Audit of the Broadcasting Board of Governors Administration and Oversight of Acquisition Functions

OIG recommends that the Board of Governors develop an action plan to implement and track a restructuring of the acquisition process within the International Broadcasting Bureau to ensure that all procurements comply with Federal and agency procurement policies. The action plan must have measurable goals and milestones.

OIG recommends that the Board of Governors develop and implement enforcement mechanisms to ensure accountability for compliance with the action plan developed in response to Recommendation 1. This must include regular monitoring and evaluation of the acquisition function and compliance with the action plan.

OIG recommends that the Director of Global Operations adhere to the conditions stated in 22 U.S. Code 6206 for hiring personal services contractors; specifically, a determination of resources needed should be made; the Director should approve the employment of each personal services contractor; and contract length, including options, should not exceed 2 years.

OIG recommends that the International Broadcasting Bureau, Office of Contracts, update its training curriculum to ensure that contracting officers and other responsible contracting officials are appropriately trained to award and administer personal services contracts in accordance with the statutory requirements as defined by the Personal Services Contracting Pilot Program.

OIG recommends that the International Broadcasting Bureau, Office of Contracts, in coordination with the Office of the Chief Financial Officer, develop and implement policies and procedures to ensure that funds are available at the beginning of the period of performance for each contract, which should include the tracking of contract period of performance and the maintenance of appropriate documentation within the contract file. If funds are not available for the entire term of a contract because of a continuing resolution, a subject to availability clause should be included in the terms and conditions of the contract, per the Federal Acquisition Regulation.

OIG recommends that the International Broadcasting Bureau develop and implement fund control regulations, obtain approval from the Office of Management and Budget for the fund control regulations, and post the fund control regulations on its Web site, as required by Office of Management and Budget Circular A-11.

OIG recommends that the International Broadcasting Bureau, Office of Contracts, develop policies and procedures and implementation guidance for conducting market research, in accordance with the Federal Acquisition Regulation. Specifically, criteria should be established to dictate the type and extent of market research to be performed for each procurement action and what types of documentation should be maintained in the contract file.

OIG recommends that the International Broadcasting Bureau, Office of Contracts, cease the use of quarterly sources sought announcements for awarding contracts.

OIG recommends that the International Broadcasting Bureau, Office of Contracts, develop internal policies and procedures and implementation guidance to ensure compliance with the Competition in Contracting Act and Federal Acquisition Regulation regarding the publication of contract actions.

OIG recommends that the International Broadcasting Bureau, Office of Contracts, develop updated internal policies and procedures and implementation guidance to ensure that all offers are evaluated for each proposed contract action and adequately documented in the contract file.

OIG recommends that the International Broadcasting Bureau, Office of Contracts, develop internal policies and procedures and implementation guidance to ensure that justifications for other than full and open competition are adequately documented and only utilized in accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation guidance.

OIG recommends that the Director of Global Operations provide guidance to all offices within the International Broadcasting Bureau to explain the role of the Office of Contracts and the requirement for all acquisitions to comply with the Competition in Contract Act and follow the Federal Acquisition Regulation, and to reinforce the authority of the Senior Procurement Executive.

OIG recommends that the International Broadcasting Bureau hold comprehensive training to ensure that all employees involved in the acquisition process are aware of the Competition in Contracting Act and Federal Acquisition Regulation as it relates to competition, as well as the implications of noncompliance.

OIG recommends that the International Broadcasting Bureau, Office of Contracts, develop comprehensive policies and procedures and implementation guidance that directs contracting officers how to determine and document whether contract prices are fair and reasonable.

OIG recommends that the International Broadcasting Bureau, Office of Contracts, update its training curriculum to ensure that contracting officers and other responsible contracting officials are appropriately trained to conduct and document contract price determinations.

OIG recommends that the International Broadcasting Bureau, Office of Contracts, review each of the contracts notated in Table 1 of Appendix A of the audit report to determine whether the contract price was fair and reasonable in accordance with Federal regulations. For each contract in which the price was determined not to be fair and reasonable, assess whether the contract can be processed using the ratification authority in Federal Acquisition Regulation 1.602-3, and if so, ratify the contract. If the contract cannot be ratified, legal advice must be obtained to determine a resolution.

OIG recommends that the International Broadcasting Bureau, Office of Contracts, develop and implement policies and procedures to provide guidance to contracting officers on the type and extent of contractor responsibility determinations to be made for each award and the types of documentation that should be maintained in the contract file.

