The FAR consists of standards and guidelines in the Federal Acquisition Regulation System. This scheme is composed of a set of rules that are issued by the bureaus of the Federal government of the US to control the overall “acquisition process”; the process in which the government acquires products and services (Small Business Notes, 2009). According to Westlaw (2009), the FAR was initially effected in April 1984 in a view to have consistent rules and regulations that govern the acquisition of goods and services by all the federal agencies. This regulation was a joint derivation, initiated by the US Department of Defense (DOD), the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), and the General Services Administration (GSA).
The process of acquisition involves planning and requirement gathering, contract formulation, and contract management. The FAR system controls the events of federal personnel in achieving this process (GPO Access, 2009). Thus, for its documentation, FAR regulations that are updated regularly are found in Title 48 of the Code of Federal Regulations. The first chapter consists of the government-wide acquisition standards jointly derived by GSA, DOD, and NASA. The other chapters contain rules derived by individual federal agencies. Consequently, these rules can be acquired from the Government Printing Office and the Federal Register office. Internet sources like the Acquisition Central’s website serve as essential sources for updated regulations (Acquisition Central, 2009).
Therefore, the regulations set by FAR are important even in the present time since they ensure that proper planning and control are followed by federal agencies in the whole process of acquisition. These regulations are deemed to offer the best product and services to the customer, and thus maintaining public loyalty in line with the objective of enhancing public policy. In addition, the FAR ensures that all the parties involved in the acquisition process work as a team because of the rules that are put in place for the types of contracts, including fixed-price contracts and cost-reimbursable contracts. FAR also incorporates socioeconomic requirements, which ensure that minority subcontractors get their equal share in the process of procurement. In this case, goods and services that are to be purchased by US companies require large organizations to integrate small contractors in their acquisition process. In essence, the guiding principles of FAR which serve as the basis for its implication include the satisfaction of the needs of customers in line with cost and proper service, minimization of the operating cost, operation of the business through integrity, and meeting the other objectives of the public policy (FDVT, 2006).
References
Acquisition Central. (2009). Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR). Web.
FDVT. (2006). Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR): Purpose and Vision. Web.
GPO Access. (2009). Title 48: Federal Acquisition Regulations System. Web.
Small Business Notes. (2009). Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR). Web.
Westlaw. (2009). Westlaw Database Directory. Web.