We already talked a lot about TAA compliance in our blog, but the topic becomes even more important these days. Political landscapes are changing, the world is shaking, and new clauses and regulations are being introduced almost weekly. Remaining TAA compliant today is more vital than ever.
- Understanding TAA Compliance
- TAA Compliance: The Importance of Remaining TAA Compliant
- Is remaining TAA compliant really so important?
Understanding TAA Compliance
So, what is TAA compliance? The Trade Agreement Act of 1974 is the basic law governing the procurement of products by federal entities, among other topics. Specifically, the TAA tells government agencies to purchase only U.S.-made products, products that were substantially transformed in the U.S., or products manufactured or substantially transformed in a designated TAA country, that is a TAA compliant country. Such products are named TAA eligible products or TAA compliant products or simply TAA products.
Therefore, TAA compliance of a product is compliance to the requirements of the Trade Agreement Act. The TAA compliant countries list can be found in FAR 52.225-5. What countries are currently in the list depends on the overall political environment and economic sanctions against certain countries.
The tricky part in the definition of TAA compliance is substantial transformation. This basically means that parts of the product manufactured in a non-TAA compliant country may compose a TAA compliant product if this new product (substantially transformed in countries that are TAA compliant) bears new functionality that goes beyond what all individual components originally had. You can find the up-to-date TAA country list and the detailed description of the substantial transformation notion here.
TAA Compliance: The Importance of Remaining TAA Compliant
Is remaining TAA compliant really so important?
The answer is yes. TAA compliance is required if you want to sell to the government. As a GSA Schedule contractor you are responsible for ensuring and maintaining TAA compliance of each and every item you ship to the government. Failure to do this may instantly render your GSA contract void, put it on hold or even cancel it altogether. Too bad, if this happens; all your hard efforts to obtain the contract and manage it will be in vain, despite all the other factors.
F.A.Q.
How do you become TAA-compliant?
To be TAA compliant, you must make sure that your products are at least 50% made or substantially transformed in the United States or in one of the designated TAA countries. You can do this by contacting manufacturers of the components and parts used in your product, and requesting compliance documents.
Does software need to be TAA-compliant?
Yes, just like any other product sold to the government, software products also must meet TAA compliance standards.
Who is responsible for managing TAA compliance?
This is the GSA contractor’s responsibility. As such, you must check for and maintain TAA compliance of your products.
Does GSA verify TAA compliance?
Previously, the GSA wasn’t very strict with verifying TAA compliance. But today GSA tends to react on non-compliance signals and verify them. What are these signals? Well, your competitors may investigate your GSA Advantage catalog and check if the products are TAA compliant. Then, they can report possible incompliance to the GSA. This is one more reason to have only the TAA-validated products in your catalog.
Price Reporter & TAA Compliance
As an experienced provider of GSA MAS contracting assistance services, Price Reporter delivers full-cycle GSA Schedule contract management including TAA compliance maintenance. We understand the importance of being TAA compliant, and we know TAA processes inside out. That is why we can help businesses achieve compliance of their products, check whether or not they are TAA compliant, and manage TAA compliance on a regular basis.
How Price Reporter Achieves TAA Compliance: Best Practices
Surely, TAA compliance can be managed in full with your in-house capabilities only. But if your product catalog numbers thousands of items, checking them all for compliance becomes technically complicated. You either need to load your employees with more additional work above their normal duties, or staff up to assign a dedicated person to perform all the duties related to your GSA Schedule contract, including TAA compliance.
There is one more option, though. You can hire Price Reporter. With our vast experience and deep knowledge of internal TAA compliance mechanisms, we can do better than a dedicated employee in your own company would, and with less expenses and risks from your side.
Here is how we ensure TAA compliance of your products you sell on the federal market:
- Determining the country of origin of each of your products. We also ensure that no TAA non compliant countries are involved in the production chain. Country of Origin Codes (COO) are crucial for TAA compliance.
- Requesting all the certificates and compliance documents from the manufacturer. This is crucial when you will face the need to prove TAA compliance of your products. Obtaining compliance documents should be done preliminarily.
- Backtracking of COO codes for components and parts. While you may be sure that your product is 100% compliant, if it does turn out that one of your major components is actually not so TAA compliant as you thought before, you could be in trouble. Price Reporter checks the entire chain of suppliers and manufacturers and makes sure the product is at least 50% made or substantially transformed in the U.S. or in designated countries.
- Monitoring changes in TAA regulation. Price Reporter constantly monitors changes in compliance regulation, including U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and acts accordingly. You won’t be caught unprepared.
- Assistance in resolving any occurred TAA compliance issues. On your behalf, we communicate with contracting officers and other officials, as well as manufacturers of the problematic products to quickly locate the source of the TAA non-compliance issue and eliminate it ASAP.
- Helping to sell products originating from non TAA-compliant countries. Sometimes, there are no alternatives other than non TAA-approved sources. Or a previously compliant country you are shipping large volumes of the product from is now deemed TAA-compliant. Even in such cases, we have solutions for you.
Do you have any questions left about TAA compliance? Want to order GSA Schedule contracting services? Welcome to Price Reporter website.
