United States Department of Agriculture

Food and Nutrition Service

Southeast Region

 

Policy Memorandum 250.20-01:  Debarment and Suspension Certification

 

This memorandum is a restatement of policy previously issued as Food Distribution Policy Memoranda 93-1 on March 3, 1993, and 96-1 on November 15, 1995.  Any changes made to the original texts are in bold.

 

Effective September 26, 1995, with the publication of the proposed 7 Code of Federal Regulation (CFR) Part 3017, the threshold for certification for debarment and suspension was increased to $100,000 from $25,000.  To ensure compliance with the requirements of 7 CFR 3017, Nonprocurement Debarment and Suspension, the following apply.

 

Form AD-1047 - Certification Regarding Debarment, Suspension, and Other Responsibility Matters - Primary Covered Transactions, is required for State/local agreements over $100,000 for Nutrition Education and Training, the Commodity Supplemental Food Program, and The Emergency Food Assistance Program.  It is NOT required for the Food Distribution Program.

 

Form AD-1048 - Certification Regarding Debarment, Suspension, Ineligibility, and Voluntary Exclusion - Lower Tier Covered Transactions, is required for all procurement contracts over $100,000 at the grantee and subgrantee level.  It is also required for procurement contracts involving principal investigators or providers of federally-required audit services, regardless of the amount.

 

Debarment/Suspension List

 

The General Services Administration (GSA) publishes a List of Parties Excluded from Federal Procurement or Nonprocurement Programs.  This list contains the names and other information about organizations which have been debarred, suspended, or voluntarily excluded under Executive Order 12549 and 7 CFR 3017, and those which have been determined to be ineligible.  State and local agencies may consult this list; however, consulting this list is not mandatory.  State and local agencies are responsible only for obtaining the proper certification from the contractor, and  they  are  not required  to verify  the veracity  of  the certification by consulting this debarment listing.  Therefore, if an agency obtains the signed certification from an organization, and that organization is found to have been debarred, the State/local agency is not liable.  An agency is only liable if it knowingly contracts with an organization which is suspended or debarred.

 

Contracts with Debarred/Suspended Organizations

 

1)      If a State or local agency becomes aware that an organization with which it is contracted has been subject to a debarment or suspension action under the nonprocurement debarment and suspension system during the course of the contract, the agency is not required to terminate the contract.  However, the agency may not renew or extend the contract with that organization once the initial contract period is over, if that organization is still in a debarred or suspended status.

 

2)      If a State or local agency becomes aware that an organization with which it is contracted was debarred/suspended at the time the initial contract was signed, i.e., that the organization submitted a false certification, the agency should immediately inform its administering agency.  Thus, a local agency should inform its administering State agency, which in turn will pass this information on to our office.  Our office will transmit this information to the National Office for further guidance.