US move to kill £5.4bn Accenture deal

THE war on terror appears to have indirectly bagged another victim, with a $10bn (£5.4bn) Accenture security contract with the US government at risk because the company is not based in the US.

Despite beating Computer Sciences Corp and Lockheed Martin for the deal to implement a programme tracking foreign visitors, a Bill passed by a congressional committee could stop consulting firm Accenture, which is based in Bermuda, from completing the work.

'It is simply wrong for the Department of Homeland Security to award an expatriate with the largest corporate contract to date,' said Rosa DeLauro, a Democrat from Connecticut who sponsored the amendment to the Department of Homeland Security's $32bn budget limiting awards to US-based companies.

The Bill, passed by the House Appropriations Committee by 35 to 17, had wide cross-party support but still needs to be approved by both Houses and President Bush.

'It is outrageous and wrong to reward these companies for abandoning our country, particularly from the very department charged with safeguarding our homeland security as we work to pay for the ongoing war on terrorism,' DeLauro said.

She accused Accenture of wanting 'all the benefits of citizenship without any of the responsibilities'. She added: 'We have two other competitors who are paying their taxes in the United States.'

An Accenture spokesman reacted angrily, saying the company did pay US taxes.

The limited liability partnership formerly known as Andersen Consulting, employs more than a quarter of its workforce in the US through an Illinois subsidiary, Accenture LLP.

Homeland Security officials said that Accenture met the legal requirements to bid on the contract to administer the US Visitor and Immigrant Status Indicator Technology - or US VISIT - programme, which tracks foreigners using digital photographs, fingerprints and other biometric data.

'The Department of Homeland Security awarded this contract to Accenture LLP consistent with all federal procurement laws and regulations,' spokesman Dennis Murphy said.

The US VISIT system is already in place in airports and seaports and Accenture was to assist in its introduction at major land crossings by the end of the year.

US legislators have become increasingly inclined to block awards to companies from countries which are perceived as hostile to American foreign policy.

In May last year, German paint manufacturer Keimfarben lost a deal to cover the exterior walls of the Pentagon.