March 22, 2011 -- David Dowd, Partner at Mayer Brown LLP, discusses the new Federal Supply Schedule (FSS) ordering procedures. The procedures, issued on March 16, 2011, establish new competition requirements for task or delivery orders placed under the General Services Administration and the Department of Veteran Affairs' FSS contracts.

The FSS is the leading government-wide acquisition program with more than 18,000 FSS contracts for millions of products and services. The annual dollar volume of orders under the FSS program is approximately $50 billion.

David discusses the new competition requirements agencies must follow when placing orders exceeding $150,000. What must agencies do to comply with the new rules? What is the role of Blanket Purchase Agreements under the new procedures? Does the new rule impact the Price Reduction Clause?