Section 889 in 2026: The Loophole Just Closed and the List Keeps Growing
The FCC's June 2026 vote didn't create new restrictions — it deleted the loophole that let integrators keep selling legacy Hikvision and Dahua stock. Here is what actually changed, and why a SAM.gov checkbox no longer covers you.
By Uniqcli Team · · 7 min read
Key takeaways
- The FCC's June 26, 2026 vote extended its equipment ban to older, previously-authorized covered models — closing the legacy-stock exit (as reported).
- Section 889 is two rules: Part A bars buying covered gear (2019); Part B bars contracting with any entity that uses it (2020).
- The SAM.gov 889 checkbox carries a "reasonable inquiry" standard — an audit tests the diligence behind the answer, not the box.
- The FCC Covered List now reaches drones (Dec 2025) and routers (March 2026), not just the original five telecom producers.
- Screen each line to its producer and affiliates, flag the use case, and keep the inquiry trail before the order ships.
On this page
Compliance
Two federal restriction tracks just closed on the same shelf
Section 889 has kept covered Chinese telecommunications and video-surveillance equipment out of federal purchases since 2019 and 2020. For years, integrators holding pre-2022 inventory still had an exit: the FCC's authorization ban stopped new models, but units authorized before the cutoff could keep being imported and marketed, so old stock could be sold through. On June 26, 2026, the FCC voted to close that carve-out — extending the prohibition to older, previously-authorized models in security-sensitive uses, with the changes taking effect in early July (as reported). The sell-down-the-legacy-inventory strategy is ending, and it is ending just as the FCC's Covered List has grown well past the original five companies to include drones and routers. Meanwhile the SAM.gov representation most contractors treat as a checkbox already carries a legal standard a checkbox cannot meet. Here is what actually changed, and what to verify before the next order ships.
What the FCC changed in June 2026
The restriction itself is not new. Following the Secure Equipment Act, the Commission in 2022 barred new equipment authorizations for gear from Huawei, ZTE, Hytera, Hikvision, and Dahua — the same five producers named across the Section 889 procurement rules. Reporting on that order described it as prospective: no new models could be authorized for the U.S. market, but equipment authorized before the cutoff could still be imported and marketed. For a business sitting on already-authorized inventory, that gap was the plan — move the legacy stock while it was still lawful to import and place.
The June 26, 2026 vote, as reported, changed the terms. The Commission voted to expand the 2022 prohibition to reach older, previously-authorized models, with the changes taking effect in early July 2026. The expansion is scoped to security-sensitive uses — public safety, security of government facilities, physical security surveillance of critical infrastructure, and other national-security purposes — the same use categories that drew this equipment into Section 889 to begin with. As reported, the action restricts import and marketing; it is not an order to tear out installed cameras, and nothing in it requires pulling equipment already mounted on a building. What it closes is the channel that kept legacy covered gear flowing into new projects.
Section 889 is two prohibitions, not one
The FCC action rhymes with Section 889, but they are separate regimes — and for a federal buyer, Section 889 is the harder line. It has two parts, with different reach and different effective dates. Part A, Section 889(a)(1)(A), effective August 13, 2019, bars federal agencies from procuring or obtaining any equipment or service that uses covered telecommunications or video-surveillance equipment as a substantial or essential component. In plain terms: the government cannot buy the covered gear. Part B, Section 889(a)(1)(B), effective August 13, 2020, reaches further — it bars agencies from contracting with any entity that uses covered equipment or services at all, even in internal systems unrelated to the contract being awarded.
The covered producers are fixed by statute: telecommunications equipment from Huawei and ZTE, and video-surveillance and telecommunications equipment from Hytera, Hikvision, and Dahua — in each case including their subsidiaries and affiliates. That affiliate language is where screening earns its keep, because the brand on the box is not always the name on the corporate filing, and rebadged or OEM modules can carry a covered producer's components under another label. The operative contract clause, FAR 52.204-25, prohibits a contractor from delivering any system that uses covered equipment as a substantial or essential component unless a waiver or exception applies. For a reseller, Part A is the everyday test, and every line on a federal-bound quote has to clear it.
Why the SAM.gov checkbox is not the finish line
Contractors make the Section 889 representation in SAM.gov once a year under FAR 52.204-26, and again per solicitation under FAR 52.204-24. On screen it reads like a yes/no box, which is why it gets treated like one. The standard behind it is not a yes/no matter. The Part B representation carries a defined "reasonable inquiry" standard — an inquiry designed to surface the information already in the entity's possession about the producer of any covered equipment it uses. It does not force a third-party audit, but it is a documented, good-faith look, not a reflexive "no."
