In order to combat the national security and intellectual property threats that face the United States, Section 889(a)(1)(A) of the John S. McCain National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2019 (the NDAA) prohibits the Federal Government from procuring or obtaining, or extending or renewing a contract to procure or obtain, "any equipment, system, or service that uses covered telecommunications equipment or services as a substantial or essential component of any system, or as critical technology as part of any system." 

On August 13, 2019, an interim rule amending the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) went into effect (https://go.usa.gov/xV9WE):

Prohibiting contractors from providing covered telecommunications equipment or services unless the agency confirms that an exception applies or a waiver is granted; 

Requiring every offeror for a contract or order to represent whether or not it will provide covered telecommunications equipment or services as part of its offer and, if so, to furnish additional detail about the covered equipment or services; 

and 

Mandating that contractors report any covered equipment or services if discovered during the course of contract performance.

For more information on the interim FAR rule, please see the federal register notification (https://go.usa.gov/xV9D6).

What does this mean for GSA contractors?

GSA has developed a class deviation (https://go.usa.gov/xV9Wx) that takes a risk-based approach to the implementation of the new FAR rule. The deviation:

Limits the representation requirements for GSA-funded orders to the indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity (IDIQ) contract level instead of at the order level for low- and medium-risk indefinite delivery procurements (as identified in Attachment C of the GSA class deviation);

Identifies high-risk GSA procurements under which order-level representation is always required;

Requires order-level representation of all orders for information technology or communications technology under all GSA acquisition vehicles;

Creates a new GSA Acquisition Regulation (GSAR) representation clause and requires the GSAR representation and FAR reporting clauses in all new and existing GSA contracts;

Establishes implementation targets for modification of existing contracts and orders to include both of the representation and reporting clauses; 

and

Clarifies the application of Section 889 of the NDAA to other GSA program areas, including Commercial Solutions Opening procurements and lease acquisitions. 

For more information on how leasing is impacted, please see GSA Leasing Alert, LA-19-05 Prohibition on Contracting for Certain Telecommunications and Video Surveillance Services or Equipment (https://go.usa.gov/xV9WY).

GSA will post any additional guidance to Acquisition.gov. Your GSA Contracting Officer will be in contact soon to provide more information.