Comment on FR Doc # 2026-12560

Eliminating FAR Part 10, Market Research, and moving a small portion of its content to Part 7 will have a negative effect on federal acquisitions. As noted in GAO report 15-8: Market Research - Better Documentation Needed To Inform Future Procurements and other similar GAO reports, inadequate market research and poor understanding of markets leads to poor acquisition outcomes. Too often, contracting officers just "Rinse and repeat" acquisition strategies that are not effective, without applying sound critical thinking and judgment. Poor market research often leads to unnecessary sole-source awards, overly restrictive requirements, reduced competition, and poor pricing. Poor market research also frequently leads to government requirements being misaligned with commercial standards and best practices, which typically leads to higher costs. Most often, contracting officers only market research is Request For Information (RFIs), that although helpful, are generally limited to what the contracting officer asks, which is typically just information on the small business status of interested vendors, without true dialogue with industry. Without meaningful dialogue and understanding of the market contracting officers rely on outdated assumptions about the market and requirement owners are not challenged on whether requirements reflect genuine mission needs or are merely historical practice (we always do it this way). In summary, eliminating Part 10 and putting a small fragment of its content into Part 7 will lead to poor market research and poor acquisition outcomes. If the FAR Council continues on this distrastious path they should at least beef up the market rearch coverge in the FAR Companion, either in Section 7 or 10.