[Federal Register: January 30, 2003 (Volume 68, Number 20)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Page 4873-4874]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr30ja03-28]
[[Page 4873]]
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Part V
Department of Defense
General Services Administration
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
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48 CFR Parts 2, 12, and 52
Federal Acquisition Regulation; Commercially Available Off-the-Shelf
Items; Proposed Rule
[[Page 4874]]
DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION
NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION
48 CFR Parts 2, 12, and 52
[FAR Case 2000-305]
RIN 9000-AJ55
Federal Acquisition Regulation; Commercially Available Off-the-
Shelf Items
AGENCIES: Department of Defense (DoD), General Services Administration
(GSA), and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).
ACTION: Advance notice of proposed rulemaking.
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SUMMARY: The Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council is soliciting
comments regarding the implementation of section 4203 of the Federal
Acquisition Reform Act (the Act) with respect to Commercially Available
Off-the-Shelf Item Acquisitions. The Act requires the Federal
Acquisition Regulation (FAR) to list certain provisions of law that are
inapplicable to contracts for acquisition of commercially available
off-the-shelf items. The statute excludes section 15 of the Small
Business Act and bid protest procedures from the list. The list of
statutes cannot include a provision of law that provides for criminal
or civil penalties.
Certain laws have already been determined to be inapplicable to all
commercial items as a result of the implementation of the Federal
Acquisition Streamlining Act of 1994 (see FAR 12.503). The additional
provisions of law that could be determined inapplicable to commercially
available off-the-shelf items are listed under SUPPLEMENTARY
INFORMATION below.
DATES: Comments are due on or before March 31, 2003.
ADDRESSES: Interested parties should submit written comments to--
General Services Administration, FAR Secretariat (MVA), 1800 F Street,
NW., Room 4035, Attn: Laurie Duarte, Washington, DC 20405.
Submit electronic comments via the Internet to--farcase.2000-
305@gsa.gov.
Please submit comments only and cite FAR case 2000-305 in all
correspondence related to this case.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: The FAR Secretariat, Room 4035, GS
Building, Washington, DC 20405, at (202) 501-4755 for information
pertaining to status or publication schedules. For clarification of
content, contact Ms. Victoria Moss, Procurement Analyst, at (202) 501-
4764. Please cite FAR case 2000-305.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The provisions of law that could be
determined inapplicable to commercially available off-the-shelf items
are: 5 U.S.C. 552a, Privacy Act (see 52.239-1); 29 U.S.C. 793,
Affirmative Action for Handicapped Workers (see 52.222-36); 31 U.S.C.
529, Restriction on Advance Payments (allow agencies to modify
paragraph (i) in the clause at 52.212-4 to require payment upon notice
of shipping); 38 U.S.C. 4212, Affirmative Action for Special Disabled
Vietnam Era Veterans (see 52.222-35); 38 U.S.C. 4212(d)(1), Employment
Reports on Special disabled Veterans and Veterans of the Vietnam Era
(see 52.222-37); 41 U.S.C. 10, Buy American Act--Supplies (see 52.225-1
and 52.225-3); 41 U.S.C. 253d, Validation of Proprietary Data
Restrictions (see section 12.211); 41 U.S.C. 253g and 10 U.S.C. 2482,
Prohibition on Limiting Subcontractor Direct Sales to the United States
(see 52.203-6); 41 U.S.C. 254d(c) and 10 U.S.C. 2513(c), Examination of
Records of Contractor (see 52.215-2); 41 U.S.C. 418a, Rights in
Technical Data (see section 12.211); 41 U.S.C. 442, Cost Accounting
Standards (see section 12.214 and the FAR Appendix, 48 CFR Chapter 99);
41 U.S.C. 423(e)(3), Administrative Actions (see 3.104); 46 U.S.C.
1241(b), Transportation in American Vessels of Government Personnel and
Certain Cargo (see 52.247-64); and 42 U.S.C. 6962(c)(3)(A)(ii),
Estimate of Percentage of Recovered Material Content for EPA-Designated
Products (see 52.223-9).
For purposes of this notice, a ``commercially available off-the-
shelf item''--
(a) Means any item of supply, other than real property, that--
(1) Is of a type customarily used by the general public for
nongovernmental purposes;
(2) Has been sold in substantial quantities in the commercial
marketplace; and
(3) Is offered to the Government, without modification, in the same
form in which it is sold in the commercial marketplace.
(b) This does not include bulk cargo, as defined in 46 U.S.C. App.
1702, such as agricultural and petroleum products.
Dated: January 23, 2003.
Al Matera,
Director, Acquisition Policy Division.
[FR Doc. 03-1961 Filed 1-29-03; 8:45 am]