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Barry McVay's FEDERAL CONTRACTS DISPATCH

DATE: July 5, 2000

FROM: Barry McVay, CPCM

SUBJECT: General Services Administration Acquisition Regulation (GSAR); Miscellaneous Amendments

SOURCE: Federal Register; July 5, 2000, Vol. 65, No. 129, page 41378

AGENCIES: Office of Acquisition Policy, General Services Administration (GSA)

ACTION: Final Rule

SYNOPSIS: GSA is revising GSAR Part 1825, Foreign Acquisition, to bring it into conformance with the reorganization and rewrite of Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Part 25 contained in Federal Acquisition Circular (FAC) 97-15. In addition, this final rule deletes a provision for brand name or equal purchase descriptions now covered by a FAR provision, adds a clause to notify contractors of payment information available electronically, and clarifies that certain provisions and clauses for building services contracts do not apply to contract actions made under the Javits-Wagner-O'Day (JWOD) Act.

EDITOR'S NOTE: The GSAR is the shaded part of the GSA Acquisition Manual, which is available on the Internet at http://www.arnet.gov/GSAM/gsam.html.

For more on FAC 97-15, see the article in the January 2000 Federal Contracts Perspective "FAC 97-15 Addresses Foreign Acquisition, Contract Bundling, Award Fee Determinations."

Purchases under the JWOD program are covered in Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Subpart 8.7, Acquisition from Nonprofit Agencies Employing People Who Are Blind or Severely Disabled. For more on recent proposed changes to the FAR pertaining to the JWOD Act, see the July 3, 2000, FEDERAL CONTRACTS DISPATCH "Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR); Javits-Wagner-O'Day (JWOD) Subcontract Preference Under Service Contracts."

EFFECTIVE DATE: July 24, 2000.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Gloria Sochon, GSA Acquisition Policy Division, 202-208-6726.

SUPPLEMENTAL INFORMATION: On December 27, 1999, FAC 97-15 was published, and it reorganized and rewrote FAR Part 25. FAR 1.303, Publication and Codification, states that "coverage in an agency acquisition regulation that implements a specific part, subpart, section, or subsection of the FAR shall be numbered and titled to correspond to the appropriate FAR number and title." Therefore, GSAR Part 525 needed to be revised to conform with the reorganized FAR Part 25. To conform GSAR Part 525 to FAR Part 25, the following are removed:

• GSAR Subpart 525.1, Buy American Act -- Supplies (consisting of GSAR 525.105, Evaluating Offers; GSAR 525.105-70, Procurement of Hand or Measuring Tools or Stainless Steel Flatware for DOD [Department of Defense]; and GSAR 525.109, Solicitation Provisions and Contract Clauses);
  
  
• GSAR Subpart 525.4, Trade Agreements (consisting of GSAR 525.402, Policy; and GSAR 525.408, Solicitation Provisions and Contract Clauses);
  
  
• GSAR 552.225-8, Buy American Act -- Trade Agreements Act -- Balance of Payments Program Certificate; and
  
  
• GSAR 552.225-9, Buy American Act -- Trade Agreements Act -- Balance of Payments Program (references to both GSAR 552.225-8 and GSA 552.225-9 are removed from GSAR 552.212-72, Contract Terms and Conditions Required to Implement Statutes and Executive Orders Applicable to GSA Acquisition of Commercial Items).

Added to GSAR Part 525 are the following:

• GSAR Subpart 525.5, Evaluating Foreign Officers -- Supply Contracts (consisting of GSAR 525.570, Procurement of Hand or Measuring Tools or Stainless Steel Flatware for DOD (formerly GSAR 525.105-70, see above)); and
  
  
• GSAR Subpart 525.11, Solicitation Provisions and Contract Clauses, (consisting of GSAR 525.1101, Acquisition of Supplies (formerly GSAR 525.109, see above)).

EDITOR'S NOTE: The issue addressed in the old GSAR Subpart 525.4, GSAR 252.225-8, and GSAR 252.225-9 (that is, the inconsistent treatment of U.S.-made end products with more than 50% foreign content under the Buy American Act and the Trade Agreements Act) is addressed in FAR 25.202, Application, which allows agencies to evaluate U.S.-made end products with more than 50% foreign content the same way. Also, GSAR Subpart 525.3, Balance of Payment Program, is unchanged because FAR Subpart 25.3 still addresses the Balance of Payment program.

Also, this final rule makes the following additional changes:

• GSAR 552.211-70, Brand Name or Equal, is removed. FAC 97-12, published June 17, 1999, added FAR 52.211-6, Brand Name or Equal. Since GSAR 552.211-70 duplicates coverage in FAR 52.211-6, Brand Name or Equal, the GSAR coverage is unnecessary. In addition, GSAR 511.170-3, Solicitation Provision, is redesignated as GSAR 511.104-70, and paragraphs (c) and (d), which address GSAR 552.211-70, are replaced with a new paragraph (c) which states, "If you use brand name or equal purchase descriptions for some component parts of an end item, you may limit the application of the provision at FAR 52.211-6 to the specified components."
  
  
• GSAR 552.232-78, Payment Information, is added to notify contractors that information on invoice payments is available on the Internet at http://www.finance.gsa.gov. A GSA contractor may register at the site and review the date and amount of payments made by GSA. Access to timely payment information may help contractors improve their financial management. Also, a paragraph (c) is added to GSAR 532.908, Contract Clauses, to require the inclusion of GSAR 552.232-78 in solicitations, purchase orders, contracts, and leases over the $2,500 micropurchase threshold, and in task and delivery orders if the basic contract does not contain the clause. And GSAR 552.232-78 is added to paragraph (b) of GSAR 552.212-71, Contract Terms and Conditions Applicable to GSA Acquisition of Commercial Items.
  
  
• GSAR 537.110, Solicitation Provisions and Contract Clauses, is revised to clarify that GSAR 552.237-70, Qualifications of Offerors, and GSAR 552.237-71, Qualifications of Employees, do not apply to JWOD contract actions. Since the qualifications of JWOD participating nonprofit agencies are established by the Committee for Purchase from People Who Are Blind or Severely Disabled, this clarification will help avoid conflict with rules established by the Committee, which have precedence over the GSAR on such matters.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Barry McVay at 703-451-5953 or by e-mail to BarryMcVay@FedGovContracts.com.

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