Proof Of Actual Bias Not Required To Show Conflict Of Interest
Client Alert | 1 min read | 12.07.06
Using the rarely-invoked exception to its timeliness rules for protests raising issues of widespread interest to the procurement community, the GAO in Celadon Laboratories, Inc., (http://www.gao.gov/decisions/bidpro/ 298533.pdf, Nov. 1, 2006) upheld a protest challenging an HHS decision not to fund the protester’s Small Business Innovation Research proposal, finding a conflict of interest where the members of the Special Emphasis Panel (SEP) that evaluated (and rejected) the proposal were employed by, or funded by, firms that support a competing technology. Because of the specific conflict information protester brought to the agency’s attention during the evaluation, GAO not only rejected HHS’s reliance on its SEP’s self-certification but also, rejected the argument that actual bias must be shown and instead concluded that in cases in which the evaluator has a conflict, prejudice is presumed.
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Client Alert | 8 min read | 11.10.26
EU Simplifies Rules on Defense Procurement and Transfers of Defense-Related Products
The European Union has enacted its first major reform of the 2009 directives on defense procurement and intra-EU transfers of defense-related products. The amending directive, which has been adopted as part of the Defense Readiness Omnibus legislative package (also known as “Omnibus V”), aims to simplify and accelerate procedures both for buying defense- and security-related goods, and for transferring such goods between EU Member States.
Client Alert | 3 min read | 11.09.26
Client Alert | 4 min read | 11.09.26
Client Alert | 4 min read | 11.09.26
