New requirements for interagency agreements

Agencies now have guidelines from the lead federal procurement office designed to help them make sound business decisions and better manage assisted acquisitions.

Paul Denett, administrator of the Office Federal Procurement Policy, wrote in a memo accompanying the 70-page document that agencies currently lack a precise understanding of their responsibilities in interagency acquisitions. Without knowing what’s expected of the agency requesting the assistance and agency providing it, each party has struggled with poor planning, inconsistent uses of contract competitions, weak management and concerns about financial controls.

Interagency contracts appeal to contracting officers who are understaffed and under pressure to meet their agencies’ acquisition requirements quickly, officials have said, while adding agencies can buy the wrong thing as quickly.

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