Procurement Risk:
Moderate
Score:
65.3/100
Government Policy
Q57
50/100
Does the country have legislation covering defence and security procurement with clauses specific to corruption risks, and are any items exempt from these laws?
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This indicator is not assigned a score in the GDI. The Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) [1] and the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS)…
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The DFARS does not explicitly mention risks of corruption by name however, there are some provisions which cover corruption risks [1]. Part 203 of…
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In general, acquisitions are undertaken in accordance with DFARS and FAR as applicable. However, DoD Contract Management is on the Government Accountability Office’s (GAO)…
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Q58
83/100
Is the defence procurement cycle process, from assessment of needs, through contract implementation and sign-off, all the way to asset disposal, disclosed to the public?
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The procurement cycle is divided into three processes: the defence acquisition process, the JCIDS process (as outlined in Q11) and the PPBE process (as…
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All the legislation, guidance and instructions outlined in 58A are publicly available. The ‘Operation of the Adaptive Acquisition Framework’ provides a list of references,…
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For each of the acquisition pathways outlined in the ‘Adaptive Acquisition Framework’, there are detailed procedures for each of the phases [1]. For example,…
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Q59
58/100
Are defence procurement oversight mechanisms in place and are these oversight mechanisms active and transparent?
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Various bodies, both internal and external, perform oversight of DoD acquisitions. The internal bodies are the DoD Defence Contract Audit Agency (DCAA) and the…
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The DoD IG has 237 open recommendations regarding acquisition programmes, which suggests a fairly active oversight function [1]. The fact that these recommendations remain…
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The vast majority of GAO and DoD OIG reports relating to defence acquisitions are published publicly on their websites. This includes reviews and reports…
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Procurement is undertaken via the Planning, Programming, Budgeting and Execution process. The planning phase produces the Defense Planning Guidance (DPG), which draws from the…
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The Future Years Defence Plan (FYDP) is a congressionally mandated annual requirement from the Secretary of Defense [1], which outlines the estimated expenditures and…
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Information on all unclassified contracts over the minimum purchase threshold ($10,000) is published on the beta.SAM.gov website (previously the Federal Procurement Data System). This…
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The beta.SAM.gov website allows users to produce a variety of reports and datasets relating to contract awards. Once a user account is created, members…
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Capability Gap and Requirements Definition
Q62
88/100
What procedures and standards are companies required to have – such as compliance programmes and business conduct programmes – in order to be able to bid for work for the Ministry of Defence or armed forces?
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The FAR prescribes that the clause ‘Contractor Code of Business Ethics and Conduct’ should be inserted in solicitations and contracts if the value of…
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It is hard to assess the implementation of these policies, however, the Defence Companies Index on Anti-Corruption and Corporate Transparency (DCI), produced by TI…
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Q63
50/100
Are procurement requirements derived from a national defence and security strategy, and are procurement decisions well-audited? Are defence purchases based on clearly identified and quantified requirements?
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The Joint Capabilities Integration and Development System (JCIDS) is the process by which the DoD identifies, assesses and prioritises the capabilities required by the…
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The Joint Requirements Oversight Council (JROC) oversees all joint capability documents internally. As with most functions of the DoD, they are occasionally audited by…
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There is not enough information to score this indicator, as the strategic documents are not made public. As outlined in 63B, there is widespread…
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Tender Solicitation, Assessment and Contract Award
Q64
50/100
Is defence procurement generally conducted as open competition or is there a significant element of single-sourcing (that is, without competition)?
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Between 2015 and 2019, 53.7% of contract dollars awarded by defence agencies were awarded competitively [1]. The GAO undertakes an annual assessment of the…
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According to the DFARS, the DoD is prohibited from entering into contracts on the basis of an unsolicited proposal without full and open competition,…
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Q65
25/100
Are tender boards subject to regulations and codes of conduct and are their decisions subject to independent audit to ensure due process and fairness?
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Most of the ethical conduct regulations on procurement focus on relations with the contractor. The Procurement Integrity Act outlines regulations with regard to safeguarding…
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According to Steven Aftergood, the DFARS does leave an audit trail which is helpful to auditors and investigators [1]. There is no evidence of…
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Outside of the Procurement Integrity Act, and the standards of conduct outlined in the FAR [1,2], there is no further evidence of specific tender…
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As outlined in Q11, the Joint Capability Integration & Development System (JCIDS) is the process used for identifying and prioritising military capability requirements. It…
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Q66
88/100
Does the country have legislation in place to discourage and punish collusion between bidders for defence and security contracts?
