Prohibition on certain telecommunications and video surveillance equipment and services
Background
As of August 13, 2020, the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) Fiscal Year 2019, Section 889, (Prohibition on Certain Telecommunications and Video Surveillance Services or Equipment) prohibits federal agencies from entering, extending or renewing contracts or awarding grants to universities that provide or use certain telecommunications and surveillance equipment or services which are owned, connected or controlled by the People’s Republic of China (PRC). This new interim final rule, Part B, is part of a two-stage implementation of NDAA 2019’s Section 889 restrictions on covered telecommunications equipment and services in government contracting (See UCOP compliance memos for additional details.)
Requirement
In order to comply with Section 889, the University may not provide the government or use any equipment, system, or service that uses telecommunications or surveillance equipment or services as a substantial or essential component of any system, or as critical technology as part of any system, from the following listed companies/entities:
- Huawei Technologies Company
- Hytera Communications Corporation
- ZTE Corporation
- Hangzhou Hikvision Technology Company
- Dahua Technology Company
- Any subsidiary or affiliate of these companies/entities
Please check the SmartPay.gov Section 889 website for updates to the list of Prohibited Vendors
How to be Compliant
- Do not purchase or contract for equipment or services from any of the listed companies, or with companies that rely on components or services as part of the equipment or services they provide to the University. This includes Purchasing Card (P-Card) purchases. UCSB’s Procurement Services is monitoring compliance and it is strongly recommended that all relevant equipment and services are sourced through Procurement.
- Do not use telecommunication or video surveillance equipment or services from any of the listed companies. Please be aware that many consumer video surveillance systems are rebranded products from one of the prohibited companies listed above and are subject to the prohibition.
- The prohibitions listed in items 1 and 2 apply to any University business or research activity, regardless of its funding source.
- Notify the campus Export Control Officer immediately (exportcontrol@research.ucsb.edu) if you become aware of any equipment or services being used or procured for the University from the listed companies.
- Those applying for research funding will be asked whether they plan to use or procure equipment or services from any of the listed companies. It is the PI’s responsibility to notify their research team about this requirement and notify the Export Control Officer if a project requires the use of equipment or services from the listed companies.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, the prohibition on using equipment or services from the listed companies is broad and applies even if an activity is unrelated to a Federal grant or contract.
No, the prohibition on the use of equipment or services from the listed companies applies regardless of when the equipment or services were purchased.
While the law allows for the use of personal devices from these listed companies for personal use, you should not use these devices for any University business.
If the equipment is connected to the campus network, contact the Chief Information Security Officer (CISO). Do not take any action to replace the device without consulting with the CISO.
If the equipment is not connected to the network, contact the Export Control Office (exportcontrol@research.ucsb.edu).
Questions related to grants and contracts can be directed to your Sponsored Projects team.
Questions related to procurement or service agreements can be directed to the Chief Procurement Officer, Jacob Godfrey, jacob.godfrey@bfs.ucsb.edu.
Questions about the applicability of NDAA Section 889 can be directed to the Director of Research Integrity, Barry Rowan, rowan@research.ucsb.edu.