Overview

Amazon sellers who want to do business with U.S. government agencies should understand the Section 889 certification process. This certification confirms that a seller does not use or supply telecommunications equipment from certain prohibited manufacturers, and obtaining it can unlock a significant pool of government purchasing power on Amazon Business.

Key Points / What Sellers Need to Know

• Section 889 is a federal compliance requirement - It references Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) policies that restrict government purchases of telecommunications equipment from five specific manufacturers: Huawei, ZTE, Hytera, Hikvision, and Dahua, along with their subsidiaries and affiliates.
• Government buyers filter by certification - Many government accounts have configured buying rules that only display listings from sellers who hold valid 889 certification, meaning uncertified sellers are invisible to these buyers.
• Amazon Business serves major government customers - The platform currently serves agencies across all 50 states and Washington D.C., including 90 of the 100 most populous local governments, with over 100,000 government organizations registered.
• Certification must be renewed annually - Government customers only accept 889 attestations that are less than one year old from the signed date, so sellers must resubmit each year to maintain compliance.
• Two paths to certification exist - Sellers can certify through SAM.gov or by completing Amazon's self-certification form directly.

How It Works

The Section 889 certification is essentially a formal attestation that your business does not use or provide telecommunications equipment or services produced by the five prohibited Chinese manufacturers listed in the FAR. If your products and business operations have no connection to these companies, you are eligible. Government procurement officers rely on this certification to ensure their purchases comply with federal law, which is why many have set up automated filters on Amazon Business that exclude non-certified sellers from search results.

Getting Certified

Sellers have two options for obtaining their 889 certification. The first is through SAM.gov, the official U.S. government portal for vendor registration. This route is particularly beneficial for women-owned, minority-owned, veteran-owned, or other small and diverse businesses, as they can obtain all eligible certifications, including 889, at no cost. The second option is completing Amazon's 889 self-certification form directly. For sellers who go through SAM.gov, they need to upload their certifications to their seller profile under the B2B settings the first time. After that initial upload, any changes or renewals will be pulled automatically from SAM.gov, requiring no further action from the seller.