New FAR Provision and Pending Supreme Court Case Highlight Lack of Clear Rules on Communications Between Government and Industry During Procurement Process

Venable – Several years after initially proposing the rule and receiving feedback from federal contractors and a prominent government contracting scholar, the Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council recently released a final rule regarding "Effective Communication between Government and Industry." While the final rule encouraged agency acquisition personnel to engage in constructive exchanges with industry, the Council declined to amend existing regulations that discourage such communications.