Executive Order 12352—Federal Procurement Reforms

By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and laws of the United States of America, and in order to ensure effective and efficient spending of public funds through fundamental reforms in Government procurement, it is hereby ordered as follows: Section 1. To make procurement more effective in support of mission accomplishment, the heads of executive agencies engaged in the procurement of products and services from the private sector shall: (a) Establish programs to reduce administrative costs and other burdens which the procurement function imposes on the Federal Government and the private sector. Each program shall take into account the need to eliminate unnecessary agency procurement regulations, paperwork, reporting requirements, solicitation provisions, contract clauses, certifications, and other administrative procedures. Private sector views on needed changes should be solicited as appropriate; (b) Strengthen the review of programs to balance individual program needs against mission priorities and available resources; (c) Ensure timely satisfaction of mission needs at reasonable prices by establishing criteria to improve the effectiveness of procurement systems; (d) Establish criteria for enhancing effective competition and limiting noncompetitive actions. These criteria shall seek to improve competition by such actions as eliminating unnecessary Government specifications and simplifying those that must be retained, expanding the purchase of available commercial goods and services, and, where practical, using functionally-oriented specifications or otherwise describing Government needs so as to permit greater latitude for private sector response; (e) Establish programs to simplify small purchases and minimize paperwork burdens imposed on the private sector, particularly small businesses; (f) Establish administrative procedures to ensure that contractors, especially small businesses, receive timely payment; (g) Establish clear lines of contracting authority and accountability; (h) Establish career management programs, covering the full range of personnel management functions, that will result in a highly qualified, well managed professional procurement work force; and (i) Designate a Procurement Executive with agency-wide responsibility to oversee development of procurement systems, evaluate system performance in accordance with approved criteria, enhance career management of the procurement work force, and certify to the agency head that procurement systems meet approved criteria. Sec. 2. The Secretary of Defense, the Administrator of General Services, and the Administrator for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration shall continue their joint efforts to consolidate their common procurement regulations into a single simplified Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) by the end of calendar year 1982. Sec. 3. The Director of the Office of Personnel Management, in consultation with the heads of executive agencies, shall ensure that personnel policies and classification standards meet the needs of executive agencies for a professional procurement work force. Sec. 4. The Director of the Office of Management and Budget, through the Office of Federal Procurement Policy as appropriate, shall work jointly with the heads of executive agencies to provide broad policy guidance and overall leadership necessary to achieve procurement reform, encompassing: (a) Identifying desirable Government-wide procurement system criteria, such as minimum requirements for training and appointing contracting officers; (b) Facilitating the resolution of conflicting views among those agencies having regulatory authority with respect to Government-wide procurement regulations; (c) Assisting executive agencies in streamlining guidance for procurement processes; (d) Assisting in the development of criteria for procurement career management programs; (e) Facilitating interagency coordination of common procurement reform efforts; (f) Identifying major inconsistencies in law and policies relating to procurement which impose unnecessary burdens on the private sector and Federal procurement officials; and, following coordination with executive agencies, submitting necessary legislative initiatives for the resolution of such inconsistencies; and (g) Reviewing agency implementation of the provisions of this Executive Order and keeping me informed of progress and accomplishments. RONALD REAGAN The White House, March 17, 1982. [Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 4:37 p.m., March 18, 1982]