The government is not required to set aside work for small businesses for simplified acquisitions outside the United States and its outlying areas, according to a recent bid protest decision by the Government Accountability Office.

The case involved an Air Force solicitation for armored cables to be used at its base in Oman. It was a simplified acquisition, but it was not set aside for small businesses.

GAO rejected the protester’s argument that simplified acquisitions must be set aside whenever the “rule of Two” is satisfied, even outside the U.S. The Small Business Administration supported that argument, but the GAO disagreed, according to Steven Koprince, government contracts attorney.

The case was Latvian Connection General Trading and Construction LLC, B-408633 (Sept. 18, 2013).

“The Latvian Connection GAO bid protest decision is a disappointment for small government contractors doing work overseas,” Koprince wrote in a recent blog entry.

More information: GAO decision http://www.gao.gov/products/D06129
Steve Koprince blog: http://goo.gl/ScZfyY