Recommendation: The Director of the Office of Management and Budget should instruct the Office of Federal Procurement Policy: (1) To facilitate additional training to improve the understanding of the contracting workforce regarding the Buy American Act requirements; and (2) To facilitate clarifying revisions to FPDS-NG, where needed, and provide training and guidance for recording Buy American Act information in FPDS-NG to improve the accuracy of the Buy American data. (Recommendation 1)
Agency: Executive Office of the President: Office of Management and Budget
Status: Open
Comments: The Office of Federal Procurement Policy (OFPP) within OMB concurred with our recommendation, noting that it plans to coordinate with federal agencies on the extent to which they have developed training and guidance. Based on this information, OFPP will work with agencies to determine the most appropriate course of action to address gaps, if any. As of August 2020, OFPP stated that it had not taken any additional actions to implement the recommendation because it is currently focused on implementing Executive Order 13881 "Maximizing Use of American-Made Goods, Products and Materials".
Recommendation: The Secretary of Veterans Affairs should clarify existing guidance, or provide training or other instruction, to help contracting officials: (1) Address the applicability of the Buy American Act requirements and provide instruction on how to implement the requirements, including in any training developed to implement the Veterans First policy; (2) Identify the factors that should be considered in order to determine the applicability of the Trade Agreements Act and waiver of the Buy American Act; and (3) Identify sources of information available for determining products' origins and the steps they should take to verify information that is inconsistent. (Recommendation 3)
Agency: Department of Veterans Affairs
Status: Open
Comments: The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) concurred and has since taken action to address some of our three-part recommendation. For example, VA revised its "Procurement Policy Memorandum 2017-12", on April 9, 2019, to better clarify its existing Buy American Act guidance and highlight key factors contracting staff should consider when determining the applicability of Buy American Act exceptions and waivers. Additionally, in October 2019, VA provided GAO briefing slides for a new training to be offered at the agency's acquisition academy that includes specific instruction pertaining to the use of Buy American Act exceptions and waivers. However, VA has yet to address our recommendation that the agency clarify guidance or provide training to help contracting officers identify sources of information regarding product origin and the steps to be taken to verify inconsistent product origin information. We plan to keep this recommendation open until VA implements guidance or training of this nature and we are able to assess the extent to which it fully addresses our recommendation.
Recommendation: The Secretary of Health and Human Services should provide guidance, training, or other instruction to help contracting officials: (1) Identify the factors that should be considered in order to determine the applicability of the Trade Agreements Act and waiver of the Buy American Act; (2) Document determinations of the use of Buy American exceptions for domestic non-availability and ensure the required approvals are obtained; and (3) Identify sources of information available for determining products' origins and the steps they should take to verify information that is inconsistent. (Recommendation 4)
Agency: Department of Health and Human Services
Status: Open
Comments: HHS concurred with this recommendation and has taken steps to implement it. HHS issued a memorandum in February 2019 requiring all contracting officers as part of their continuous learning program to complete the Buy American Statute course, FAC063, offered by the Federal Acquisition Institute. As of February 2020, about 90 percent of contracting officials had taken the required training. However, due to its COVID-19 Pandemic response activities, HHS stated that all of its contracting officials had not completed the training as intended. HHS also developed checklists and guidance related to the Buy American Act and Trade Agreements Act. We plan to keep this recommendation open until HHS completes its training initiative.
