06-9302. Federal Acquisition Regulation; Federal Acquisition Circular 2005-14; Small Entity Compliance Guide

AGENCIES:

Department of Defense (DoD), General Services Administration (GSA), and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

ACTION:

Small Entity Compliance Guide.

SUMMARY:

This document is issued under the joint authority of the Secretary of Defense, the Administrator of General Services and the Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. This Small Entity Compliance Guide has been prepared in accordance with Section 212 of the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996. It consists of a summary of rules appearing in Federal Acquisition Circular (FAC) 2005-14 which amend the FAR. An asterisk (*) next to a rule indicates that a regulatory flexibility analysis has been prepared. Interested parties may obtain further information regarding these rules by referring to FAC 2005-14 which precedes this document. These documents are also available via the Internet at http://www.regulations.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Laurieann Duarte, FAR Secretariat, [phone]. For clarification of content, contact the analyst whose name appears in the table below.

List of Rules in FAC 2005-14

Item	Subject	FAR case	Analyst
*I	Common Identification Standard for Contractors	2005-015	Jackson.
II	Removal of Sanctions Against Certain EU Countries	2005-045	Olson.
III	Free Trade Agreements—Bahrain and Guatemala (Interim)	2006-017	Parnell.
IV	Free Trade Agreements—Morocco	2006-001	Parnell.
V	Technical Amendments

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Summaries for each FAR rule follow. For the actual revisions and/or amendments to these FAR cases, refer to the specific item number and subject set forth in the documents following these item summaries.

FAC 2005-14 amends the FAR as specified below:

Item I—Common Identification Standard for Contractors (FAR Case 2005-015)

This rule converts the interim rule published at 71 FR 208, January 3, 2006, to a final rule with changes. The rule amends the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) by addressing the contractor personal identification requirements in Homeland Security Presidential Directive (HSPD) 12, “Policy for a Common Identification Standard for Federal Employees and Contractors,” and Federal Information Processing Standards Publication (FIPS PUB) Number 201, “Personal Identity Verification (PIV) of Federal Employees and Contractors.” The primary objectives of HSPD-12 are to establish a process to enhance security, increase Government efficiency, reduce identity fraud, and protect personal privacy by establishing a mandatory, Governmentwide standard for secure and reliable forms of identification issued by the Federal Government to its employees and contractors who require routine physical access to Federally-controlled facilities, and/or routine access to Federally-controlled information systems.

Item II—Removal of Sanctions Against Certain EU Countries (FAR Case 2005-045)

This rule converts the interim rule published at 71 FR 20305, April 19, 2006, to a final rule without change. The interim rule removed the sanctions in FAR Part 25 against Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Sweden, and the United Kingdom on acquisitions not covered by the World Trade Organization Government Procurement Agreement. These sanctions did not apply to small business set-asides, to acquisition below the simplified acquisition threshold using simplified acquisition procedures, or to acquisitions by the Department of Defense. Contracting officers may now consider offers of end products, services, and construction that were previously prohibited by the sanctions.

Item III—Free Trade Agreements—Bahrain and Guatemala (FAR Case 2006-017) (Interim)

This interim rule allows contracting officers to purchase the goods and services of Guatemala and Bahrain without application of the Buy American Act if the acquisition is subject to the Free Trade Agreements. These trade agreements with Guatemala and Bahrain join the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), the Australia, Chile, Morocco, and Singapore Free Trade Agreements, and the CAFTA-DR with respect to El Salvador, Honduras, and Nicaragua, which are already in the FAR. The threshold for applicability of the Dominican Republic—Central America-United States Free Trade Agreement is $64,786 for supplies and services (the same as other Free Trade Agreements to date except Morocco and Canada) and $7,407,000 for construction (the same as all other Free Trade Agreements to date except NAFTA). The threshold for applicability of the Bahrain Free Trade Agreement is $193,000 (the same as the Morocco FTA and the WTO GPA) and $8,422,165 for construction (the same as NAFTA).

Item IV—Free Trade Agreements—Morocco (FAR Case 2006-001)

This final rule converts the interim rule published in the Federal Register at 71 FR 20306, April 19, 2006, to a final rule without change. This rule allows contracting officers to purchase the products of Morocco without application of the Buy American Act if the acquisition is subject to the Morocco Free Trade Agreements. The U.S. Trade Representative negotiated a Free Trade Agreement with Morocco, which went into effect January 1, 2006. This agreement joins the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the Australia, Chile, and Singapore Free Trade Agreements, which are already in the FAR. The threshold for applicability of the Morocco Free Trade Agreement is $193,000 for supplies and services and $7,407,000 for construction.

Item V—Technical Amendments

Editorial changes are made at FAR 15.404-1, 22.1006, 22.1304, 28.202, 52.212-5, 52.222-43, 52.228-15, and 52.228-16, in order to update references.

Dated: November 15, 2006.

Ralph De Stefano,

Director, Contract Policy Division.