TURNING A BLIND EYE? RESPECTING HUMAN RIGHTS IN GOVERNMENT PURCHASING
THE PROJECT This report was initiated by the “Government Procurement Project” of the International Corporate Accountability Roundtable (ICAR), which commissioned three experts—Robert Stumberg, Anita Ramasastry, and Meg Roggensack—to research and answer the following questions: 1.
Is the U.S. federal government purchasing from suppliers or sectors that are associated with human rights abuses, and, if so, how does the procurement process address or exacerbate such abuses?
2.
What are the legal or practical concerns that constrain U.S. federal agencies from using the procurement process to improve suppliers’ respect for human rights?
3.
How can U.S. federal procurement rules be expanded or strengthened to leverage the government’s purchasing power to promote respect for human rights by its suppliers?
A key objective of the Project was to focus on the rules that U.S. federal agencies must follow throughout the procurement process, which are laid out in the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR).5 The Project also chose to focus on changes that can be made at the agency level as well based on the fact that individual agencies can go beyond the FAR through their own supplements, as long as they do not conflict with the FAR. Agencies are also authorized to test innovative procurement methods, with the consent of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and with notice to congressional oversight committees, as appropriate. 6 The Project and this report aim to spark a discussion at the national, regional, and international levels around how the procurement process can be strategically reformed to enhance respect for human rights.
REPORT FINDINGS This report examines the existing Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) and related executive orders that address several human rights issues within the acquisition process. It then provides a policy menu at each stage of procurement and concludes by mapping how procurement reform can be scaled in a realistic way, including through approaches that are economy-wide, through specific sectors, or through specific products or services within a sector. First, this report finds that changes can be made to the procurement process at five stages to enhance respect for human rights. Stage 1: Planning for Procurement Needs and Risks The scope of protection should be expanded and human rights definitions should be clarified. Stage 2: Solicitation of Bids and Giving Notice Notice of risks should be expanded to include a broad range of human rights abuses. Stage 3: Evaluation of Potential Contractors Whether a bidder is “responsible” should be evaluated based on compliance with source-country laws that protect workers and communities. Moreover, the database that contains information on contractors should be expanded, contractors should be required to certify that they know with whom they subcontract, and a contractors’ capacity to manage its supply chain should be considered as an evaluation criterion. Stage 4: Award Contract and Set Contract Terms
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