What Is Section 889 Compliance for Government Contractors?

Section 889 compliance for government contractors comes down to two obligations: you cannot sell the federal government equipment or services that contain covered Chinese telecommunications or video surveillance gear, and you cannot use that gear anywhere in your own operations, even on work unrelated to any federal contract. Both prohibitions are fully in force. Part A took effect on August 13, 2019, and the broader Part B on August 13, 2020.¹ To sell to the government now, you have to inventory what you use, certify what you find, and be able to defend that certification.

The Two Prohibitions You Have to Certify Against

Part A prohibits federal agencies from buying or renewing any equipment, system, or service that uses covered telecommunications equipment as a substantial or essential component, or as critical technology within any system.² A “substantial or essential component” is any part necessary for the proper function or performance of the system. One banned network switch inside an otherwise clean product line disqualifies the whole product for federal sale.

Part B is the one that catches most contractors off guard. It prohibits federal agencies from entering into or renewing a contract with any entity that uses covered equipment or services in its own operations, whether or not that equipment has anything to do with the federal contract.² A banned camera watching your employee parking lot is a compliance problem even if you’re bidding on a software services contract. The equipment does not have to touch government data.

Prime contractors, subcontractors, and offerors on any size solicitation are covered. Federal grant and loan recipients must also ensure federal funds are not used to purchase prohibited products, though grantees do not submit the same formal representations as contractors and are policed through grant compliance rather than the FAR representation process.³

The Five Companies and the White-Label Problem

Section 889 names five manufacturers whose products are covered. Huawei Technologies Company and ZTE Corporation are prohibited across all their telecommunications and video surveillance equipment. Hytera Communications Corporation, Hangzhou Hikvision Digital Technology Company, and Dahua Technology Company are prohibited when their video surveillance or telecommunications equipment is used for public safety, government facility security, physical surveillance of critical infrastructure, or other national security purposes.³ The ban extends to every subsidiary and affiliate, a network that runs to well over a thousand entities.

Reading the brand on a box is not enough. Many companies resell Hikvision and Dahua cameras under their own labels, and the same happens with networking equipment from Huawei and ZTE. The device carries a different logo and a different name in purchase records, but the internals come from a prohibited manufacturer. A few checks help expose rebranded gear:

Look up the MAC address on any networked device. The manufacturer identifier (OUI) often points back to the original maker. Some OEM arrangements reassign the prefix, so a clean OUI is not conclusive, but a dirty one is decisive.
Open the housing. Interior component labels frequently keep the original manufacturer’s model numbering. Hikvision internals, for example, commonly use a “DS” prefix.
Compare firmware interfaces. Most white-labeled cameras run the same underlying software with cosmetic changes to logos and button placement.
Cross-reference hardware serial numbers against known OEM product lines and, where possible, import shipping records.

Vendor assurances alone will not survive a serious audit. If a price seems low for the specs or the brand is unfamiliar, treat the device as suspect until you can trace the manufacturer.

Conducting the Reasonable Inquiry

Before you make any Section 889 representation, the FAR requires a “reasonable inquiry” into whether you use or provide covered equipment.⁴ The regulations do not spell out exactly how thorough that inquiry must be. What is reasonable depends on the size of your company, the complexity of your supply chain, and how likely covered equipment is to be present.

At a minimum, a defensible inquiry covers four areas:

A full hardware inventory of every piece of telecommunications and video surveillance equipment on your network, with model numbers, serial numbers, and manufacturer labels recorded.
A review of procurement records and vendor contracts to trace the origin of cameras, routers, switches, and wireless access points.
Scrutiny of managed service providers, cloud vendors, and security monitoring firms. If covered equipment sits in their data centers or monitoring infrastructure and touches your operations, it is your problem.
Targeted white-label checks on any device where the brand is unfamiliar or the pricing suggests an OEM arrangement.

Document every step. The inquiry itself is part of your compliance record. Under FAR 4.703, contractors must retain records for three years after final payment on a contract.⁵ Keep your Section 889 documentation at least that long.

The Representation Clauses and SAM.gov

Two FAR clauses drive the certification itself. Knowing how they interact keeps you from filing the same information twice.

