The Federal Government, under the Integrated Acquisition Environment (IAE), has launched several initiatives to make doing business with the Government easier. One such initiative is the development of Central Contractor Registration (CCR) database. As of October 1, 2003, all prospective federal government contractors are required to be registered in the CCR database prior to award of any contract or agreement. Contractors may register in CCR at www.ccr.gov.

Another initiative, beginning January 2005 is the requirement for the offeror to complete annual Representations and Certifications via the Online Representations and Certifications (ORCA) website found at http://orca.bpn.gov. ORCA is a component of the Central Contract Registry (CCR) in the Business Partner Network (BPN) and replaces the majority of Section K (Representations and Certifications) found in the request for proposal package. FRA will not award a contract to any vendor not registered in CCR with a completed, up to date, ORCA.