Economy, finance and labor

Executive Order 12943: Further Amendment to Executive Order No. 11755

President: Bill Clinton

Updated statutory references and exempted micro-purchases from the federal-contract restriction on certain use of nonfederal prison labor.

Status: In effect. Is Executive Order 12943 still in effect? Yes. Executive Order 12943 remains in effect. See Federal Register record.

What does Executive Order 12943 do?

EO 12943 amended EO 11755, which limits federal contractors’ use of nonfederal prison labor while permitting specified work-release arrangements. It updated the preamble to cite 18 U.S.C. §§ 3621 and 3622 and the Bureau of Prisons, and excluded purchases made under federal micro-purchase authority. The FAR continues to identify EO 11755 as amended by EO 12943 and implements the contract restrictions and exceptions.

Administration position: The amendment reduced administrative burden for very small purchases. It did not generally authorize exploitative prison labor or remove contract protections above the threshold.
SignedDecember 13, 1994
Parent orderEO 11755
New exceptionMicro-purchases

Before and after

Before the order

The order used an obsolete statutory reference and contained no micro-purchase exception.

After the order

Current prison statutes were cited and micro-purchases were excluded.

Who had to do what

Agency / officeActionTiming / position
Contracting officersApply the prison-labor clause and exceptionsUnder FAR part 22
ContractorsComply with restrictions on covered contractsAbove applicable thresholds

What happened next

EO 11755 established the policy.

EO 12943 added the micro-purchase exception.

The FAR continued to cite the amendment.