NDIA, PSC seek more time for contractors’ Section 889 compliance
ARLINGTON, VA – Leaders of the National Defense Industrial Association and the Professional Services Council want Congress to move by six months the deadline to implement part of the 2019 National Defense Authorization Act that prohibits the government from doing business with companies having Huawei, ZTE or affiliated entities’ products in their supply chains, the Arlington, VA-based groups announce April 2.
At a time when the focus should be on recovering from fallout of the COVID-19 crisis, this six-month extension -- from Aug. 13, 2020, to February 2021 -- is justified, the March 31 letter to congressional leaders said. Hawk Carlisle, NDIA’s president and CEO, and David Berteau, PSC’s president and CEO, sent the letter on behalf of “thousands of businesses of all sizes and sectors providing essential products and services supporting America’s warfighters” and who are committed to national defense during the Coronavirus response.
NDIA and PSC seek the change for two reasons: to give the government time to issue a draft implementation rule, and to give industry and the public time to assess impacts and comment on the implementation plan for such a complex undertaking.
“Section 889 Part B has broad legislative language,” Carlisle said. “There is no draft rule to understand critical definitions and compliance requirements. Add to this a need to focus on the impact of COVID-19 crisis, and we feel postponement is needed to implement this policy correctly.”
Without more time, this broad language in Part B “will impose significant financial and operational costs on medium- and small-sized firms at a moment of substantial uncertainty and hardship,” the letter states. These companies know they need to secure their supply chains “against determined and sophisticated adversaries, and they stand ready to do what it takes to deliver uncompromised goods and services,” the letter states.
Media queries, contact Evamarie Socha at esocha@NDIA.org