[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 113 (Tuesday, June 13, 1995)]
[Notices]
[Page 31182]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-14403]



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OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES REPRESENTATIVE


Request for Public Comment Regarding Proposed Change to Threshold 
Under Chapter 10 of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)

AGENCY: Office of the United States Trade Representative.

ACTION: The Trade Policy Staff Committee (TPSC) requests public comment 
regarding a proposed increase in threshold to $100,000 for coverage of 
government procurement contracts by federal government entities under 
Chapter 10 of the NAFTA.

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SUMMARY: NAFTA Chapter 10 sets forth obligations of the United States, 
Canada and Mexico on government procurement. The scope and coverage of 
Chapter 10 is specified in Article 1001, which refers to entities and 
to goods, services and construction definitions, as set out in the 
annexes to the Chapter. Article 1001 also specifies value thresholds 
for determining coverage of individual contracts. Article 1001:1(c)(i) 
specifies that contracts for goods and services procured by federal 
government entities are covered if they exceed the threshold of 
$50,000. The parties to the NAFTA have discussed increasing this 
threshold to $100,000 to reduce the administrative burden associated 
with implementation of Chapter 10 and to allow for simplification of 
acquisition procedures for contracts between $100,000.

DATES: Comments are requested by June 30, 1995.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION: Contact Mark Linscott, Director, International 
Procurement Policy, Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, (202) 395-
3063, or Bill Craft, Director, Multilateral Trade Affairs, Economic 
Bureau, State Department, (202) 647-3696.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The parties to the NAFTA expect to amend 
Article 1001:1(c)(i) to increase the threshold from $50,000 to $100,000 
for coverage of goods and services (excluding construction services) 
procured by federal government entities. The threshold for construction 
services procured by federal entities will remain at $6.5 million. 
Additionally, the thresholds specified in Article 1001:1(c)(ii) for 
government-owned enterprises would remain at $250,000 for goods and 
services and $8 million for construction services. NAFTA Chapter 10 
does not yet apply to subcentral governments.
    Application of the thresholds specified in Article 1001:1(c) are 
subject to the considerations referred to in Article 1002, regarding 
valuation of contracts. Article 1002:5 applies to an individual 
requirement resulting in multiple contracts or contracts being awarded 
in separate parts and requires that the method for valuation be either 
the total actual value of similar recurring contracts over the previous 
12 month period or the estimated value of recurring contracts in the 
fiscal year or 12-month period subsequent to the initial contract. 
Article 1002:6 applies to contracts that do not specify a total 
contract price, such as requirement contracts, and requires that the 
method for valuation be the total estimated value for the duration of 
fixed term contracts or the estimated monthly installment multiplied by 
48 for contracts for an indefinite period.
    Comments from interested parties regarding the proposed increase in 
threshold should be submitted by noon, Friday, June 30, 1995. Comments 
must be in English and provided in eight copies to Carolyn Frank, 
Executive Secretary, Trade Policy Staff Committee, Office of the United 
States Trade Representative, 600 Seventeenth Street, NW, Washington, DC 
20506. Comments will be available for public inspection by appointment 
with the staff of the USTR Reading Room (202-395-6186), except for 
information granted ``business confidential'' status pursuant to 15 CFR 
2003.6. Any business confidential material must be clearly marked as 
such at the top of the cover page or letter and each succeeding page of 
each copy and must be accompanied by a nonconfidential summary.
Frederick L. Montgomery,
Chairman, Trade Policy Staff Committee.
[FR Doc. 95-14403 Filed 6-12-95; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3190-01-M