After Long Delay, U.S. Defense Department Issues Final Rule Limiting Use of Lowest Price Technically Acceptable (LPTA) Awards

https://publicprocurementinternational.com/2019/09/25/after-long-delay-u-s-defense-department-issues-final-rule-limiting-use-of-lowest-price-technically-acceptable-lpta-awards/

> The U.S. Defense Department will on September 26, 2019 publish a long-awaited final rule to implement Congress’ curbs on low-price awards. Unlike European governments, since World War II the U.S. government has come to rely heavily on multilateral competitive negotiations which trade off price and quality to ensure best value. Recent years, however, saw a resurgence of “lowest price technically acceptable” (LPTA) procurement – an award to the vendor that offers the cheapest good or service that is technically acceptable. The final rule, which reflects Congress’ concerns that the low-price method is used too often and inappropriately, may slow the use of LPTA awards.