The Government Accountability Office has sided with the General Services Administration and denied the protests against the Office Supplies 3 (OS3) strategic sourcing contract.

      The GAO ruled that the GSA met the legal requirements of the Small Business Jobs Act in its evaluation of the economic impact of the OS3 contract on small businesses.

      The GAO did not follow the advice of the Small Business Administration, which previously recommended that the OS3 protests be upheld. The SBA contended that the GSA’s analysis was flawed and did not fully consider negative impacts.

      One OS3 protest is pending, with a decision expected by July 2.

      In related news, the GSA has cancelled its efforts to extend the Office Supplies 2 (OS2) contract, which expired May 31 (see story in June 13 Set-Aside Alert). GSA had planned to extend OS2 to November but after vendors protested, the extension was put on hold.

      On June 13, GSA notified GAO that all OS2 extensions were canceled, FederalNewsRadio reported.

      There is no strategic sourcing office supplies contract presently in place and the goal is to make OS3 available as soon as possible, a GSA spokesperson told FederalNewsRadio, adding: "We advise federal customers to fulfill their present needs through GSA's Multiple Award Schedule (MAS) 75 or through GSA Global Supply via GSA Advantage."

More information: GAO decision http://gao.gov/assets/670/663988.pdf or http://goo.gl/EHPPCT