Defense Trade. Weaknesses Exist in DoD Foreign Subcontract Data.
Abstract
For prime contracts, DOD purchases the majority of its defense equipment and services from contractors operating in the United States. Though subject to annual fluctuations, DOD'S prime contract awards outside the United States remained about 5.5 percent of total DOD contract awards from fiscal year 1987 to 1997. Over this period, the value of DOD prime contracts performed both in and out of the United States declined. Prime contracts performed outside the United States tended to be concentrated in certain countries such as Germany, Italy, Japan, South Korea, and the United Kingdom and in certain sectors such as services, fuel, and construction. At the subcontract level, the value of DOD's reported foreign subcontract awards ranged from almost $2 billion in fiscal year 1990 to almost $1.1 billion in fiscal year 1997, but this data has its limitations. The Office of Foreign Contracting does not consider the data needs of industrial base specialists in its efforts to collect foreign subcontract data. Industrial base specialists are often unaware that data of this nature are available. Furthermore, weaknesses in the Office of Foreign Contracting's data collection and management processes undermine DOD'S ability to use the foreign subcontract data for defense trade and industrial base decision-making. The office has no mechanism for ensuring that contractors provide required foreign subcontract information, which contributes to the underrepresentation of foreign subcontract activity. Our review of selected subcontracts disclosed instances in which foreign sub contracts were not reported to the office because contractors were unaware of the reporting requirement or misunderstood the criteria for reporting a foreign subcontract. The office's poor database management also compromises the credibility and usefulness of its foreign subcontract data.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Nov 01, 1998
- Accession Number
- ADA356520
Entities
Organizations
- United States Government Accountability Office