DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE …

                                         DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE                          ISSUE DATE:
                                     National Institute of Standards and Technology      October 22, 2004
                                   National Voluntary Laboratory Accreditation Program

                                                                                         NUMBER: AB-6-2004
                                   ASSESSOR BULLETIN
                                                                                         LAP: All
SUBJECT:    Contractor Registration and Unsolicited Mail


 In 2003, NVLAP was notified that all current and potential government vendors must register
 with the Central Contractor Registration (CCR) in order to be awarded contracts by any Federal
 agency. To be included in the CCR, contractors are required to have a DUNS number from
 D & B (formerly Dun and Bradstreet). NVLAP later learned that D & B, which is a private
 company, maintains a marketing list that is sold to other companies and that inclusion on the list
 may result in receipt of unsolicited mail. In November 2003, NVLAP provided information to
 its assessors on how to exclude their information from D & B's mailing list so that it would not
 be given out in the future.

 It has recently been brought to NVLAP's attention that CCR is also selling publicly available
 information about registered contractors. Unfortunately, there is nothing that NVLAP can do
 about this disclosure of contractor information since the information entered into CCR falls
 under the Freedom of Information Act. The publicly available information includes information
 about ownership, points of contact, and offered services. Confidential information, such as
 taxpayer ID number, Social Security number, and credit card information, is protected by your
 TPIN number, which is not released.

 NVLAP is issuing this bulletin to ensure that all of its assessors are informed of this situation and
 the steps they can take if they wish to limit junk mail and other unwanted solicitations.

 CCR: The CCR web site, http://www.ccr.gov, advises contractors who are concerned about
 unwanted "spam" e-mails and phone calls to provide a generic e-mail address and a phone
 number other than a personal cell phone number in the CCR registration point of contact field.
 This way, a contractor's personal e-mail address and cell phone number will not be exposed for
 spamming issues.

 D & B: If you do not wish to be included in the D & B marketing lists, contact the D & B
 Customer Resource Center at 1-800-234-3867 and request a DMI exclusion to "delist" your
 information.

 NVLAP regrets that this has become a problem for some of our assessors and apologizes for any
 inconvenience it has caused. We do remind you that it is imperative that you maintain an
 "Active" status in CCR, as contracts will be awarded and payments made only to "Active"
 vendors. If you have any questions or require additional information, please contact Warren
 Merkel, the Chief of NVLAP, at 301-975-5888 or .