Starting in December 2020, the D-U-N-S® number will no longer be the official identifier for doing business with the U.S. Government. GSA has published an update outlining how it plans to transition away from DUNS numbers to a new unique entity ID for government contractors by Dec. 2020. On July 10, 2019, a notice published in the Federal Register indicates that GSA will be holding a public meeting regarding the transition on Thursday, July 25, 2019, starting at 1 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (EST), and ending no later than 2 p.m., EST.
Background
Currently, the System for Award Management (SAM.gov) utilizes the Dun & Bradstreet (D&B) Data Universal Numbering System (DUNS) ® nine-digit number as the unique identifier for entities throughout the federal awarding lifecycle, in SAM.gov, in other Integrated Award Environment (IAE) systems, on required forms, and in downstream government systems.
In 2016, the government revised both the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) and Title 2 of the Code of Federal Regulations (2 CFR) to remove any proprietary references to D&B and the DUNS® number as the unique entity identifier. This allowed the government to decouple the required unique identifier from the supporting entity validation services.
As such, the U.S. government is moving to a new unique entity identifier for federal awards management, including, but not limited to, contracts, grants, and cooperative agreements, which will ultimately become the primary key to identify entities throughout the federal awarding lifecycle, in SAM.gov, other IAE systems, on required forms, and in downstream government systems. The DUNS® number will be phased out as the entity identifier for entity record within SAM.
Through December 2020, IAE systems will be transitioning from the DUNS® number to a SAM-generated Unique Entity ID (UEI). The standard for the new UEI was developed by an interagency working group. This new entity identifier will be the authoritative identifier once the transition is complete.
More information can be found at gsa.gov/entityid. Questions related to government implementation can be directed to entityvalidation@gsa.gov. All media questions should be directed to the GSA Media Affairs at press@gsa.gov.
Public Meeting
The GSA public meeting will be conducted virtually where information on the awards management Unique Entity ID standard will be presented. The public meeting will be held on Thursday, July 25, 2019, starting at 1 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (EST), and ending no later than 2 p.m., EST.
Procedures for Attendance
To register for the meeting please email entityvalidation@gsa.gov and the meeting information will be sent to you.
For more information please check out GSA’s Unique Entity Identifier Update and its recent notice in the Federal Register.
