8 December 2004 – Washington (DC): The US Congress has approved a bill that lifts the Federal Prison Industries (FPI) mandatory source permanently, NOPA has announced, after five years of intense lobbying efforts from the alliance.
The HR 4818 Foreign Operations, Export Financing and Related Programs Appropriations Act 2005 will ensure that private companies can enjoy a level playing field when selling to the US federal market, without having to obtain a waiver from the FPI programme.
Paul Miller, director of government affairs for NOPA said: "It is apparent that reforming FPI was a priority for this congress. The office furniture industry has had to sit back and watch for far too long as FPI has continued to grow and expand at a time when the office furniture industry has cut some 30,000 plus jobs.
"More importantly, at this critical time, it returns final purchasing authority to contracting officers to ensure they are getting the best value for the best price and on the best delivery schedule," he added.