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The issue of collusion within procurement is addressed within legislation on ‘antitrust’, which works to ‘prohibit business practices that unreasonably deprive consumers of the…
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Subpart 3.3 of the FAR regulates antitrust violations. If there is evidence of a violation of antitrust laws within bids or proposals, the contracting…
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An FOIA request made in 2019 by Steven Aftergood revealed that, between 2013 and 2017, there were 1,059 criminal cases of defence contracting fraud,…
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The Procurement Collusion Strike Force (PCSF) organises training with the DoD Inspector General for procurement officials at all levels. The purpose of this training…
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Contract Delivery and In-Service Support
Q67
58/100
Are there mechanisms and procedures that ensure that contractors meet their obligations on reporting and delivery?
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The Defense Contract Management Agency has a number of policies on managing contractors, most of which are guided by the ‘Contract Maintenance’ instruction [1].…
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Full contracts are not published in either their original or modified state, and any excerpts from a modified contract are also not published. Information…
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In 2017, the DoD Inspector General released a summary of a series of reports assessing how effectively the DoD tracks the performance of its…
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There is not enough information to score this indicator.Very little data on the enforcement of sanctions due to breaches of contract could be found…
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Q68
100/100
Are there mechanisms in place to allow companies to complain about perceived malpractice in procurement, and are companies protected from discrimination when they use these mechanisms?
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The Contractor Disclosure Program enables contractors to report violations of criminal law and violations of the civil False Claims Act [1]. The DoD Inspector…
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The Contractor Disclosure Program is free of charge and consists only of a form that can be emailed or posted once completed. It is…
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It has been difficult to accurately assess this indicator. In 2008, Boeing challenged the government’s decision to award Northrup Grumman and EADS a $35…
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Under the FAR Subpart 3.7, ‘Voiding and Rescinding Contracts’, the heads of executive agencies are empowered to declare void and rescind contracts if there…
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There is no evidence of undue political influence. The cases outlined in the DoD IG Semiannual Reports to Congress suggest that the formal process…
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The DoD IG Semiannual Report to Congress contains a section on DCIS investigations, under which public corruption and procurement fraud fall, and this includes…
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Offset Contracts
Q70
100/100
When negotiating offset contracts, does the government specifically address corruption risk by imposing anti-corruption due diligence on contractors and third parties?
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With regard to offsets in defence trade, the 1992 Amendments to the 1950 Defence Production Act states that offsets are ‘economically inefficient and trade…
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This indicator is scored ‘Not Applicable’ because the United States prohibits any federal agency from entering into any offset agreement [1]. However, there is…
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This indicator is scored ‘Not Applicable’ because the United States prohibits any federal agency from entering into any offset agreement [1].
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This indicator is scored ‘Not Applicable’ because the United States prohibits any federal agency from entering into any offset agreement [1].
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This indicator is scored ‘Not Applicable’ because the United States prohibits any federal agency from entering into any offset agreement [1].
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This indicator is scored ‘Not Applicable’ because the United States prohibits any federal agency from entering into any offset agreement [1].
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This indicator is scored ‘Not Applicable’ because the United States prohibits any federal agency from entering into any offset agreement [1].
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Agents / Brokers
Q73
NEI/100
How strongly does the government control the company’s use of agents and intermediaries in the procurement cycle?
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Part 129 of the Code of Federal Regulations concerns the registration and licensing of brokers [1]. It provides that agents (“persons engaged in brokering”)…
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There is not enough information to score this indicator. The Commerce Department does not collect key information on agents before approving arms deals [1].…
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Financing Package
Q74
0/100
Are the principal aspects of the financing package surrounding major arms deals, (such as payment timelines, interest rates, commercial loans or export credit agreements) made publicly available prior to the signing of contracts?
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For major weapons systems, which are capital intensive and take a long time to produce, contract financing is used by the DoD to support…
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Seller Influence
Q75
NS/100
How common is it for defence acquisition decisions to be based on political influence by selling nations?
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This indicator is not assigned a score in the GDI. A review of the SIPRI arms transfer database shows that the United States imported…
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This indicator is not assigned a score in the GDI. While the US has a formalised and effective process for defence procurement, justification for…
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This indicator is not assigned a score in the GDI. Domestic acquisitions are heavily influenced by the defence industry, as well as government officials,…
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