The Department of Defense has proposed a rule that aims to set restrictions on the use of the lowest price technically acceptable approach in the source-selection process.A Federal Register notice published Tuesday says DoD introduced the rule as an amendment to Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement to comply with the provisions of the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal years 2017 and 2018.
Under the proposed regulation, agencies can only use the LPTA process if the minimum requirements are presented in terms of standards, measures and performance objectives that will be used to assess offers.
The approach will apply to products that are “predominantly expendable in nature, are nontechnical, or have a short life expectancy or short shelf life†and will be used if an agency does not see any additional technological advantage with regard to the implementation of other vendor-selection processes.
According to the notice, the proposed LPTA restrictions would cover commercial items procured through FAR part 12 procedures and orders placed through Federal Supply Schedules using FAR subpart 8.4 processes.
The department will accept feedback on the proposed rule through Feb. 4.
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