Many U.S. companies depend on federal contracts for much of their income, and the New Year brings important changes in federal contracting. The Civilian Agency Acquisition Council and the Defense Acquisition Regulations Council agreed on a final rule amending the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR), effective December 24, 2007.  It requires any company contracting with a federal agency set up an ethics program as a condition of its government contract.

            FAR already had a pre-award satisfactory record of integrity and business ethics for prospective federal contractors. The councils determined, however, the general requirement of good business ethics was inadequate.