[Federal Register: November 22, 2006 (Volume 71, Number 225)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Page 67769-67771]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr22no06-11]
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Part V
Department of Defense
General Services Administration
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
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48 CFR Chapter 1 and Parts 2, 4, et al.
Federal Acquisition Regulation; Interim and Final Rules
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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION
NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION
48 CFR Chapter 1
[Docket FAR--2006-0023, Sequence 7]
Federal Acquisition Regulation; Federal Acquisition Circular
2005-14; Introduction
AGENCIES: Department of Defense (DoD), General Services Administration
(GSA), and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).
ACTION: Summary presentation of final and interim rules, and technical
amendments and corrections.
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SUMMARY: This document summarizes the Federal Acquisition Regulation
(FAR) rules agreed to by the Civilian Agency Acquisition Council and
the Defense Acquisition Regulations Council in this Federal Acquisition
Circular (FAC) 2005-14. A companion document, the Small Entity
Compliance Guide (SECG), follows this FAC. The FAC, including the SECG,
is available via the Internet at http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/leaving.cgi?from=leavingFR.html&log=linklog&to=http://www.regulations.gov.
DATES: For effective dates and comment dates, see separate documents,
which follow.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: The analyst whose name appears in the
table below in relation to each FAR case or subject area. Please cite
FAC 2005-14 and specific FAR case number(s). For information pertaining
to status or publication schedules, contact the FAR Secretariat at
(202) 501-4755.
List of Rules in FAC 2005-14
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Item Subject FAR case Analyst
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I.............. Common Identification Standard for 2005-015 Jackson.
Contractors.
II............. Removal of Sanctions Against Certain EU 2005-045 Olson.
Countries.
III............ Free Trade Agreements--Bahrain and Guatemala 2006-017 Parnell.
(Interim).
IV............. Free Trade Agreements--Morocco............... 2006-001 Parnell.
V.............. Technical Amendments......................... .......................
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SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Summaries for each FAR rule follow. For the
actual revisions and/or amendments to these FAR cases, refer to the
specific item number and subject set forth in the documents following
these item summaries.
FAC 2005-14 amends the FAR as specified below:
Item I--Common Identification Standard for Contractors (FAR Case 2005-
015)
This rule converts the interim rule published at 71 FR 208, January
3, 2006, to a final rule with changes. The rule amends the Federal
Acquisition Regulation (FAR) by addressing the contractor personal
identification requirements in Homeland Security Presidential Directive
(HSPD) 12, ``Policy for a Common Identification Standard for Federal
Employees and Contractors,'' and Federal Information Processing
Standards Publication (FIPS PUB) Number 201, ``Personal Identity
Verification (PIV) of Federal Employees and Contractors.'' The primary
objectives of HSPD-12 are to establish a process to enhance security,
increase Government efficiency, reduce identity fraud, and protect
personal privacy by establishing a mandatory, Governmentwide standard
for secure and reliable forms of identification issued by the Federal
Government to its employees and contractors who require routine
physical access to Federally-controlled facilities, and/or routine
access to Federally-controlled information systems.
Item II--Removal of Sanctions Against Certain EU Countries (FAR Case
2005-045)
This rule converts the interim rule published at 71 FR 20305, April
19, 2006, to a final rule without change. The interim rule removed the
sanctions in FAR Part 25 against Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland,
France, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Sweden, and the
United Kingdom on acquisitions not covered by the World Trade
Organization Government Procurement Agreement. These sanctions did not
apply to small business set-asides, to acquisition below the simplified
acquisition threshold using simplified acquisition procedures, or to
acquisitions by the Department of Defense. Contracting officers may now
consider offers of end products, services, and construction that were
previously prohibited by the sanctions.
Item III--Free Trade Agreements--Bahrain and Guatemala (FAR Case 2006-
017) (Interim)
This interim rule allows contracting officers to purchase the goods
and services of Guatemala and Bahrain without application of the Buy
American Act if the acquisition is subject to the Free Trade
Agreements. These trade agreements with Guatemala and Bahrain join the
North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), the Australia, Chile,
Morocco, and Singapore Free Trade Agreements, and the CAFTA-DR with
respect to El Salvador, Honduras, and Nicaragua, which are already in
the FAR. The threshold for applicability of the Dominican Republic--
Central America-United States Free Trade Agreement is $64,786 for
supplies and services (the same as other Free Trade Agreements to date
except Morocco and Canada) and $7,407,000 for construction (the same as
all other Free Trade Agreements to date except NAFTA). The threshold
for applicability of the Bahrain Free Trade Agreement is $193,000 (the
same as the Morocco FTA and the WTO GPA) and $8,422,165 for
construction (the same as NAFTA).
Item IV--Free Trade Agreements--Morocco (FAR Case 2006-001)
This final rule converts the interim rule published in the Federal
Register at 71 FR 20306, April 19, 2006, to a final rule without
change. This rule allows contracting officers to purchase the products
of Morocco without application of the Buy American Act if the
acquisition is subject to the Morocco Free Trade Agreements. The U.S.
Trade Representative negotiated a Free Trade Agreement with Morocco,
which went into effect January 1, 2006. This agreement joins the North
American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the Australia, Chile, and
Singapore Free Trade Agreements, which are already in the FAR. The
threshold for applicability of the Morocco Free Trade Agreement is
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$193,000 for supplies and services and $7,407,000 for construction.
Item V--Technical Amendments
Editorial changes are made at FAR 15.404-1, 22.1006, 22.1304,
28.202, 52.212-5, 52.222-43, 52.228-15, and 52.228-16, in order to
update references.
Dated: November 15, 2006.
Ralph De Stefano,
Director, Contract Policy Division.
Federal Acquisition Circular
Federal Acquisition Circular (FAC) 2005-14 is issued under the
authority of the Secretary of Defense, the Administrator of General
Services, and the Administrator for the National Aeronautics and Space
Administration.
Unless otherwise specified, all Federal Acquisition Regulation
(FAR) and other directive material contained in FAC 2005-14 is
effective November 22, 2006.
Dated: November 12, 2006.
Shay D. Assad,
Director, Defense Procurement and Acquisition Policy.
Dated: November 8, 2006.
Roger D. Waldron,
Acting Senior Procurement Executive, General Services Administration.
Dated: November 6, 2006.
Tom Luedtke,
Assistant Administrator for Procurement, National Aeronautics and Space
Administration.
[FR Doc. 06-9309 Filed 11-21-06; 8:45 am]
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