The Procurement and Supply Manager's Desk Reference, + Website, 2nd Edition

CHAPTER 20

Regulatory Compliance

As you may imagine, numerous laws and governmental regulations—federal, state, and local—affect procurement activities to one degree or another in the United States. Many of these play key roles in the way business organizations can function, while others establish the legal framework for buying and selling.

In your role as procurement professional, you will not only need to understand how laws and regulations affect business conducted domestically, but you will also need a thorough understanding of how the laws governing businesses in other countries vary widely from those in the United States. What is taken for common business practice in one country may be unheard of in another.

Regulatory Factors Governing Procurement

The laws regulating commerce in the United States (and likely elsewhere) are so extensive that it would be impossible to even begin to list them here. However, in this section we've outlined some of the most frequently cited laws and regulations that you should recognize as a procurement professional.

Uniform Commercial Code

The Uniform Commercial Code (UCC), especially Article 2, the section governing sales, is perhaps the regulation most commonly used by procurement departments in conducting day-to-day business. The UCC was developed by the legal community early in the last century as trade between the states began to accelerate and the need for uniform laws became evident. It has subsequently been adopted and ratified by 49 ...