Buy American Act Compliance Deficiencies at Regional Procurement Office Central

The VA Office of Inspector General (OIG) conducted an audit to assess Regional Procurement Office Central’s (RPO Central) compliance with the Buy American Act of 1933 and associated guidance, which requires the federal government to purchase domestic products when possible. The OIG audited RPO Central because it had over $4.3 billion in obligations in FY 2021, making it the largest in terms of contract expenditures of the three procurement centers in the Veterans Health Administration’s (VHA) Procurement and Logistics Office. The audit team reviewed a statistical sample of 80 contracts, made from October 2017 through March 2021, and related files RPO Central officials use to ensure compliance with the act, and it examined internal reviews of compliance from 2017. Due to insufficient oversight and training, contracting officers did not always meet the act’s requirements, resulting in expenditures of about $280.6 million for foreign-made items and $351 million for domestic-made items with contract files that contained compliance deficiencies. Of the 40 contracts for foreign-made items, 37 did not comply with the act, compared to 15 of 40 that did not comply for domestic-made items. RPO Central reviewers did not identify deficiencies in almost 75 percent of the reviewed foreign-made contracts. Contracting officers indicated training did not fully address the complexities of the act. The audit team also determined that RPO Central’s executive director did not fully implement recommendations from a 2017 review by the VA’s Risk Management and Compliance Service. The OIG made two recommendations to the VA Office of Acquisition and Logistics’ executive director to ensure contracting office leaders assess compliance weaknesses, implement corrective actions, and require refresher training for contracting officers who made the deficient contracts. The OIG also made one recommendation to the VHA procurement executive director to evaluate contract file review procedures.