[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 19 (Tuesday, January 29, 2013)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 6188-6189]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-01748]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION
NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION
48 CFR Parts 25 and 52
[FAC 2005-65; FAR Case 2012-012; Item III; Docket 2012-0012, Sequence
1]
RIN 9000-AM24
Federal Acquisition Regulation; Free Trade Agreement--Colombia
AGENCY: Department of Defense (DoD), General Services Administration
(GSA), and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).
ACTION: Final rule.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: DoD, GSA, and NASA have adopted as final, with change, the
interim rule amending the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) to
implement the United States-Colombia Trade Promotion Agreement. This
Trade Promotion Agreement is a free trade agreement (FTA) that provides
for mutually non-discriminatory treatment of eligible products and
services from Colombia.
DATES: Effective Date: January 29, 2013.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Cecelia L. Davis, Procurement
Analyst, at 202-219-0202 for clarification of content. For information
pertaining to status or publication schedules, contact the Regulatory
Secretariat at 202-501-4755. Please cite FAC 2005-65, FAR Case 2012-
012.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background
DoD, GSA, and NASA published an interim rule in the Federal
Register at 77 FR 27548 on May 10, 2012, to implement the United
States-Colombia Trade Promotion Agreement Implementation Act (Pub. L.
112-42) (19 U.S.C. 3805 note). The comment period closed on July 9,
2012. No comments were received on the interim rule.
The interim rule added Colombia to the definition of ``Free Trade
Agreement country'' in multiple locations in the FAR.
The Colombia FTA covers acquisition of supplies and services equal
to or exceeding $77,494. The threshold for the Colombia FTA is
$7,777,000 for construction. The excluded services for the Colombia FTA
are the same as for the Bahrain FTA, Dominican Republic--Central
American FTA, Chile FTA, NAFTA, Oman FTA, and Peru FTA.
Because the Colombia FTA construction threshold of $7,777,000 is
the same as the World Trade Organization (WTO) Government Procurement
Agreement (GPA) threshold, no new clause alternates are required for
the Buy American Act--Construction Materials under Trade Agreements
provision and clause (FAR 52.225-11 and 52.225-12) or the Recovery Act
FAR clauses at 52.225-23 and 52.225-24.
The final rule corrects the alphabetical order of the listing of
the Colombia Free Trade Agreement in the heading of the fourth column
of the table at FAR 25.401(b).
II. Executive Order 12866
Executive Orders (E.O.s) 12866 and 13563 direct agencies to assess
all costs
[[Page 6189]]
and benefits of available regulatory alternatives and, if regulation is
necessary, to select regulatory approaches that maximize net benefits
(including potential economic, environmental, public health and safety
effects, distributive impacts, and equity). E.O. 13563 emphasizes the
importance of quantifying both costs and benefits, of reducing costs,
of harmonizing rules, and of promoting flexibility. The Office of
Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) has deemed that this is a
significant regulatory action and, therefore, was subject to review
under section 6(b) of E.O. 12866, Regulatory Planning and Review, dated
September 30, 1993, and that this rule is not a major rule under 5
U.S.C. 804.
III. Regulatory Flexibility Act
The Department of Defense, the General Services Administration, and
the National Aeronautics and Space Administration certify that this
final rule will not have a significant economic impact on a substantial
number of small entities within the meaning of the Regulatory
Flexibility Act, 5 U.S.C. 601, et seq. Although the rule now opens up
Government procurement to the goods and services of Colombia, DoD, GSA,
and NASA do not anticipate any significant economic impact on U.S.
small businesses. The Department of Defense only applies the trade
agreements to the non-defense items listed at Defense Federal
Acquisition Regulation Supplement 225.401-70, and acquisitions that are
set aside or provide other form of preference for small businesses are
exempt. FAR 19.502-2 states that acquisitions of supplies or services
with an anticipated dollar value between $3,000 and $150,000 (with some
exceptions) are automatically reserved for small business concerns.
IV. Paperwork Reduction Act
The rule affects the certification and information collection
requirements in the provisions at FAR 52.212-3, 52.225-4, 52.225-6, and
52.225-11 currently approved under the Office of Management and Budget
Control Numbers 9000-0136, titled: Commercial Item Acquisition; 9000-
0130, titled: Buy American Act-Free Trade Agreements-Israeli Trade Act
Certificate; 9000-0025, titled: Trade Agreements certificate; and 9000-
0141, titled: Buy American-Construction, respectively, in accordance
with the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. chapter 35). The impact,
however, is negligible because it is just a question of which category
offered goods from Colombia would be listed under.
List of Subjects in 48 CFR Parts 25 and 52
Government procurement.
Dated: January 23, 2013.
Laura Auletta,
Director, Office of Governmentwide Acquisition Policy, Office of
Acquisition Policy.
Interim Rule Adopted as Final with Change
0
Accordingly, the interim rule amending 48 CFR parts 25 and 52, which
was published in the Federal Register at 77 FR 27548, May 10, 2012, is
adopted as final with the following change:
PART 25--FOREIGN ACQUISITION
0
1. The authority citation for 48 CFR parts 25 and 52 continues to read
as follows:
Authority: 40 U.S.C. 121(c); 10 U.S.C. chapter 137; and 51
U.S.C. 20113.
25.401 [Amended]
0
2. Amend section 25.401, in the table that follows paragraph (b), by
removing from the table heading ``Colombia FTA, Chile FTA,'' and adding
``Chile FTA, Colombia FTA,'' in its place.
[FR Doc. 2013-01748 Filed 1-28-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6820-EP-P