OMB POLICY STATEMENTS
OMB clamps down on brand name specs in RFPs
"For a year federal agencies have been directed to not use brand names in contract solicitations and requests for proposals.

To microprocessor makers such as Advanced Micro Devices Inc. the regulation meant agencies’ requests for proposals worth more than $25,000 could not specify Intel Corp.’s processors, for example, unless the agency could justify why a certain brand name was needed.

The Office of Management and Budget released a memorandum last week that gives the regulation some muscle. While the existing guidance has the force of law, OMB has taken the additional step of publishing it in the Federal Acquisition Regulation. "