Defense Stockpile
Defense Logistics Agency Contract Award for Cobalt Gao ID: NSIAD-91-64 February 19, 1991Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed a Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) contract award to a Canadian firm for the upgrade of the U.S. government's strategic stockpile of cobalt, focusing on the contract award process and DLA plans to upgrade the stockpile.
GAO found that: (1) DLA properly awarded the contract to the Canadian firm, since it was the only company that could offer cobalt from an authorized source; (2) DLA determined that a waiver of restrictions against procurement from unauthorized sources was not adequately justified; (3) objections to the DLA contract award had no merit, since the bidders had adequate notice that the Trade Agreements Act applied to the procurement; and (4) DLA future plans to further upgrade the strategic cobalt stockpile were in the preliminary discussion phase and were considered procurement-sensitive and could not be disclosed publicly.