Updates

Doing Business with GPO Customer Services During Coronavirus Pandemic (March 19, 2020)

During this time, GPO Customer Services will be conducting business as usual. Please continue to check the Contract Opportunities and Online Small Purchase Opportunities for solicitations. Contractors should be careful to submit bids to the exact location specified in the solicitation.

Contractors should continue performance on contracts. Contractors must continue to fully comply with the terms and conditions of these contracts. Deliveries, proof approvals, and press sheet inspections for agencies may be impacted. It is requested that contractors contact a Government employee at the delivery location to confirm their availability to receive prior to shipping.

Schedules and other adjustments will be made in accordance with GPO Contract Terms. Caution should be used to safeguard all products should any delivery delays be imposed by the Government.

As a reminder, contractors must furnish contract compliance information required in accordance with GPO Contract Terms, Contract Clause 12: Notice of Compliance With Schedules.

Contractors should immediately contact your GPO contract administrator(s) and/or contracting officer(s) to identify impacted orders if any delay is anticipated, including temporarily closure of a production facility or the planned suspension of any services.

If you have any questions on a particular contract, please contact the Customer Services contract administrator and/or contracting officer for your contract (best method of communicating with them is via email). Office team e-mail addresses can be found at https://www.gpo.gov/how-to-work-with-us/agency/services-for-agencies/procurement-services-team.

Notice for Acquisition Services Contractors During GPO’s Emergency Status

On March 13, 2020 in response to the COVID-19 epidemic, President Trump declared a National emergency by invoking the Stafford act provisions of 42 U.S.C. 5121-5207, section 501(b). As a result of this declaration, the GPO Acquisition Services Contracting Officers are making assessments to classify contracts in one of the following categories:

  1. Contracts that have no potential for impact and can continue business as usual,
  2. Contracts that have potential for impact but can be performed remotely or virtually,
  3. Contracts that must be performed onsite and are mission critical or essential, and
  4. Contracts that must be performed onsite but are not mission critical or essential.

For contracts that fall in category #4, The Contracting Officer will issue suspension or stop-work notices to the Contractor. The Contracting Officer will utilize provisions of MMAR Clause 52.249-14, 52-242-14, or MMAR 52.212-4 (f), for commercial contracts, to suspend or stop work due to quarantine restrictions.

For Contracts that fall in categories #2 and #3, the Contracting Officer Representative (COR) may provide instructions to the Contractor concerning the place of performance. If the Contractor requires written notice before executing the instructions, they may email the Contracting Office to obtain a modification.

Payments may be made in accordance with the terms and conditions of the contract for items delivered and accepted by the Government prior to the suspension or stop-work order. Additional information concerning payment will be provided at a later date.

Government Paper Specification Standards (February 2020)

The Government Paper Specification Standards have been updated. Prospective suppliers should carefully read this publication as the paper specification standards will be included in future solicitations for printing and related services. Contractors will be responsible for following the version of the Government Paper Specification Standards that are specified in each contract. Both versions of the specifications can be found on GPO.gov at https://www.gpo.gov/how-to-work-with-us/vendors/forms-and-standards along with a list of major revisions. Government Paper Specification Standards for awards made prior to the release of this version will remain in effect until the contract expires, except for changes made by statute.

Notices

All Contractors Wishing To Do Business With the U.S. Government Publishing Office (GPO)

Every contractor seeking to do business with the GPO must first complete and thereafter maintain the accuracy of its GPO Contractor Connection registration with the following mandatory taxpayer information boxes:

  • "EIN/TIN #" (Employer Identification Number or Taxpayer Identification Number)
  • "Subject to Backup Withholding" (See Form W-9, Request for Taxpayer Identification Number and Certification)
  • "Current W-9 Request" (See Form W-9)

GPO will withhold payment of any invoices for work completed by any contractor who fails to provide these tax data in GPO Contractor Connection. Such invoices will be declared ineligible for payment until all requirements for payment, including providing these tax data in GPO Contractor Connection, have been satisfied.

Imprint Line for GPO Contracts

The GPO imprint line has been updated with the new GPO logo and agency name. This imprint line should appear on all products and publications produced by, or for the GPO:

  1. at the bottom of the last printed page on books and pamphlets
  2. at the bottom of the back on face and back products
  3. at the bottom of face-only products (except letterheads, certificates, etc.), or in the stub of multipart sets.

The GPO logo for the new imprint line is available as a .zip file here: GPO Logos

The GPO imprint line must be set in 6-point sans serif type (e.g., Arial regular) and should consist of the GPO logo which can be downloaded from the website, the current calendar year, an em dash, and the jacket number. In the case of term contracts, the print order number must also be included in the imprint line. The items following the GPO logo in the imprint should be added manually by the contractor. Additional commercial identification mark(s) of any kind must not appear on any product(s) ordered.

High Resolution Proof Update

Beginning 06/18/2018, GPO will allow high-resolution inkjet proofs as a proofing option in lieu of digital one-piece laminated halftone proofs. In order to exercise this option, all vendors must be approved for high-resolution inkjet proofs by submitting samples to GPO. Instructions for submitting samples can be found at Quality Level Sample Submission Procedures .

