ADVISORY

On August 24, 2005 the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) issued an advisory that the material Zylon exhibits degraded ballistic performance when used in body armor and that Interim Requirements Bullet-Resistant Body Armor would be effective September 26, 2005. The Department of General Services issued a PCO broadcast titled Ballistic Body Armor Advisement on September 20, 2005.

The interim requirements rely on previous compliance with NIJ 0101.04 and certification, by a body armor manufacturer's officer of the corporation, that body armor does not contain any amount of Zylon and that it will maintain it's ballistic performance throughout the warranty period.

Because of the uncertainty of body armor manufacturer's response to the NIJ interim requirements, the Procurement Division cannot yet identify body armor that will be approved by NIJ. In addition, body armor that may receive initial approval of compliance to the NIJ interim requirements may, at some later date, be found to not be in compliance.

Procurement Division will keep body armor users informed of developments in the issuance of compliance approvals of new body armor and publish a list of approved vests as the information becomes available.

For those Departments that have immediate needs for ballistic body armor, the Procurement Division will work closely with those departments to meet their needs.