Postal Service contracting officials did not provide documentation to support price or cost reasonableness and justifications to award noncompetitive purchases for 21 of 56 purchases valued at over $37 million, the USPS inspector general has said.
It said employees did not maintain sufficient documentation to support price and cost analyses, were unaware of policy, did not explore enough avenues to compete purchases, and did not always obtain required contract documents from international suppliers due to cultural and language barriers.
Further, instructions on emergency noncompetitive contracts did not include clear guidelines for contract documentation requirements, the IG said, adding that it statistically projected at least $210 million in unsupported questioned costs.
The IG recommended that USPS management instruct employees to include required documentation in contract files, reiterate contracting policy, promote increased competition, clarify guidance on emergency noncompetitive contracts, and explore opportunities to reduce cultural and language barriers with international suppliers.