OIG recommends that the International Broadcasting Bureau, Office of Contracts, update its policies and procedures for contractor requirements for the Data Universal Numbering System and registration within the Central Contracting Registry to ensure that these procedures are in accordance with the Federal Acquisition Regulation.

OIG recommends that the International Broadcasting Bureau, Office of Contracts, update its training curriculum to ensure that contracting officers and other responsible contracting officials are appropriately trained to conduct and document responsibility determinations and to only allow exemptions under clearly defined circumstances in accordance with the Federal Acquisition Regulation or Office of Federal Procurement Policy guidance.

OIG recommends that International Broadcasting Bureau, Office of Contracts, develop policies and procedures and implementation guidance, which ensure that contracting officer’s representatives (COR) are designated for every contract, and that this documentation clearly defines the COR’s roles and responsibilities and is maintained in the contract file.

OIG recommends that the International Broadcasting Bureau, Office of Contracts, develop policies and procedures and implementation guidance to ensure that contracting officers and contracting officer’s representatives are fully aware of the type and extent of quality assurance procedures that should be performed in accordance with the Federal Acquisition Regulation and the type of documentation that should be maintained in the contract file as supporting evidence of quality assurance.

OIG recommends that the International Broadcasting Bureau, Office of Contracts, in coordination with Voice of America, English to Africa Language Service, develop policies and procedures and implementation guidance to ensure that contractors are not performing inherently governmental functions.

OIG recommends that the International Broadcasting Bureau, Office of Contracts, in coordination with Voice of America, English to Africa Language Service, develop policies and procedures and implementation guidance to ensure that documentation is required for all contractor expenses to provide evidence that the funds were expended in an appropriate manner.

OIG recommends that the International Broadcasting Bureau, Office of Contracts, develop policies and procedures and implementation guidance that direct program officials regarding the use and extent of performance evaluations, including the use of rating tools and clear indicators of performance.

OIG recommends that the International Broadcasting Bureau, Office of Contracts, develop policies and procedures and implementation guidance so that contracting officers are aware of how to utilize past performance evaluations when assessing potential contractors.

OIG recommends that the International Broadcasting Bureau, Office of Contracts, develop and implement a system to track contracting officers' training so that pertinent parties can be informed of missing training and resulting expired warrants.

OIG recommends that the International Broadcasting Bureau, Office of Contracts, develop policies and procedures, to ensure that contracting officers obtain and maintain training requirements for compliance with the Federal Acquisition Certification for Contracting Officer program, including a course of action when requirements are not met.

OIG recommends that the International Broadcasting Bureau, Office of Contracts, develop policies and procedures, including a comprehensive training program, to ensure that contracting officer's representatives obtain and maintain training requirements in compliance with the Federal Acquisition Certification for Contracting Officer's Representatives program.

OIG recommends that the International Broadcasting Bureau, Office of Contracts, develop and implement a system to track training for contracting officer's representatives so that pertinent parties can be informed of missing training and resulting expired certifications.

OIG recommends that the International Broadcasting Bureau, Office of Contracts, update policies and procedures and develop implementation guidance that mandates the documentation to be included in each type of contract file.

OIG recommends that the International Broadcasting Bureau, Office of Contracts, develop and implement policies and procedures to periodically perform quality control reviews of official contract files to determine compliance with internal guidance and the Federal Acquisition Regulation.

OIG recommends that the International Broadcasting Bureau, Office of Contracts, update its training curriculum to ensure that contracting officers and other responsible contracting officials are periodically trained on the required contents for the official contract file.

OIG recommends that the International Broadcasting Bureau, Office of Contracts, assess whether the unauthorized commitments related to Contract Nos. BBG28-F-11-0031 and BBG50-J-12-0709 can be processed using the ratification authority in Federal Acquisition Regulation 1.602-3, and if so, ratify the contracts. If the contracts cannot be ratified, legal advice must be obtained to determine a resolution.

OIG recommends that the International Broadcasting Bureau, Office of Contracts, develop policies and procedures and appropriate internal controls to ensure that contracting officers cannot sign above their warrant levels.

OIG recommends that the Director of Global Operations develop and implement an updated reporting structure for contracting officers that are embedded in program offices to ensure that all contracting officers are provided with proper oversight by the Office of Contracts.