The Department of Defense, NASA and the General Services Administration have proposed a rule that intends to improve consistency and transparency within the Federal Acquisition Regulation or FAR by closely aligning procurement and nonprocurement procedures on suspension and debarment.
The proposed rule intends to amend FAR in response to the Interagency Suspension and Debarment Committee’s recommendations, according to a Federal Register notice published Tuesday.
According to the notice, the U.S. government uses debarment and suspension procedures to safeguard its business interests. The suspending and debarring official uses two tools with immediate exclusion effect and those are a proposal for debarment and a suspension.
Under the proposed rule, the FAR Council will maintain the use of such tools to provide the suspending and debarring official with the leeway to pick which tool is appropriate for a specific situation.
Instead of an immediate exclusion, the proposed measure suggests the use of a pre-notice letter by the suspending and debarring official.
Proposed changes to FAR include the addition of new definitions for the terms suspending and debarring official; administrative agreement; conviction; pre-notice letter; and voluntary exclusion, as well as an updated definition of civil judgment.
Comments on the proposed rule are due March 11.