PSC Comments: Prohibition on Certain Procurements Using Uyghur Forced Labor

Published on 8/7/2023


On August 7, 2023, PSC submitted comments on an interim rule, Prohibition on Certain Procurements from the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR; DFARS Case 2023-D015).

This rule requires DoD offerors and awardees to make a "good faith effort" to determine that forced labor from XUAR will not be used in the performance of a DoD contract. Noting the opaqueness of the Chinese marketplace, PSC recommended, inter alia, that DoD: (1) use the standard of “reasonable inquiry” (a known standard with a multi-year history in such statutory bans); (2) provide clarifying definitions of key terms, and (3) consider exceptions or waiver authority in certain cases. Read PSC's comments here.