under this authority may not be brought more than 2 years after the date on which the remedies are considered to have been exhausted. A) An employee who believes that he has been the subject of retaliation prohibited by the Recovery Act, section 1553, as set forth in article 3.907, files a complaint about retaliation with the Inspector General of the agency that awarded the contract. B) The complaint shall be signed and shall contain: the contract number, if known; otherwise, a description reasonably sufficient to identify the contracts involved; the covered information that gave rise to the disclosure; the nature of the disclosure that gave rise to the discriminatory act; and the specific nature and date of the retaliation. C) The hiring officer who receives a retaliatory complaint of the type described in article 3.907-2 will forward it to the Office of the Inspector General and other officials designated in accordance with agency procedures (for example, A) The employee who alleges retaliation under this section will have access to the Inspector General's investigation file, in accordance with the Privacy Act, 5 U, S, C.B) In the event that the employee who alleges retaliation files a civil action under section 1553 (c) (of the Recovery Act), the employee who alleges retaliation and the non-federal employer will have access to the Inspector General's investigation file in accordance with the Privacy Act.
D) The Inspector General investigating alleged retaliation under this section may not respond to any inquiry or disclose information from or about any person alleging such retaliation, except in accordance with 5 U, S, C. A) Evidence that the retaliating official knew about the disclosure; or B) evidence that the retaliation occurred within a period of time after the disclosure, so that a reasonable person could conclude that the disclosure was a contributing factor to the retaliation. The plaintiff will be considered to have exhausted all administrative remedies with respect to the complaint, and the plaintiff may bring a de novo action, legal or in equity, against the employer to seek compensation for damages and other remedies available under this section in the appropriate district court of the United States, which will have jurisdiction over such action regardless of the amount in dispute if: I) The director of an agency: A) Issues an order denying relief in whole or in part by virtue of of paragraph (a)) of this section; B) You have not issued an order within 210 days of filing a complaint in accordance with section 1553 of the Recovery Act, or in the case of an extension in accordance with section 1553 of the Recovery Act, within 30 days after the expiration of the extension; or C) Decides, in accordance with section 1553 of the Recovery Act, not to investigate or interrupt an investigation; and ii) There is no evidence that such delay or decision is due to the bad faith of the plaintiff. B) The prohibition in paragraph (a) of this section does not violate the requirements applicable to standard form 312 (classified information confidentiality agreement), form 4414 (confidentiality agreement for confidential compartmentalized information), or any other form issued by a federal department or agency governing the non-disclosure of classified information. A) To be eligible for the award of a contract, the bidder must declare that it will not require its employees or subcontractors to sign internal confidentiality agreements or statements that prohibit or otherwise restrict such employees or subcontractors from legally reporting waste, fraud or abuse related to the execution of a government contract to a designated research or law enforcement representative of a federal department or agency authorized to receive such information (for example, B) The officer of Hiring may rely on an offer to represent the or unless the contracting officer has reason to question the representation. A) Implement 41 EE.
USA, C. A) Government contractors must behave with the highest degree of integrity and honesty. Government policy is to require contractors to: A) identify and avoid personal conflicts of interest of their covered employees; and B) Prohibit covered employees who have access to non-public information because they comply with a government contract from using such information for personal gain. B) Other employment or financial relationships of the covered employee (including seeking or negotiating potential employment or business). C) Gifts, including travel; and ii) Require each covered employee to update the disclosure statement whenever the employee's personal or financial circumstances change in such a way that a new personal conflict of interest may occur due to the task the covered employee is performing. B) If a contractor reports a personal conflict of interest violation committed by a covered employee to the contracting officer in accordance with paragraph (b) () of clause 52.203-16, Prevention of Personal Conflicts of Interest, the contracting officer must: review the measures taken by the contractor; determine if any action taken by the contractor has resolved the violation satisfactorily; and if the contracting officer determines that the contractor has not resolved the violation satisfactorily, in consultation with the legal agency lawyer.
B) Prohibition of obtaining information on acquisitions. Except as provided by law, a person will not knowingly obtain information about bids or proposals from contractors or information about the selection of sources before the award of an acquisition contract from a federal agency to which the information relates. Any communication containing information about contractor bids or proposals or source selection information must clearly identify the information such as information about the contractor's bids or proposals or information about the selection of sources related to making an acquisition of a federal agency and notify the recipient that the disclosure of the information is restricted by 41 U. Subsection (a) does not prohibit a former official of a federal agency from accepting compensation from a division or subsidiary of a contractor that does not produce products or services the same or similar to those of the entity of the contractor responsible for the contract mentioned in paragraph (,) or () of subsection (a).The government contract defense and acquisition fraud attorneys at Watson & Associates help individuals and contractors defend themselves against allegations of violations of the federal acquisition integrity law and violations of the Anti-Bribery Act under Article 41 U.
It provides a wealth of successful experience to government contractors seeking defense counsel in the various areas of acquisition fraud, anti-corruption law, illegal bribery, international contracting, defense of the Law of False Claims, BAA and TAA compliance, and more.