Contractor Quality Level Evaluations

As part of GPO's procurement procedure, our agency maintains a continuous Quality Control Process to support its customers. One aspect of this process is to determine a contractor's ability to consistently produce orders at the required quality level without undue assistance on the part of the Government. These ratings are also used when generating bid lists for procurements that determine who solicitations will be issued to on a rotating basis and by our Contracting Officers as an aid in making responsibility determinations on individual contracts. With the rapid changes in technologies and the industry in recent years it has become necessary to have vendors resubmit after a 5-year period to ensure our Government Contractors are still producing at the level when they were originally rated. GPO is currently contacting vendors to request that they proceed with the resubmission process. Please contact our Quality Control Team if you have any questions via email at [email protected] or phone via 202.512.0542.

The Government Publishing Office posts all solicitations of the Agency Procurement Services (APS) opportunities online at GPO’s Contractor Connection. In addition, formal bids can also be found on FedBizOps. Upon request, GPO’s various procurement offices will make available single copies of specific solicitations free of charge to interested parties.

For anyone interested in obtaining a comprehensive service of all GPO solicitations and abstracts for commercial printing contracts daily, subscriptions are available. This may also include a daily email of all small purchase abstracts and/or a hard copy of all DC Print Orders. All pricing is on a cost-recovery basis.

For additional information:

  • Call the Manager, Bid Section, on 202.512.0526
  • Write to the U.S. Government Publishing Office, Bid Section, Room C-848, Stop CSPS, 732 North Capitol Street, NW, Washington, DC 20401
  • Or email [email protected].

Most of the contractors that produce work for GPO also are involved in commercial sector printing. Standards of conduct of government versus commercial employees may at times be confusing and are oftentimes different. What is acceptable for one group may not be acceptable for the other.

All GPO personnel are covered by an instruction that clearly spells out what is considered proper standards of conduct. In pertinent part, those standards are as follows:

No GPO employee shall solicit or accept, directly or indirectly, any gift or favor, entertainment, loan or any other thing of monetary value, from any person, corporation, or group which —

  1. Seeks to obtain, contractual or other business or financial relationships with the GPO
  2. Conducts operations or activities that are regulated by GPO
  3. Has interests which may be substantially affected by the performance or nonperformance of his/her official duty

Whether or not specifically prohibited it is intended that GPO employees avoid any action which might result in, or create the appearance of —

  1. Using public office for private gain
  2. Giving preferential treatment to any organization or person
  3. Impeding government efficiency or economy
  4. Losing complete independence or impartiality of action
  5. Making a government decision outside of official channels
  6. Affecting adversely the confidence of the public in the integrity of the GPO

A GPO employee shall not use Federal property of any kind for other than officially approved activities. He/she must protect and conserve all Federal property, including equipment and supplies, entrusted or issued to him/her.

A GPO employee shall not directly or indirectly make use of, or permit others to make use of, for the purpose of furthering a private interest, official information not made available to the general public.

Any questions should be addressed to the Manager, Printing Procurement Department.

The Director and the Inspector General have made a strong commitment to reducing and eliminating waste, fraud, and abuse in GPO programs and operations. Contractors or their employees who discover instances of waste, fraud, or abuse in dealing with government employees or other contractors are encouraged to notify GPO.

In keeping with this commitment, a GPO Fraud, Waste, and Abuse Telephone Hotline has been established at 1.800.743.7574. The hotline is staffed Monday through Friday between the hours of 7 a.m. through 6 p.m. EST. Callers are encouraged to speak directly to an OIG hotline representative, but you can leave a message during non-duty hours and weekends.

As an alternative to the hotline, contractors may submit a GPO OIG complaint form to:

Office of Inspector General
Office of Investigations
Post Office Box 1790
Washington, DC 20013-1790

Individuals are not required to identify themselves when providing information by telephone or in writing. However, those electing to identify themselves are assured of confidentiality.

Contract Pricing and Specification Archive

Abstracts and specifications for Term Contracts are posted on the Contract Pricing page after award and available for the term of the contract.

Electronic only posting of GPO printing procurement specifications

As a result of the rapid adoption of digital technologies by the printing industry in recent years and in support of the GPO "Go Green" initiatives, GPO does not post paper copies of procurement specifications at their nationwide locations. All printing and binding and related services procurement specifications are available online at the web addresses shown below.

To ensure that the needs of the public and our GPO vendor community are met, tangible copies of these specifications will be made available upon request at the Central Office and Regional Procurement offices at no charge.

GPO Form 712 – Certificate of Conformance

The Government Publishing Office will no longer provide GPO Form 712 Certificate of Conformance in the three part carbon paper format to contractors using a Postage and Fees Paid mailing label or indicia. GPO Contract Terms (Publication 310.2), Supplemental Specification #11, is changed to require contractors to access a digital copy of the form which is revised and available with instructions on our Forms and Standards page.