Effective November 29, 2012, Handbook AS-709, Purchase Card Policies and Procedures for Local Buying, is revised to reflect the policies in the Administrative Support Manual and to provide procedural guidance when an individual delegated local buying authority believes that a potentially prohibited source is the only available source.
Handbook AS-709, Purchase Card Policies and Procedures for Local Buying
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3 Cardholder’s Local Buying Procedures
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31 Your Responsibilities
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313 Use Your Credit Card Properly
313.1 Ethics and Business Practices
[Revise 313.1 to read as follows:]
ASM 722.41 requires all employees to adhere to the Standards of Ethical Conduct for Employees of the Executive Branch, 5 CFR 2635. As an employee who has been delegated local buying authority, you are to consult with local management or a Postal Service ethics official when questions regarding these standards arise. See 212.7 for more information on the standards.
Keep in mind that you may not make a local buy from any of the following:
a. A Postal Service employee.
b. A spouse of a Postal Service employee.
c. Another family member of a Postal Service employee.
d. An individual residing in the household of a Postal Service employee.
e. A business organization substantially owned or controlled by any of the above.
As defined in ASM 722.42, “A Postal Service employee is any Postal Service officer or employee working on a full-time or part-time basis in a career or noncareer position, including specifically persons in temporary positions such as postmaster replacements, rural carrier reliefs, and postal support employees.”
Individuals who have been delegated local buying authority should search for sources that do not create ethical conflicts to fulfill their business needs. The following methods may be beneficial when searching for suppliers:
n Posting notices in local Post Offices.
n Posting notices on other community bulletin boards.
n Searching for suppliers in the yellow pages.
n Searching for suppliers on the Internet.
n Posting notices via electronic media.
If an individual, who has been delegated local buying authority, after searching for an alternate source believes that a prohibited source is the only way to fulfill the need, he or she must consult the Ethics Office. Based on the Ethics Counsel’s advice, the individual may request a deviation following the procedures in 111.4.
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We will incorporate these revisions into the next printed version of Handbook AS-709 and into the next online update available on the Postal Service™ PolicyNet website:
n Go to http://blue.usps.gov.
n Under “Essential Links” in the left-hand column, click PolicyNet.
n On the PolicyNet page, click Handbooks.
(The direct URL for the Postal Service PolicyNet website is http://blue.usps.gov/cpim.)
— Supply Management Infrastructure,
Supply Management, 11-29-12
