42 U.S.C. § 18444 — Counterfeit parts

(a) In general. The Administrator must plan, develop, and run a program, working with other federal agencies, to detect, track, catalog, and cut down the number of counterfeit electronic parts in NASA's supply chain. (b) Requirements. The program must include three things. First, training for every employee who buys, processes, distributes, or installs electronic parts, so they can spot counterfeit parts, know what to do if they suspect one, get regular updates on new threats and how to identify and report them, and work with industry groups, manufacturers, suppliers, and other agencies as appropriate. Second, an internal database tracking every suspected and confirmed counterfeit electronic part, which must keep track of, at minimum: companies and people known or suspected of selling counterfeit parts; parts known or suspected of being counterfeit, including their lot and date codes, part numbers, and images; the countries these parts come from; where reports about them came from; U.S. Customs seizures; and reports from the Government-Industry Data Exchange Program and other public or private databases. Third, a way to report all this information on suspected and confirmed counterfeit parts to law enforcement, industry groups, and other databases, and to send out bulletins to industry about counterfeit parts and related activity. (c) Review of procurement and acquisition policy. NASA must also change how it buys parts. First, as part of building this program, the Administrator must update NASA's acquisition and procurement policy so NASA buys electronic parts only from trusted or approved manufacturers. To decide who counts as trusted or approved, the Administrator must create and keep a list, reviewed and updated at least once a year, along with criteria manufacturers must meet to get on it. Second, those criteria may include things like authentication or encryption codes; security markings built into parts; unique labels and markings that are hard to copy; distinct lot and serial codes on packaging; radio-frequency ID tags built into high-value parts; physically destroying defective, damaged, or substandard parts left over from manufacturing; testing certifications; procedures for handling any counterfeit parts that do slip through; secure facilities that keep out unauthorized access to proprietary information; and practices for returns, buy-backs, and inventory control that help prevent counterfeiting. (d) Report to Congress. Within one year after October 11, 2010, the Administrator must report to Congress's appropriate committees on how this program is being carried out.