FAR 52.204-26 is the streamlined representation. After completing your reasonable inquiry, you check boxes stating whether your company provides covered equipment to the government and whether you use covered equipment in your own operations.⁶ This can be completed through the annual certifications section of your SAM.gov profile, so you do not need to repeat it with every solicitation.

FAR 52.204-24 kicks in only if your 52.204-26 response flags a potential issue. If you represent that you do provide or use covered equipment, 52.204-24 requires the specifics: the manufacturer’s name, the equipment model number or service description, an explanation of how it would be used, and whether the covered technology serves as a substantial or essential component of a larger system.⁴ If you already represented “does not” under 52.204-26, you do not complete 52.204-24.

A contracting officer may still require a separate representation for a specific procurement, particularly one with heightened security requirements or when a SAM.gov profile is not current. In those cases the completed forms go directly to the agency.

Micro-Purchases and Government Purchase Cards

Section 889 applies to purchases of any size. A federal employee buying a $50 webcam on a government purchase card must still comply. The standard micro-purchase threshold is $15,000,⁷ and vendors below that threshold are not required to register in SAM.gov. The prohibition applies anyway, but the normal verification tool may not return results.

GSA’s 889 Representations Search tool checks SAM.gov records for Section 889 representations and is available to all cardholders.⁸ When a vendor doesn’t appear, cardholders may still buy from that vendor if they document compliance according to their agency’s internal requirements. The Department of Defense offers a Contracting Assistant for Awards and Micro-Purchases bot that pulls vendor representations from a CAGE code or Unique Entity ID.

Narrow Exceptions, and No More Agency Waivers

Two exceptions exist, and both are narrower than they sound. Contractors are not prohibited from using a service that connects to a third party’s facilities through backhaul, roaming, or interconnection arrangements. That covers realities like a mobile phone connecting to a foreign carrier’s tower while roaming, not a decision to install Huawei base stations. Telecommunications equipment that cannot route or redirect user data traffic, and cannot see any user data or packets it handles, is also exempt.⁹ If you rely on an exception, document why it applies.

The agency-head waiver that used to allow case-by-case relief from Part B expired on August 13, 2022, and is no longer available.¹ The Director of National Intelligence retains a separate waiver authority, but a DNI waiver is an exceptional circumstance, not a compliance strategy. Treat the prohibition as absolute and plan on replacement, not relief.

What Non-Compliance Costs You

The penalties stack, and the most serious ones do not require intent to deceive.

A contracting officer who finds covered equipment in your operations can terminate the contract for cause. Repeated violations or deliberate concealment can lead to debarment, which locks the entity out of all federal contracting for years.

Every Section 889 representation is a statement to the federal government. A false certification, whether on SAM.gov or in a solicitation response, can trigger criminal charges under 18 U.S.C. § 1001, which carries up to five years in prison for knowingly making a false statement in a matter within federal jurisdiction.¹⁰ The government does not need to prove you intended to harm national security. It only needs to prove you knowingly misrepresented your compliance status.

Civil exposure is separate. A contractor that certifies compliance while knowingly using covered equipment may face liability under the False Claims Act, with treble damages and per-claim penalties. Competitors and employees can file whistleblower suits on the government’s behalf.

The compliance load is real for any organization with a large IT footprint and a tangled vendor list. One overlooked OEM camera in a warehouse can unravel an entire federal contracting portfolio. Start with the hardware inventory, work outward through the supply chain, and keep the paper. The reasonable inquiry is the record that protects you when something turns up later.

1
Federal Register. Federal Acquisition Regulation: Prohibition on Contracting With Entities Using Certain Telecommunications and Video Surveillance Services or Equipment
2
Acquisition.GOV. Section 889 Policies
3
U.S. Election Assistance Commission. What is Section 889 of the FY 2019 NDAA?
4
Acquisition.GOV. Representation Regarding Certain Telecommunications and Video Surveillance Services or Equipment
5
Acquisition.GOV. Subpart 4.7 – Contractor Records Retention
6
Acquisition.GOV. Covered Telecommunications Equipment or Services-Representation
7
Federal Register. Inflation Adjustment of Acquisition-Related Thresholds
8
GSA SmartPay. 889 Representations Search
9
Acquisition.GOV. Prohibition on Contracting for Certain Telecommunications and Video Surveillance Services or Equipment
10
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 U.S. Code 1001 – Statements or Entries Generally