(1) Quality assurance among North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) countries.

(i) NATO Standardization Agreement (STANAG) 4107, Mutual Acceptance of Government Quality Assurance and Usage of the Allied Quality Assurance Publications—

(A) Contains the processes, procedures, terms, and conditions under which one NATO member nation will perform quality assurance for another NATO member nation or NATO organization;

(B) Standardizes the development, updating, and application of the Allied Quality Assurance Publications; and

(C) Has been ratified by the United States and other nations in NATO with certain reservations identified in STANAG 4107.

(ii) Departments and agencies shall follow STANAG 4107 when—

(A) Asking a NATO member nation to perform quality assurance; or

(B) Performing quality assurance when requested by a NATO member nation or NATO organization.

(2) International military sales (non-NATO). Departments and agencies shall—

(i) Perform quality assurance services on international military sales contracts or in accordance with existing agreements;

(ii) Inform host or U.S. Government personnel and contractors on the use of quality assurance publications; and

(iii) Delegate quality assurance to the host government when satisfactory services are available.

(3) Reciprocal quality assurance agreements. A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with a foreign country may contain an annex that provides for the reciprocal performance of quality assurance services. MOUs should be checked to determine whether such an annex exists for the country where a defense contract will be performed. (See subpart 225.8 for more information about MOUs.)

[56 FR 36460, July 31, 1991, as amended at 63 FR 43890, Aug. 17, 1998; 63 FR 47439, Sept. 8, 1998; 71 FR 27647, May 12, 2006]