Abstract
The Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) is a highly broad and intricate assortment of regulations that govern the purchase process of the federal government. The Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) ensures that the measures of purchasing are standard and unwavering, and guarantees that they are undertaken in an impartial and unbiased manner. It is imperative that owners of small businesses and the official mandated with contracting to understand and have a full comprehension of the FAR (Koprince, 2012). Failure to understand the regulation leads to pricey pitfalls, such as those which will be discussed in this essay. The Inchcape Shipping Service scandal is an example of a recent procurement case that has recently happened, where it was charged with overcharging the US Navy for services in ship husbanding. Notably, if the contracting officer or party fails to fully acquaint themselves with understanding the provisions in the contract, particularly those that reference the FAR areas, pitfalls and scandals are hard to avoid.
Scandal under investigation
The Inchcape Shipping Service scandal is an example of a recent procurement case that has recently happened, where it was charged with overcharging the US Navy for services in ship husbanding. (Department of Justice - https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/united-states-joins-lawsuit-alleging-inchcape-shipping-services-overcharged-united-states)
The Far and Contract Provisions for Protection Procurement and Contract Law
Analyze the FAR, and conclude whether or not these regulations overall offer adequate protection of the collective buying power of the American people. Prepare an argument in support of your position
The Federal Acquisition Regulation and Contract Provisions for Protection
In appraising the requirements of the Federal Acquisition Regulation regarding the inspection requirements of the Contractor, the default clause provides the contract sufficient means of determining the issue prior to determining ending a contract due to default. The contractor can either switch or correct any supplies with defects with negotiated delivery period, and in addition, the contracting officer possesses the mandate to make reasonable amendments to pricing for that reason.
In addition, with the ability of the government to conduct inspections on products and testing of supplies prior to delivering them, this facilitates input and reaction to the organization responsible for contracting, provided that it does not require any undue production hold ups. In bringing the two clauses together to offer both parties protection with regard to default and delay, the government provides remedies that are legally provided, or under the contract provisions on condition that the contractor replaces or corrects the nonconforming or defective supplies.
The rationale for the establishment of the FAR’s was to provide a universal system of procurement, with the aim of assisting in the monitoring of all procurement and acting as an avenue for the provision of availing the available recommendations that ought to be followed. Any violation of the stipulations provided results in an infringement of the law.
Moreover, this body established all the procedures and the descriptions of the contract, as approved by the department of procurement. According to the implemented decisions in the FAR, it is only the experienced and knowledgeable personnel that qualify to be awarded a contract. It thus follows that any attempt to violate these provisions, for instance, through soliciting the contractors with the aim of manipulating the system or getting an upper hand in obtaining a contract is totally discouraged.
The FAR offers guidelines that relay consequences for people that try to manipulate the procurement system to achieve an undue advantage. Such individuals are then resultantly disqualified from taking part in any bidding activities, in tandem with measures being taken against officials found to be perpetrating such atrocities against the system.
Appraisal of Contracting and the FAR
After appraising the Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR), I am of the strong opinion that the FAR does not offer adequate protection for the American peoples’ buying power. The FAR is the principal system of regulation that governs how a contracting officer handles the process of agencies intending to buy services and goods.
The FAR fails to provide adequate protection for buyers because it lays the full responsibility of the acquisition of such goods and services on the verdict of the contracting officer that oversees the procurement process. In instances regarding the granting of government contracts, the contracting officer invariably has excessive power. Checks and balances can only be appropriately provided with the oversight of the legislature, which curbs contractor excesses and thus mitigates impropriety (Kowalski, 2012). However, many citizens are not aware of the FAR, and they only realize that the government can even make purchases from the public when prices are highly exaggerated. It is the mandate of the public to know how the government is spending as it is the public’s money.
Before the FAR was instituted, a civilian contractor could have the opening to set exorbitant prices, particularly when making sales to the government. However, the FAR prevents this from occurring. As such, it offers some protection for the American people with regard to their buying power. However, the lack of keen oversight to mitigate against circumventing these stipulations ensures that the system is not entirely effective in protecting the American citizens’ buying power.
Based on the scandal that you have researched, determine whether or not the executive branch is the proper one to effectuate change that would provide checks and balances for the purchase of good and services for the government. Provide a rationale for your answer
Notably, scandals come in numerous ways, with many occurring due to the presence of unscrupulous individuals in high positions in the procurement areas, and who are prone to be induced to conduct underhand businesses in return for a profit. The scandal studied for this paper is the one involving the Inchappe Shipping Services. This scandal involving the Shipping Service caused the overcharging of the American Air force for incomplete shipping services and widespread bribery of the Navy’s executives to cover up the offense, which subsequently resulted in the covering up of the culture of inefficient schemes, abuse and waste (Almeida, 2013).
My Rationale
Assessing these inefficiencies, I strongly believe that the executive branch lacks the full efficiency to effectuate a change that would institute a good system for offering checks and balances. I strongly believe that the executive also requires the very checks and balances in order to purge the government the culture of abuse and fraud in the procurement system of the American government. This is because as highlighted by the scandal discussed above, the procurement area is still heavily infested with challenges such as overbilling, monopolization, and opposition to investigations by the government into the procurement processes.
Regarding the aforementioned case, it follows that procurement executives act in the knowledge that they are in charge and thus, this abuse of the procurement system is invariably perpetrated by the fact that there has been a consistent lack of due oversight to rule over the officials. Regarding the Inchcape Shipping Service scandal, there was a general lack of oversight, contractor cohesiveness, and bribery that promoted the violation of business ethics and integrity.
References
Almeida, R. (2013). Inchcape Shipping Services Barred From All U.S. Navy Contracts. Retrieved 13th January, 2017 from http://gcaptain.com/inchcape-shipping-services-barred/
Koprince, S.J. (2012). The Small-Business Guide to Government Contracts: How to Comply with the Key Rules and Regulationsand Avoid Terminated Agreements, Fines, or Worse. New York: AMACOM Div American Mgmt Assn.
Kowalski, K.M. (2012). Checks and Balances: A Look at the Powers of Government. Minneapolis, Minn.: Lerner Publications.
Small Business Administration. (2016). Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR). Retrieved 13th January, 2017 from https://www.sba.gov/contracting/contracting-officials/federal-acquisition-regulations-far
