Purchase of Federal Prison Industries products (DFARS case 2002-D003).

Updates and clarifies policy on purchasing products from Federal Prison Industries (FPI). The changes--

(1) clarify requirements for conducting market research before purchasing a product listed in the FPI Schedule;

(2) clarify requirements for use of competitive procedures, to include the use of small business set-asides and multiple award schedules, if an FPI product is found to be noncomparable to products available from the private sector;

(3) specify that a contracting officer's comparability determination is not subject to the arbitration procedures of FAR 8.605;

(4) specify that a DoD contractor may not be required to use FPI as a subcontractor; and

(5) prohibit the award of a contract to FPI that would allow an inmate worker access to classified or sensitive information.

These changes--

(1) implement Section 819 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2003 and further implement Section 811 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2002;

(2) become effective 30 days after the date of publication, as required by Section 819 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2003; and

(3) apply to solicitations issued on or after December 15, 2003, and will be incorporated into the DFARS on December 15, 2003.

An Aug. 15, 2003, information paper addressing recent FAR and DFARS changes on the purchase of FPI products is available at http://www.acq.osd.mil/dpap/Docs/FederalPrisonIndustriesInc.pdf.