Postal supply contracts
Official text prohibited actmental stateif conditionpenaltylegal term
No contract for furnishing supplies to the Postal Service shall be made with any person who has entered, or proposed to enter, into any combination to prevent the making of any bid for furnishing such supplies, or to fix a price or prices therefor, or who has made any agreement, or given or performed, or promised to give or perform, any consideration whatever to induce any other person not to bid for any such contract, or to bid at a specified price or prices thereon.
Whoever violates this section shall be [1] or imprisoned not more than one year, or both; and if the offender is a contractor for furnishing such supplies his contract may be annulled.
History: (June 25, 1948, ch. 645, 62 Stat. 704 (PDF, 39 MB); Pub. L. 91–375, §6(j)(4), Aug. 12, 1970, 84 Stat. 777 (PDF, 12 MB); Pub. L. 103–322, title XXXIII, §330016(1)(L), Sept. 13, 1994, 108 Stat. 2147 (PDF, 52 MB).)
1 See 1994 Amendment note below.
Simplified explanation
It is a federal crime to rig bidding on contracts to supply the Postal Service, such as joining a group to block bids or fix prices, or offering anything to get someone not to bid or to bid at a set price. The Postal Service may not contract with anyone who has done this.