In 1984, the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) established guidelines for processing and reviewing commercial contracts for the direct purchase of U.S. defense articles and services from American firms, financed with funds appropriated by Congress. Since then, the program has been scaled down. Purchasers — defined as foreign countries eligible under U.S. law to establish Direct Commercial Contracts (DCCs) funded with Foreign Military Financing (FMF) — are encouraged to use the Foreign Military Sales (FMS) system for their acquisition needs.