Finding 2023-001: Procurement, Suspension and Debarment
Name of Responsible Official: James Fields
Anticipated Completion Date: Already Completed
Condition: IFPRI did not follow its suspension and debarment policy for one vendor with a procurement action of $88,000.
Cause: IFPRI did not follow its suspension and debarment policy for one vendor by not properly documenting that this vendor went through suspension and debarment within the Lexis Nexis Bridger Insight XG tool at the time of the awarding of the contract.
Effect: Given though the vendor in this matter is not suspended or debarred, IFPRI did not have that documented knowledge at the time of the awarding of the contract.
Corrective Action Plan: IFPRI has a Sanction Compliance Program in place. As Standard practice, app partners/vendors, perspective new hires, and other parties including the owner(s) of partner organizations must be screened using the LexisNexis Bridget Insight XG5 application (XG5). This is a fully integrated compliance tool that allows users to screen names of individuals and businesses/organizations against various screening lists (watchlists) preloaded and updated in the system. Currently, IFPRI subscribes to the following watchlists through XG5: EPLS, EU Consolidated List, HM Treasury Sanctions, OFAC Non-SDN Entities, OFAC Sanctions, OFAC SDN, OSFI Consolidated List, UK Hm Treasury List, UN Consolidated List, and World Bank ineligible Firms.