Overview of New Government Protections Against Trafficking in the Federal Supply Chain Mathew Blum, Associate Administrator, Office of Federal Procurement Policy

Background The US government has a longstanding zero- tolerance policy in its government acquisition regulations against any form of trafficking in persons in the Federal supply chain. Despite this prohibition, the Commission on Wartime Contracting, agency Inspectors General, and others who have studied this problem, concluded that more work is needed to effectively prevent and redress trafficking in the Federal supply chain.

E.O & ETGCA In response to these findings, and as part of the Administration’s commitment to redressing the problem of trafficking more broadly, the President issued Executive Order last Fall. Congress, addressing the same concerns, sent its own important message by issuing the End Trafficking in Government Contracting Act (ETGCA) last Winter. Despite some differences, the Executive Order and the ETGCA establish similar protections in the Federal supply chain.

E.O & ETGCA Among other things, the Executive Order and the ETGCA: – clarify what constitutes trafficking in the federal supply chain, – prohibit any contractors and subcontractors from engaging in specific trafficking related activities -- such as misleading or fraudulent recruitment practices, or destroying or confiscating an employee’s identify documents, and – require contractors and subcontractors working on large projects overseas to have compliance plans and certify that their employees do not engage in, or become complicit to, human trafficking in their supply chain.

Specific Protections No Federal contractor or its subcontractors may: – Use misleading or fraudulent recruitment practices (such as failure to disclose wages or living conditions); – Charge recruitment fees; – Destroy or confiscate employee identity documents; or – Fail to pay return transportation costs upon the end of employment. All contractors and their subcontractors must contractually consent to audits, investigations or other actions by the US government related to trafficking related activities. Contracting officers must notify their agency’s inspector general should they find a violation.

Specific Protections For all contracts exceeding $500,000 performed outside the United States – – Companies must implement and submit a compliance plan which at minimum includes: A company awareness program; A process for reporting violations; A recruitment and wage plan; A housing plan; and Monitoring and protection procedures in the supply chain. – All contractors and subcontractors must also directly certify to the government that it has an effective compliance program in place, and that to the best of it belief, there have been no violations in its supply chains.

Additional Actions The President’s Interagency Task Force to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons (PITF) must establish a process for evaluating and identifying industries where there is evidence of trafficking. Government agencies shall also develop their own internal controls against trafficking, and train their acquisition workforce on how to recognize and mitigate contractor violations.

Current Status An interagency team is now drafting changes to our government-wide acquisition regulations that will contractually require government contractors to comply with the new requirements. Concurrent with these steps, a PITF working group has initiated efforts to identify sectors or industries within the United States with a history of trafficking.