A. Finkl and Sons, Co. DBA Finkl Steel

B-416582.4 Dec 10, 2018 Jump To FULL REPORT VIEW DECISION RELATED PAGES GAO CONTACTS Highlights A. Finkl and Sons, Co. DBA Finkl Steel, of Chicago, Illinois, challenges the Department of the Air Force's decision to terminate the contract awarded to Finkl under request for proposals (RFP) No. FA8681-17-R-0036 for BLU-137/B Penetrator Warhead production. Finkl challenges the agency's determination that the protester was ineligible for award under the terms of the RFP due to an impermissible foreign, ownership, control, or influence (FOCI) issue arising from its ownership by a foreign parent. We deny the protest. We deny the protest. View Decision DOCUMENT FOR PUBLIC RELEASE The decision issued on the date below was subject to a GAO Protective Order. This version has been approved for public release. Decision Matter of:  A. Finkl and Sons, Co. DBA Finkl Steel File:  B-416582.4 Date:  December 10, 2018 James W. Kim, Esq., and Llewelyn M. Engel, Esq., McDermott Will & Emery LLP, for the protester. Alexis J. Bernstein, Esq., Erika L. Whelan Retta, Esq., and Isabelle P. Cutting, Esq., Department of the Air Force, for the agency. Evan D. Wesser, Esq., and Edward Goldstein, Esq., Office of the General Counsel, GAO, participated in the preparation of the decision. DIGEST Protest challenging the agency's non-responsibility determination based on foreign ownership, control, and influence concerns is denied where the record shows that the agency reasonably identified concerns with the accuracy of the protester's initial ownership disclosures and afforded the protester an opportunity to address the agency's concerns, but the protester failed to adequately respond. DECISION A. Finkl and Sons, Co. DBA Finkl Steel, of Chicago, Illinois, challenges the Department of the Air Force's decision to terminate the contract awarded to Finkl under request for proposals (RFP) No. FA8681-17-R-0036 for BLU-137/B Penetrator Warhead production.  Finkl challenges the agency's determination that the protester was ineligible for award under the terms of the RFP due to an impermissible foreign, ownership, control, or influence (FOCI) issue arising from its ownership by a foreign parent. We deny the protest. BACKGROUND[1] On June 22, 2017, the Air Force issued the RFP contemplating the award of a fixed-price, indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity (IDIQ) contract for the production of BLU-137/B Penetrator Warheads.  RFP, Evaluation Factors for Award, ¶ M-1.2.[2]  The RFP advised that the agency would issue five production lots on an anticipated schedule of one annual production lot each year for five years.  RFP, Statement of Work (SOW), ¶ 2.  The RFP informed offerors that the agency intended to make two or more contract awards with each production lot buy being competed among the contract holders, but it also expressly reserved the right to make one award or no awards.  RFP, Evaluation Factors for Award, ¶ M-1.2.  Award was to be on a lowest-priced, technically acceptable basis, considering technical and price.  Id., ¶ M-1.1. Relevant to the issues in this protest, the RFP included a special responsibility criterion pursuant to Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) § 9.104-2(a) prohibiting the participation of foreign firms or U.S. companies determined to be under FOCI.  See AR, Tab 25, Non-responsibility Determination, ¶ 6.[3]  Specifically, the RFP provided that in accordance with "Section 3 of the National Industrial Security Program Operating Manual (NISPOM), foreign firms or U.S.