§ 705. Review of ethical issues
If a contracting officer identifies any ethical issues relating to a proposed contract and submits those issues and that proposed contract to the designated ethics official for the covered postal entity before the awarding of that contract, that ethics official shall—
(1) review the proposed contract; and
(2) advise the contracting officer on the appropriate resolution of ethical issues.
§ 706. Ethical restrictions on participation in certain contracting activity
(a) Definitions.—In this section—
(1) the term ‗covered employee‘ means—
(A) a contracting officer; or
(B) any employee of a covered postal entity whose decisionmaking affects a postal contract as determined by regulations prescribed by the head of a covered postal entity;
(2) the term ‗covered relationship‘ means a covered relationship described in section 2635.502(b)(1) of title 5, Code of Federal Regulations, or any successor thereto; and
(3) the term ‗final conviction‘ means a conviction, whether entered on a verdict or plea, including a plea of nolo contendere, for which a sentence has been imposed.
(b) In General.—
(1) REGULATIONS.—The head of each covered postal entity shall prescribe regulations that—
(A) require a covered employee to include in the file of any noncompetitive purchase request for a noncompetitive postal contract a written certification that—
(i) discloses any covered relationship of the covered employee; and
(ii) the covered employee will not take any action with respect to the noncompetitive purchase request that affects the financial interests of a friend, relative, or person with whom the covered employee is affiliated in a nongovernmental capacity, or otherwise gives rise to an appearance of the use of public office for private gain, as described in section 2635.702 of title 5, Code of Federal Regulations, or any successor thereto;
(B) require a contracting officer to consult with the ethics counsel for the covered postal entity regarding any disclosure made by a covered employee under subparagraph (A)(i), to determine whether participation by the covered employee in the noncompetitive purchase request would give rise to a violation of part 2635 of title 5, Code of Federal Regulations (commonly referred to as the ‗Standards of Ethical Conduct for Employees of the Executive Branch‘);
(C) require the ethics counsel for a covered postal entity to review any disclosure made by a contracting officer under subparagraph (A)(i) to determine whether participation by the contracting officer in the noncompetitive purchase request would give rise to a violation of part 2635 of title 5, Code of Federal Regulations (commonly referred to as the ‗Standards of Ethical Conduct for Employees of the Executive Branch‘), or any successor thereto;
(D) under subsections (d) and (e) of section 2635.50 of title 5, Code of Federal Regulations, or any successor thereto, require the ethics counsel for a covered postal entity to—
(i) authorize a covered employee that makes a disclosure under subparagraph (A)(i) to participate in the noncompetitive postal contract; or
(ii) disqualify a covered employee that makes a disclosure under subparagraph (A)(i) from participating in the noncompetitive postal contract;
(E) require a contractor to timely disclose to the contracting officer in a bid, solicitation, award, or performance of a postal contract any conflict of interest with a covered employee; and