GSA has recently announced that the long anticipated DUNS Number transition to the new Unique Entity ID (UEI) Standard has been pushed back to April 2022.

We first blogged on GSA’s intention to swap out the DUNS numbering system for the UEI Standard in July 2019. We also “demystified” the DUNS-to-UEI-transition in a later blog, getting into a few of the details released in GSA’s Q&A on the topic. As we explained, GSA initially anticipated a transition date of December 2020. But clearly that didn’t happen.

GSA’s most recent “Unique Entity Identifier Update” announced that the Government’s DUNS Number transition has now been extended for at least another year. GSA’s update explains:

By April of 2022, the federal government will stop using the DUNS number to uniquely identify entities registered in the System for Award Management (SAM). At that point, entities doing business with the federal government will use a Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) created in SAM.gov. They will no longer have to go to a third-party website to obtain their identifier. Active registrants will have their UEI assigned and viewable within SAM.gov; there is no action for registered entities to take at this time. This transition allows GSA to streamline the entity identification and validation process, making it easier and less burdensome for entities to do business with the federal government.

For more information on the UEI technical specifications and API information, you can go here. You can also join and follow the GSA community on Interact to stay up-to-date on the latest news and for more information about the IAE and upcoming UEI changes.

And as always, keep reading the blog for more updates as well.

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