USAID Proposes Anti-Terrorism Screening of Award Recipients

On August 29, 2013, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (Notice) that could lead in the near future to implementation of a Partner Vetting System (PVS) for certain USAID-funded assistance awards. USAID's Notice reflects renewed efforts to implement a system of vetting certain organizations (including subrecipients and vendors) that receive USAID funding, in an effort to safeguard against the diversion of USAID awards by organizations and individuals associated with terrorism. If implemented, the vetting system would require organizations seeking USAID funding for certain awards to submit substantial amounts of personal information about their key personnel, as well as the key personnel of subrecipients and vendors, including full names, addresses, nationalities, occupations, nationalities, and passport information. Comments by the public, including by possible applicants for USAID awards, may be made until September 30, 2013.