94-5999. Small Business Size Standards; Waiver of the Nonmanufacturer Rule

[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 50 (Tuesday, March 15, 1994)]
[Unknown Section]
[Page 0]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-5999]


[[Page Unknown]]

[Federal Register: March 15, 1994]


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SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

13 CFR Part 121

 

Small Business Size Standards; Waiver of the Nonmanufacturer Rule

AGENCY: Small Business Administration.

ACTION: Notice of intent to waive the nonmanufacturer rule for copiers/
duplicating equipment.

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SUMMARY: The Small Business Administration (SBA) is considering a 
waiver of the Nonmanufacturer Rule for copiers/duplicating equipment. 
The basis for waivers is that no small business manufacturers are 
supplying this class of products to the Federal government. The effect 
of a waiver would be to allow otherwise qualified regular dealers to 
supply the products of any domestic manufacturer on a Federal contract 
set aside for small businesses or awarded through the SBA 8(a) Program. 
The purpose of this notice is to solicit comments and source 
information from interested parties.

DATES: Comments and sources must be submitted on or before March 30, 
1994.

ADDRESSES: Comments should be addressed to: Robert J. Moffitt, 
Associate Administrator for Procurement Assistance, U.S. Small Business 
Administration, 409 3rd Street, SW., Washington DC, 20416, Tel: (202) 
205-6460.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
James Parker, Procurement Analyst, Tel: [phone].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Public Law 100-656, enacted on November 15, 
1988, incorporated into the Small Business Act the previously existing 
regulation that recipients of Federal contracts set aside for small 
businesses or SBA 8(a) Program procurement must provide the product of 
a small business manufacturer or processor, if the recipient is other 
than the actual manufacturer or processor. This requirement is commonly 
referred to as the Nonmanufacturer Rule. The SBA regulations imposing 
this requirement are found at 13 CFR 121.906(b) and 121.1106(b). 
Section 303(h) of the law provides for waiver of this requirement by 
SBA for any ``class of products'' for which there are no small business 
manufacturers or processors available to participate in the Federal 
market. To be considered available to participate in the Federal market 
on a class of products, the small business must have been awarded or 
have performed on a contract or contracts to supply a product within a 
specific class of products to the Federal government within the past 24 
months from the date of request for waiver, either directly or through 
a dealer, or who have offered on a solicitation for that class of 
products within that time frame. The SBA defines ``class of products'' 
based on two coding systems. The first is the Office of Management and 
Budget Standard Industrial Classification Manual. The second is the 
Product and Service Code established by the Federal Procurement Data 
System.
    This notice proposes to waive the Nonmanufacturer Rule for copiers/
duplicating equipment (SIC code 3579, PSC code 3610).
    In an effort to identify small business sources for this class of 
products, SBA has searched its Procurement Automated Source System 
(PASS) and the Thomas Register and has contacted the General Services 
Administration. SBA will also publish a notice in the Commerce Business 
Daily. To date, these efforts have identified no small business 
sources. The public is invited to comment or provide source information 
to SBA on the proposed wavier of the nonmanufacturer rule for this 
class of products.


    Dated: March 7, 1994.
Robert J. Moffitt,
Associate Administrator for Procurement Assistance.
[FR Doc. 94-5999 Filed 3-14-94; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8025-01-M