Audit of Department of State Actions To Prevent Unlawful Trafficking in Persons Practices When Executing Security, Construction, and Facility and Household Services Contracts at Overseas Posts

View Report

Date Issued

Tuesday, May 24, 2022

Submitting OIG

Department of State OIG

Other Participating OIGs

Department of State OIG

Agencies Reviewed/Investigated

Department of State

Components

Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons

Foreign Service Institute

Bureau of Administration, Office of the Procurement Executive

Bureau of Administration

Report Number

AUD-MERO-22-28

Report Type

Audit

Number of Recommendations

Questioned Costs

Funds for Better Use

Open Recommendations

This report has 6 open recommendations.

Recommendation Number	Significant Recommendation	Recommended Questioned Costs	Recommended Funds for Better Use
1	No	$0	$0
OIG recommends that the Bureau of Administration update guidance to clearly communicate to Department of State contracting personnel which training courses are approved and available to meet the annual trafficking in persons (TIP) training requirement.
3	No	$0	$0
OIG recommends that the Bureau of Administration update Department of State guidance including the Foreign Affairs Handbook (FAH) and applicable Procurement Information Bulletins (PIB) to clarify that trafficking in persons monitoring, including developing and implementing trafficking in persons (TIP) monitoring strategies, is required for all applicable contracts, not just those that employ third-country national or migrant labor.
4	No	$0	$0
OIG recommends that the Bureau of Administration develop and implement guidance that Contracting Officers (CO) and Contracting Officer’s Representatives (COR) review contractor trafficking in persons compliance plans to determine whether their content meets requirements of Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 52.222-50(h) and to inform required trafficking in persons (TIP) monitoring strategies.
5	Yes	$0	$0
OIG recommends that the Bureau of Administration, in coordination with the Foreign Service Institute (FSI), update Department of State (Department) trafficking in persons (TIP) training to clarify that TIP monitoring is required for all applicable contracts, not just those that employ third-country national or migrant labor.
6	Yes	$0	$0
OIG recommends that the Bureau of Administration, in coordination with the Foreign Service Institute (FSI), update Department of State (Department) trafficking in persons (TIP) training to include discussions of Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 52.222-50(h) requirements for contractors to maintain TIP compliance plans and Department guidance and requirements for reviewing the plans and using them to inform TIP contract monitoring strategies established in accordance with Recommendation 3.
7	No	$0	$0
OIG recommends that the Bureau of Administration instruct Contracting Officers (CO) with oversight responsibility for active contracts in OIG’s nonstatistical subsample, listed in Table A.4, to review contractor trafficking in persons (TIP) compliance plans associated with these contracts and determine whether to apply any of the remedies outlined in Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 52.222-50(e) based on contractors’ failure to adhere to FAR 52.222-50(h) requirements.