PhilBail

I'm asking about full and open competition from a federal government prime contractor perspective.  The contracting is buying to support an active prime government contract.  Lets assume He/she is purchasing $800,000 of some product that does not meet the definition of a commercial item; and, this product is manufactured by only a single manufacturer.  If the contractor gets quotes for the product from 2 or more distributors and determines the price fair and reasonable based on competition, will a CPSR Audit team look at this price reasonableness determination as being valid or look at it as not adequate since there is a single manufacturer and the prime contractor didn't determine the price from the manufacturer as fair and reasonable - even though distributors were involved in the sale.  

Does Competition Exist if there is a single manufacturer of a product; but you receive quotes for the product from two or more distributors?  I have gotten into some heated arguments about this issue.  I don't consider buying from multiple distributors a competitive purchase since there is only a single manufacturer.  I would appreciate hearing your view.

thanks for your help.  

 Has anyone seen any articles or are aware of what regulations govern a private company subcontracting to a Government agency?  For example, can a private company flow down contract clauses to a Government subcontractor?  My assumption is no however I'm looking for something to cite.

An article of mine titled "Contractor Purchasing System Reviews - Not So Different from 1991" was published in the May issue of Contract Management magazine. My contention is that CPSRs are pretty much the same today as they were in 1991 when NCMA published my first article about CPSRs. I would appreciate feedback from anyone reading the article about my positions on source selection, price reasonableness and clause flow down.

If a contractor is selling steel coil to a prime contractor or the federal government for use in Afganistan, it is my understanding that the Buy American Act does not apply. However, does any trade agreement or World Trade Organization Government Procurement Agreement prevent the steel coil from being manufactured in India?

Phil