Although we are waiting for NIH Procurement Policy guidance, a heads up for those of you buying commodities that are furnished on the strategic sourcing initiative BPAs. NIH is required to purchase 85% of its relevant commodities from these contracts. If you are NOT going to use one of these contracts you must obtain a waiver. This includes all purchases mechanisms including purchase cards. The waiver process is designed to formally document approved exceptions to using a vendor other than one of the Strategic Sourcing or Contract Closeout vendors. To facilitate this process, an online waiver form was developed. The waiver form can be accessed via the following link: http://dbh.ogam2000.com/HHS_Strategic_Sourcing/Data_Collection/waiver.asp. You may obtain the waiver from your card approving official. The waiver instructions can be found at the above link as well. Appendix D Justification Procedures (MS Word) Appendix D Justification Template (MS Word) Also, the Strategic Sourcing and Acquisition Integration and Modernization (AIM) Intranet sites are valuable resources that HHS staff should use when determining the need for a waiver. The website addresses are as follows: Strategic Sourcing - http://intranet.hhs.gov/ssc/ AIM - http://intranet2.hhs.gov/hwac/ If time permits you can retroactively input waiver data from as early as April 1, 2006 to facilitate the collection of six months worth of waiver data (April 2006 . September 2006). Waiver data will be added to each OPDIV.s strategic sourcing usage data to contribute to the 85% usage target for FY 2006.