[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 111 (Friday, June 10, 1994)]
[Unknown Section]
[Page 0]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-14156]


[[Page Unknown]]

[Federal Register: June 10, 1994]


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COMMITTEE FOR PURCHASE FROM PEOPLE WHO ARE BLIND OR SEVERELY DISABLED
 

Procurement List; Additions

AGENCY: Committee for Purchase From People Who Are Blind or Severely 
Disabled.

ACTION: Additions to the procurement list.

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SUMMARY: This action adds to the Procurement List shipping boxes to be 
furnished by nonprofit agencies employing persons who are blind or have 
other severe disabilities.

EFFECTIVE DATE: July 11, 1994.

ADDRESSES: Committee for Purchase From People Who Are Blind or Severely 
Disabled, Crystal Square 3, suite 403, 1735 Jefferson Davis Highway, 
Arlington, Virginia 22202-3461.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Beverly Milkman (703) 603-7740.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On March 11, 1994, the Committee for 
Purchase From People Who Are Blind or Severely Disabled published 
notice (59 FR 11579) of proposed addition to the Procurement List.
    Comments were received from the current contractor for the boxes in 
response to a request for sales data. The contractor indicated that 
addition of the boxes to the Procurement List would cause one or more 
of four events to occur: Loss of sales for the contractor, loss of 
jobs, loss of profit for the contractor because of an inability to 
purchase raw materials in volume, and increased cost to the Government 
on future procurements conducted under the Committee's program.
    The contractor did not furnish any information to support its 
claims about loss of profit and increased cost to the Government. 
Nonprofit agencies participating in the Committee's program are 
required to sell to the Government at a fair market price set by the 
Committee, so there is little possibility of a substantial increase in 
price to the Government when an item is added to the Procurement List.
    The contract value for the boxes is such that loss of sales will 
represent only a very small percentage of the contractor's sales. The 
Committee does not believe that a sales loss of this size constitutes 
severe adverse impact on the contractor.
    The contractor provided a range of numbers of jobs which might be 
lost if the boxes are added to the Procurement List and did not 
indicate specifically whether any jobs would be lost because of the 
Committee's action. However, addition of the boxes to the Procurement 
List will definitely create jobs for blind people, who traditionally 
have unemployment rates far above those of people without severe 
disabilities. Consequently, the Committee believes that this definite 
creation of jobs for blind people outweighs the possible loss of jobs 
by the contractor's employees.
    After consideration of the material presented to it concerning 
capability of qualified nonprofit agencies to provide the commodities, 
fair market price, and impact of the addition on the current or most 
recent contractors, the Committee has determined that the commodities 
listed below are suitable for procurement by the Federal Government 
under 41 U.S.C. 46-48c and 41 CFR 51-2.4.
    I certify that the following action will not have a significant 
impact on a substantial number of small entities. The major factors 
considered for this certification were:
    1. The action will not result in any additional reporting, 
recordkeeping or other compliance requirements for small entities other 
than the small organizations that will furnish the commodities to the 
Government.
    2. The action does not appear to have a severe economic impact on 
current contractors for the commodities.
    3. The action will result in authorizing small entities to furnish 
the commodities to the Government.
    4. There are no known regulatory alternatives which would 
accomplish the objectives of the Javits-Wagner-O'Day Act (41 U.S.C. 46 
- 48c) in connection with the commodities proposed for addition to the 
Procurement List.
    Accordingly, the following commodities are hereby added to the 
Procurement List:

Box, Shipping
    8115-00-134-3655
    8115-00-134-3656
    8115-01-006-7257
    8115-01-010-8956
    8115-00-516-0251

    This action does not affect current contracts awarded prior to the 
effective date of this addition or options exercised under those 
contracts.
Beverly L. Milkman,
Executive Director.
[FR Doc. 94-14156 Filed 6-9-94; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6820-33-P