Telecommunications Equipment Purchase Restrictions

On August 13, 2018, the President signed the John S. McCain National Defense Authorization Act of 2019 (NDAA). One section (Section 889) of this act restricts use of federal loan or grant funds for purchase of certain Chinese-origin equipment or services for research projects. This prohibition became effective August 13, 2020.

Chinese-origin equipment or services include telecommunications equipment or video surveillance equipment or services produced by business entities and the affiliates of these entities such as Huawei Technologies Company and ZTE Corporation. A current list of these business concerns is found on our entity screening webpage.

What should you do?

·        Reach out to your OSP representative to review language in RFAs, RFPs or other proposal submission documents you may see where a reference is made to the NDAA and/or Section 889 the “Prohibition on Certain Telecommunications and Video Surveillance Services and Equipment”. Both the OSP and the ORPC will work together with you to answer questions. 

·        Be aware the UMBC’s purchase order terms and conditions. UMBC has a responsibility of complying with all applicable U.S. export control laws and regulations in the procurement process. If you plan to procure an item or service from a non-US entity, read through Section 14 of the terms and conditions. Let the ORPC know if you have any export control questions.

·        Let the OPRC know prior to creating a requisition for purchases of this equipment or service or the planned shipment of any of the above items from these entities using federal grant funds.  We can perform a Restricted Party Screening that will determine if a foreign entity business is on any government issued restricted, blocked, or denied party lists. We have created an  entity restricted party screening form to perform this review.

This is also a good reminder that the ORPC can assist UMBC departments who plan to sponsor foreign persons/national visitors for a visit to campus in a business or technical capacity. We ask departments submit a foreign visitor restricted party screening form  before sending an invitation or submitting an unpaid or paid appointment for UMBC approval and before the Office of International Education Services (IES) applies for a visa,  Note the screening form is in a new format, but the information request in the same. Please visit the Restricted Party Screening for Foreign Visitors webpage for additional information.