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NDDA 889: What Your Team Needs to Know

Benjamin Burke
06 August, 2020 2 Min read

 

The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) provides budget appropriations set by Congress for spending by the U.S. Department of Defense. There are two prohibitions under Section 889 of the NDAA, which impact all federal government contractors—domestic or foreign:  §889(a)(1)(A) and §889(a)(1)(B).

NDDA 889 Breakdown

§889(a)(1)(A) required federal government contractors to certify that the equipment, system or service that they provide to the U.S. government does not contain any equipment or services from a banned Chinese technology or surveillance company. §889(a)(1)(B) takes the prohibition a step further, requiring federal government contractors to certify that their entire global supply chain is free of the banned providers. The NDAA ban covers five Chinese companies, their subsidiaries, and affiliates.

§889(a)(1)(A) was implemented in August of 2019, while §889(a)(1)(B) will take effect on August 13th, 2020.

What does this mean?

The §889(a)(1)(B) prohibition on the DoD extending, renewing, or entering into contracts with companies using technology from banned Chinese entities means government suppliers must now examine and update their global supply chain to ensure compliance—if they want to continue doing business with the DoD.

Critically, the NDAA ban applies beyond products the DoD might purchase, extending to the entire global supply chain of the bidding company. That means suppliers must examine all corporate branches to look for instances involving banned companies. Once §889(a)(1)(B) takes effect on August 13, 2020, it will prohibit the federal government from extending, renewing, or entering into contracts with any entity that uses any of these technologies. Even if only part of a business is mentioned in government contracts, the entire company's global supply chain must still be compliant.

Banned Technologies in NDDA 889?

The following technologies have been banned:

  • Telecommunications equipment produced by
    • Huawei Technologies Company
    • ZTE Corporation
    • Any subsidiaries or affiliates of the above
  • Video surveillance and telecommunications equipment produced by
    • Hytera Communications Corporation
    • Hangzhou Hikvision Digital Technology Company
    • Dahua Technology Company
    • Any subsidiaries or affiliates of the above

What can my team do now?

Take the time to evaluate your organization and identify any presence of prohibited companies. Remember that regardless of what part of your business is under a federal government contract, your entire global supply chain must be compliant.

If you are looking for a remote access tool that is completely §889(a)(1)(B)-compliant, consider Dispel.

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What if I find a banned technology during contract performance?

Please see section (d) [Reporting requirement] and follow steps (d)(1) and (d)(2).

https://www.acquisition.gov/content/52204-25-prohibition-contracting-certain-telecommunications-and-video-surveillance-services-or-equipment

Where can I learn more?

https://www.ndia.org/policy/section-889#:~:text=889(a)(1)(B)%2C which is slated,substantial or essential component of

https://www.technologylawsource.com/2020/06/articles/section-889/what-you-need-to-know-about-section-889-compliance-as-we-move-closer-to-the-august-2020-implementation-deadline/

https://www.cov.com/-/media/files/corporate/publications/2020/07/us-government-releases-awaited-section-889-rule-on-prohibition-on-use-of-covered-telecommunications-equipment-by-federal-contractors.pdf

About Dispel

Dispel is a §889(a)(1)(B)-compliant provider of industrial remote access and moving target defense SD-WANs. Companies use Dispel to access equipment quickly and securely, from anywhere. For more information, please see dispel.io