GAO critical of U.S. Navy’s controls of blanket foreign parts sales
A U.S. Government Accountability Office report said the Navy must reassess its internal controls over foreign military sales using blanket orders.
The GAO found the Navy may not have followed Defense Department policy when it approved 26 blanket orders for the purchase of classified spare parts.
From 1993 through 2002, the Defense Department delivered more than $150 billion in services and defense goods, including classified items, to overseas governments. Overseas countries may buy items using blanket orders, which are for a specific dollar value and are used to simplify supply actions on certain types of items.
The GAO recommends the Navy resolves the differences between Defense and Navy policy on overseas governments’ use of waivers, and create policies to recover items shipped to countries not entitled to receive them.
The agency recommends the Navy increase its “internal controls to ensure that blanket orders are always reviewed and revalidated, and periodically test these controls.”