diverdave Posted July 2, 2013 Report Share Posted July 2, 2013 I posted a solicitation for commercial services, full and open competition. A question was asked as to whether a responsible foreign company, with the work being performed overseas, would be considered for award. I've searched FAR parts 6, 9, 15, 25 and see no mention of precluding a responsible foreign offerer from award. Part 9.1 Responsible Prospective Contractors states: 9.102 Applicability. (a) This subpart applies to all proposed contracts with any prospective contractor that is located— (1) In the United States or its outlying areas; or (2) Elsewhere, unless application of the subpart would be inconsistent with the laws or customs where the contractor is located. Is it permissible to consider a foreign offer in this scenario? Are any price adjustments applicable? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
napolik Posted July 2, 2013 Report Share Posted July 2, 2013 I posted a solicitation for commercial services, full and open competition. A question was asked as to whether a responsible foreign company, with the work being performed overseas, would be considered for award. I've searched FAR parts 6, 9, 15, 25 and see no mention of precluding a responsible foreign offerer from award. Part 9.1 Responsible Prospective Contractors states: 9.102 Applicability. (a) This subpart applies to all proposed contracts with any prospective contractor that is located— (1) In the United States or its outlying areas; or (2) Elsewhere, unless application of the subpart would be inconsistent with the laws or customs where the contractor is located. Is it permissible to consider a foreign offer in this scenario? Are any price adjustments applicable? Regarding responsibility, there may be an issue with the foreign firm obtaining all the correct approvals to perform the work in another foreign country. Possession of a US government contract does not necessarily waive foreign government requirements for licenses, work permits or visas. I would check with the State Dept or the US Embassy where the work will be performed to identify any problems. Regarding price adjustments, must proposals be priced solely in $$? Or, may another currency be used? If proposals may be submitted in multiple currencies, you need to specify what exchange rate you will use to evaluate foreign currencies against US $$. I assume you will pay only in US $$. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
diverdave Posted July 2, 2013 Author Report Share Posted July 2, 2013 Regarding price adjustments, must proposals be priced solely in $$? Or, may another currency be used? If proposals may be submitted in multiple currencies, you need to specify what exchange rate you will use to evaluate foreign currencies against US $$. I assume you will pay only in US $$. The solicitation contains 52.215-1 instructing offerors to submit offer in U.S.D., other currency will not be used. When I said price adjustments in my first post I meant price evaluation adjustments. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
napolik Posted July 2, 2013 Report Share Posted July 2, 2013 The solicitation contains 52.215-1 instructing offerors to submit offer in U.S.D., other currency will not be used. When I said price adjustments in my first post I meant price evaluation adjustments. If proposals are priced in dollars and the contract is paid in dollars, there is no need for any kind of price adjustment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joel hoffman Posted July 2, 2013 Report Share Posted July 2, 2013 The solicitation contains 52.215-1 instructing offerors to submit offer in U.S.D., other currency will not be used. When I said price adjustments in my first post I meant price evaluation adjustments. If you are asking if there is to be a price preference for US firms, I don't know of any provision for that. There could be some country to country agreement that would allow that. If you are hinting at a price preference for native firms of the country where the work will be perfromed, that might be subject to any terms of host country agreements or similar for foreign sales funded by the host country., otherwise generally, no. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
metteec Posted July 5, 2013 Report Share Posted July 5, 2013 I recommend taking a look at FAR Section 25.8. 25.801 General. Treaties and agreements between the United States and foreign governments affect the evaluation of offers from foreign entities and the performance of contracts in foreign countries. 25.802 Procedures. (a) When placing contracts with contractors located outside the United States, for performance outside the United States, contracting officers must— (1) Determine the existence and applicability of any international agreements and ensure compliance with these agreements; and (2) Conduct the necessary advance acquisition planning and coordination between the appropriate U.S. executive agencies and foreign interests as required by these agreements. ( The Department of State publishes many international agreements in the “United States Treaties and Other International Agreements” series. Copies of this publication normally are available in overseas legal offices and U.S. diplomatic missions. © Contracting officers must award all contracts with Taiwanese firms or organizations through the American Institute of Taiwan (AIT). AIT is under contract to the Department of State. Some countries are extremely territorial with business conducted under its borders. Many countries have Foriegn Ownership Control or Foriegn Ownership Restrictions, that prevent or limit foreign businesses from performing domestic work or owning domestic property. For example, if not for the Panamanian Free Trade Agreement of 2007, it would be extremely difficult for contractors to do business in Panama because of the stringent property laws and market protectionism. Woe to the foriegn firm that seeks to purchase real property in downtown Panama. The U.S. Department of State diplomatic consulate, Political/Economic Affairs Section, for the country you intend to business in would be a good place to start. You can sometimes find the point of contact by going onto www.usembassy.gov, and finding the country of performance. That country's embassy should have its website broken out by Government agency. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
August Posted July 5, 2013 Report Share Posted July 5, 2013 "Are any price adjustments applicable?" 25.402(a)(2) confuses me. It says: The contracting officer shall determine the origin of services by the country in which the firm providing the services is established. See Subpart 25.5 for evaluation procedures for supply contracts covered by trade agreements. The use of the term "services" in the first sentence, and then "supply" in the 2nd sentence, seems that it might imply that services are to be treated to the same type of price evaluation as supplies, but I can't find anything else that supports that interpretation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Mansfield Posted July 8, 2013 Report Share Posted July 8, 2013 The FAR doesn't contain any clauses or provisions implementing trade agreements for services--only supplies and construction. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Vern Edwards Posted July 8, 2013 Report Share Posted July 8, 2013 I posted a solicitation for commercial services, full and open competition. A question was asked as to whether a responsible foreign company, with the work being performed overseas, would be considered for award. I've searched FAR parts 6, 9, 15, 25 and see no mention of precluding a responsible foreign offerer from award. Part 9.1 Responsible Prospective Contractors states: 9.102 Applicability. (a) This subpart applies to all proposed contracts with any prospective contractor that is located— (1) In the United States or its outlying areas; or (2) Elsewhere, unless application of the subpart would be inconsistent with the laws or customs where the contractor is located. Is it permissible to consider a foreign offer in this scenario? Are any price adjustments applicable? The question is whether a "foreign company" can compete. What is a "foreign company"? Is it a company legally established and operating in a foreign country although owned and controlled by U.S. citizens? Is it a company legally established and operating in the U.S. although owned an controlled by citizens of another country? Is it a firm established in the United States and owned by U.S. citizens, but doing business from a foreign country, etc.? FAR does not define or use the term "foreign company," so I don't know what that term means. The only definition of "foreign offer" in FAR is in 25.003, which says that a foreign offer is other than a domestic offer and that a domestic offer means an offer of a domestic end product. So that goes to the content of the offer, not its source. I don't know of any rule in FAR that expressly prevents any firm from competing based on its location or the nationality of its owners. However, as napolik pointed out, some practical limitation may arise from the terms of the RFP. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Vern Edwards Posted July 8, 2013 Report Share Posted July 8, 2013 I forgot FAR Subpart 25.7, Prohibited Sources. However, I don't think that limits a firm's ability to compete based strictly on location or nationality. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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