Section 2952.209-70 - Organizational Conflict of Interest Clause-OCI-1 Exclusion From Future Agency ContractsAs prescribed in 2909.507-70, insert the following clause:
Organizational Conflict of Interest Clause-OCI-1 Exclusion From Future Agency Contracts (DEC 2012)
This clause supplements the FAR provisions on organizational conflicts of interest, located at FAR subpart 9.5 and should be read in conjunction with these provisions. To the extent there is any inconsistency or confusion between the two provisions, the FAR provision controls.
(a) Work under this contract may create a future organizational conflict of interest (OCI) that could prohibit the contractor from competing for, or being awarded, future government contracts. The following examples illustrate situations in which organizational conflicts of interest may arise. They are not all inclusive, but will be used by the contracting officer as general guidance in individual contract situations:(1) Unequal Access to Information. The performance of this contract may provide access to "nonpublic information," which could provide the contractor an unfair competitive advantage in later solicitations or competitions for other DOL contracts. Such an advantage could be perceived as unfair by a competing vendor who is not given similar access to the same nonpublic information that is related to the future procurement action. If you, as a contractor, in performing this contract, obtain nonpublic information that is relevant to a future procurement action, you may be required to submit and negotiate an acceptable mitigation plan prior to being deemed eligible to compete on the future action. Alternatively, the "nonpublic information" may be provided to all offerors.(2) Biased Ground Rules. Your contract with DOL may have, in some fashion, established important "ground rules" for another DOL procurement, in which you may desire to be a competitor. For example, this contract may involve you drafting the statement of work, specifications, or evaluation criteria for a future DOL procurement. The primary concern, in any such situation, is that any such firm could skew the competition, whether intentionally or not, or be perceived as having skewed the competition, in its own favor. If the requirements of this DOL contract anticipate the contractor may be placed in a position to establish important ground rules, including but not limited to those described herein, the contractor may be precluded from competing in the related action or, if possible, may be required to submit and negotiate an acceptable mitigation plan.(3) Impaired Objectivity. The performance of this contract may result in the contractor being placed in a situation where it is able, or required, to provide assessment and evaluation findings concerning itself, another business division, a subsidiary or affiliate, or other entity with which it has a significant financial relationship. The concern in this case is that the contractor's ability to render impartial advice to DOL could appear to be undermined by the contractor's financial or other business relationship to the entity whose work product is being assessed or evaluated. In these situations, a "walling off" of lines of communication between entities or divisions may be acceptable, but it also may not be sufficient to remove the perception that the objectivity of the contractor has been tainted. If the requirements of the DOL procurement indicate that a contractor may be placed in a position to provide evaluations and assessments of itself or other entities with which it has a significant financial relationship, the affected contractor should notify DOL immediately. The contractor may also be required to provide a mitigation plan that includes recusal by the contractor from one of the affected contracts. Such recusal might include divestiture of the work to a third party.(b) To prevent a future OCI of any kind, the contractor shall be subject to the following restrictions:(1) The contractor may be excluded from competition for, or award of, any government contracts as to which, in the course of performing another contract, the contractor has received nonpublic and competitively relevant information before such information has been made generally available to other persons or firms.(2) The contractor may be excluded from competition for, or award of, any government contract for which the contractor actually assisted or participated in the development of specifications or statements of work.(3) The contractor may be excluded from competition for, or award of, any government contract which calls for it to evaluate itself, any affiliate, or any products or services produced or performed thereby.(4) The contractor may be excluded from competition for, or award of, any government contract calling for the production or performance of any product or service for which the contractor participated in the development of requirements or definitions pursuant to another contract.(c) This clause shall not exclude the contractor from performing work under any modification to this contract or from competing for award of any future contract for work that is the same or similar to work performed under this contract, so long as the conditions above are not present. This clause does not prohibit an incumbent from competing on a follow-on competition, but the contracting officer may require a mitigation plan or other steps as needed to ensure that there has not been an unequal access to nonpublic competitively sensitive information.(d) The term "contractor" as used in this clause, includes any person, firm, or corporation that owns or controls, or is owned or controlled by, the contractor. The term also includes the corporate officers of the contractor.(e) The agency may, in its sole discretion, waive any provisions of this clause if deemed in the best interest of the Government. The exclusions contained in this clause shall apply for the duration of this contract and for three (3) years after completion and acceptance of all work performed hereunder, or such other period as the contracting officer shall direct.(f) If any provision of this clause excludes the contractor from competition for, or award of any contract, the contractor shall not be permitted to serve as a subcontractor, at any tier, on such contract. This clause shall be incorporated into any subcontracts or consultant agreements awarded under this contract unless the contracting officer determines otherwise. (END OF CLAUSE)