The Truth in Negotiations Act

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The Truth in Negotiations Act was passed on December 1, 1962 requiring government contractors to submit cost or pricing data if the procurement met specific requirements in order to establish that the offer is fair and reasonable. The history of The Truth in Negotiations Act will set the stage for its significance in the twenty-first century. Prior to World War II, the United States government conducted its bidding process for procurement in an open bid environment. What was required for a bid was a complete description of the requirement, two or more suppliers capable and willing to complete the requirement, a selection based on price competition and sufficient time to prepare a complete statement of the government’s needs and terms. (Graetz, 1968). If any of these were missing then a negotiated contract would have to take place. This was a time consuming process. During World War II, the United States Government was looking for a method in which to speed up their procurement process. The decision was made to no longer formally advertise their requirements but solicit bids from suppliers that they knew could meet the technical requirements. (Maddox, 2013) The loss of openly advertising a requirement moved the government from an environment of fixed price type contract to an environment of negotiated contracts. The government was doing what they felt was in the best interest of the country, which meant speeding up the procurement process in order to support a war that was being waged. This did not mean the government moved completely away from competitive bids, but they did not rely as heavily on them as they had in the past. What does this mean? A competitive bid and a competitive environment allows for the market to ... ... middle of paper ... ...hing that was not ever the easiest type of contract to navigate but over the years the requirements have continued to get more complicated and require a lot of additional effort on the contract and the contracting officer. A contracting officer does not just accept the data supplied by the supplier as acceptable. A contract officer will have to perform due diligence and verify the information submitted. This means that the contracting officer will have to verify the material costs, the labor costs, the travel costs, and any of the data supplied. A negotiated contract that must be compliant with the Truth in Negotiations Act is one that the government tends to try to avoid because of the complexity and additional costs associated with this particular contract type. No longer are the days of World War II that would consider this as faster method of contracting.

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