Administration Proposes More Reporting of Counterfeiting in Procurement Supply Chain

The Obama administration is proposing new government-wide requirements for contractors to report all suspected counterfeit and nonconforming products to the Government-Industry Data Exchange Program (GIDEP) database. The Defense Department instituted similar rules in May for counterfeit electronic products (see 14050602). Now the government is proposing amendments to the Federal Acquisition Regulations that would extend that reporting across all products and agencies. Reporting would be required for any suspect counterfeit item, or any item that contains a major or critical nonconformance that was undetected by the supplier in a common item, and has resulted in the release of other nonconforming items to more than one customer. “The rule is intended to reduce the risk of counterfeit items entering the supply chain by ensuring that contractors report suspect items to a widely available database,” it said. Comments are due Aug. 11.