Increased Opportunity for Small Businesses Due to New FAR Amendments

January 18, 2023, Clearwater, FL

The Preventing Organizational Conflicts of Interest in Federal Acquisition Act (P.L.117-324) was signed by the President on December 27, 2022. The FAR Council is required to update Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Subpart 9.5 by June 2024 to include the following:

• Concepts of particular forms of organizational conflicts of interest include when some individuals or entities have access to data that others do not, when rationality is harmed, or when there are unfair procedures or standards for making decisions.

• Concepts, guidelines, and instances of potential conflicts of interest may result from a contractor’s connections to other organizations (such as governmental or non-governmental entities) that might affect their performance on a contract. Conflicts may arise in circumstances when these connections may unfairly impact contractors.

• Possible conflicts of interest are situations in which a government entity contracts a company. However, its workers are concurrently working on a contract with a customer in the government industry that is subject to the firm’s regulation.

The FAR Council is Required to update the Federal Acquisition Regulations to: 

• To prevent or reduce conflicts of interest in government contracts, equip executive entities with proper contract terms and solicitation requirements. Concerning possible conflicts of interest in the work to be done under granted contracts, these restrictions may impact further contracting and mandate that companies report data concerning them.
• Permit organizational entities to modify conflict of interest provisions and restrictions in government contracts to meet particular concerns and factors relevant to their organization.
• Establishing or updating policies for handling conflicts of interest, including assessing and updating them as necessary regularly to meet agency-specific conflict situations, are requirements for agencies.
• Permit contracting officers to consider industry best practices and safeguards against conflicts of interest when assessing proposals and contracts.