The exposure sits in the gap between the two. A contracting officer may rely on the representation unless there is reason to question it — so the box is accepted at award and examined later, if at all. An inspector-general review does not re-read the checkbox; it asks what inquiry stood behind it. A "no" with no diligence trail behind it is the finding, not the defense. This is the same shift that reshaped country-of-origin claims: the government stopped reading the label and started auditing the claim behind it, with False Claims Act exposure attached to the answer rather than the paperwork.
The Covered List keeps growing
Screening built around a static memory of "the five companies" is already behind the regulation. The FCC's Covered List has expanded well past its telecom origins. In December 2025, the Commission added all foreign-produced unmanned aircraft systems and critical components, naming DJI and Autel; in March 2026, it added certain foreign-made consumer routers, citing exploitation tracked as Volt Typhoon, Flax Typhoon, and Salt Typhoon. A drone or a router that would have cleared a 2023-era 889 check can now sit on a federal restriction list.
The lists also do not move in lockstep, which is the trap. A model can clear one regime and fail another: the drone and router additions ride the FCC's authorization and Covered List tracks, Section 889 governs what a federal buyer may procure and whom it may contract with, and DoD's separate Section 1260H list of "Chinese military companies" drives multi-year divestment on its own timeline — the same list that added TP-Link Technologies in June 2026. For a quote, "is it 889-covered?" is no longer the only question; it is one of several, each with its own scope and its own dates.
Adjacent screening that lands on the same file
The 889 check rarely travels alone. These walk the neighboring lists and origin tests a federal-bound quote has to clear.
NDAA-compliant drones: the four lists
The Blue UAS Cleared List, the FCC Covered List, DoD 1260H, and state statutes — and why a drone can clear one and quietly fail another.
What "TAA compliant" actually means
Country of origin turns on substantial transformation, not final assembly — and the government now audits the claim behind the label.
Election infrastructure network hardening
Where 889 and origin screening land in a real refresh: sourcing replacement network gear before a certification deadline, not during it.
What to confirm before the equipment ships
Screening is cheapest at quote time and most expensive during an audit. Run each item before the purchase order goes out.
- Trace each line to its actual producer and corporate parent, not just the brand on the box — covered status under Section 889 reaches the subsidiaries and affiliates of Huawei, ZTE, Hytera, Hikvision, and Dahua.
- Flag the use case, not only the vendor — the video-surveillance restriction turns on public-safety, government-facility, and critical-infrastructure purposes, so how a camera or recorder is deployed changes the answer.
- For any covered-adjacent model, confirm whether it depends on a pre-2022 legacy authorization that the June 2026 FCC action now reaches (as reported), rather than assuming "previously authorized" still means importable.
- Screen drones and routers against the expanded Covered List, not just the original telecom five — the December 2025 UAS additions and the March 2026 router additions are live.
- Keep the reasonable-inquiry trail: what was checked, against which version of the list, and on what date — that record is what a Part B representation actually stands on.
- Run Section 889 and country-of-origin screening together, up front, so a covered part or a non-transformed origin surfaces on the quote rather than in a later review.
Common questions
Do we have to remove Hikvision or Dahua cameras we already installed?
Not under the FCC action, as reported. The June 26, 2026 vote restricts import and marketing, and reporting notes nothing in it requires pulling equipment already mounted on a building. Section 889 is a separate, procurement-side rule about what a federal buyer may acquire and whom it may contract with. Confirm your own contract and grant terms independently, since those can carry their own replacement obligations.
Is Section 889 the same thing as the FCC ban?
No. They overlap on the same five producers but run on different tracks. Section 889, through FAR 52.204-25, governs federal procurement — Part A bars buying covered gear, Part B bars contracting with entities that use it. The FCC's authorization and Covered List regime governs whether equipment may be imported and marketed in the U.S. at all. A product can be caught by one and not the other.
We answered "no" on the SAM.gov 889 representation — isn't that enough?
It is the start, not the finish. The Part B representation carries a "reasonable inquiry" standard, and a contracting officer may rely on it only until there is reason to question it. In a review, the question becomes what inquiry stood behind the answer — and a "no" with no diligence trail is exactly what an audit flags.
If the equipment was already banned in 2022, what changed in June 2026?
The 2022 order barred new equipment authorizations for these producers, but previously-authorized legacy models could still be imported and marketed — the gap that let old stock be sold through. The June 26, 2026 vote, as reported, extended the prohibition to those older models in security-sensitive uses, effective in early July. The legacy-inventory exit is what closed.
Does 889 screening only cover cameras and switches?
No — the list has grown. The FCC added foreign-produced drones and critical components in December 2025 and certain foreign-made routers in March 2026, so a drone or an access-point refresh can now touch a restriction it would have cleared a year earlier. Screening has to check the current list, not a remembered one.
Screen the buy against the lists before it ships
Section 889 screening is part of how we quote: covered-entity checks on the lines, country of origin on request, and the paper trail your file needs — before the order is placed, not after.