Protest Against Sole-Source Procurement and Intended Use of Qualified Products List

A company protested sole-source procurements as anticompetitive and contended that the agency's efforts to establish a Qualified Products List (QPL) and its intention to restrict all future procurement of the item to qualifying firms was restrictive of competition. Sole-source procurement from the only prior manufacturer on the basis of waiver of preproduction testing was proper in view of the unavailability of data adequate to permit competitive procurement, stringent delivery schedules based upon military exigencies, and a need for preproduction testing for new producers. Failure to timely synopsize the procurement in the Commerce Business Daily was not prejudicial to the protester since it was not a deliberate attempt to deny it the opportunity to compete. The intended future use of the QPL seems to be an attempt to increase, rather than restrict, competition and is within the agency's discretion.