[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 249 (Friday, December 27, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Pages 79042-79044]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-32764]


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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 Procurement List.

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

EFFECTIVE DATE: January 26, 2003.

ADDRESSES: Committee for Purchase From People Who Are Blind or Severely 
Disabled, Jefferson Plaza 2, Suite 10800, 1421 Jefferson Davis Highway, 
Arlington, Virginia 22202-3259.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Sheryl D. Kennerly, (703) 603-7740.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On October 9, 2001, September 13, October 4, 
and October 25, 2002, the Committee for Purchase From People Who Are 
Blind or Severely Disabled published notice (66 FR 51372, 67 FR 58013, 
62224, and 65531) of proposed additions to the Procurement List.
    The following comments pertain to Gloves, Surgeon's Sterile 
Disposable.
    Comments were received from three suppliers of surgical gloves to 
the Government, in response to a notice the Committee placed in the 
online information service FedBizOpps. One supplier claimed that the 
large majority of its sales were of surgical gloves for the Department 
of Veterans Affairs (VA). However, a review of these sales disclosed 
that a very small percentage of the supplier's sales were surgical 
gloves for the VA. Consequently, the addition should not constitute a 
severe adverse impact on this supplier.
    The second supplier stated that it is a small business which has 
been unable to sell to hospitals and the Government previously, but 
hoped to do so through a recent contract under the Federal Supply 
Schedules. The supplier believes that this Procurement List addition 
will cut it off from the Schedules, thus reducing its sales to the 
point that it will no longer be able to offer surgical gloves because 
it will lose the needed economy of scale. This supplier objected to the 
anticipated VA decision to standardize on the surgical gloves being 
added to the Procurement List, noting possible physician objections to 
standardization as well as the curtailment of the market represented by 
standardization on one glove. The supplier noted that the nonprofit 
agency designated by the Committee to provide the surgical glove 
already provides to the VA the examination glove on which VA 
standardized, and that the earlier standardization decision cost it 
some VA sales. Finally, the supplier claimed that prices for the 
surgical glove will increase inappropriately, as allegedly happened for 
the examination glove.
    This supplier failed to provide sales data, so the Committee cannot 
quantitatively assess the supplier's impact claims. The surgical glove 
requirement being added to the Procurement List is limited to the VA 
requirement, so the supplier should be able to sell surgical and 
examination gloves to other Government agencies through the Schedules. 
The Committee is not responsible for VA standardization decisions, so 
it cannot consider effects of those decisions in judging whether its 
Procurement List additions unfairly impact suppliers. The prices for 
both surgical and examination gloves were agreed to through negotiation 
between VA and the designated nonprofit agency, and thus represent fair 
market prices under the Committee's pricing policies.
    The third supplier provided information which allowed the Committee 
to estimate the percentage of its sales that will be lost because of 
the addition of this surgical glove to the Procurement List. However, 
this percentage is below the level which the Committee normally 
considers to constitute severe adverse impact on a supplier. The 
supplier also claimed that the addition would negatively impact 
numerous small businesses providing gloves to the Government, would 
prevent domestically manufactured gloves from being sold to the 
Government, would unfairly restrict competition and pricing for a 
large-value health care item, and would

[[Page 79043]]

threaten the operational readiness of the military and of Federal 
civilian agencies in support of homeland security by limiting surgical 
glove purchases to one non-commercial source.
    This supplier's claims are based on the assumption that the 
Committee is adding all Government surgical glove purchases to the 
Procurement List, rather than the VA requirement for one type of 
surgical glove. The Committee is confident that the designated 
nonprofit agency, which is an experienced provider of examination 
gloves, will do equally well at fulfilling the limited requirement 
which is being added to the Procurement List. This Procurement List 
addition should have no significant effect on the ability of other 
surgical glove suppliers, including small businesses, to fill the needs 
of Government agencies outside VA, including the Department of Defense 
and Homeland Security, or on the price of those gloves. Concerning 
impact on the domestic manufacture of surgical gloves, it is the 
Committee's understanding that these gloves are not manufactured by 
anyone in the United States.
    The following material pertains to all of the items being added to 
the Procurement List.
    After consideration of the material presented to it concerning 
capability of qualified nonprofit agencies to provide the products and 
services and impact of the additions on the current or most recent 
contractors, the Committee has determined that the products and 
services 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 products and 
services to the Government.
    2. The action will result in authorizing small entities to furnish 
the products and services to the Government.
    3. 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 products and services proposed for addition 
to the Procurement List.
    Accordingly, the following products and services are added to the 
Procurement List:

Products

    Product/NSN: 4 Ply Cut End Mopheads
7920-00-NIB-0430, 12
7920-00-NIB-0431, 16
7920-00-NIB-0432, 24
7920-00-NIB-0434, 20
7920-00-NIB-0435, 32
    NPA: New York City Industries for the Blind, Brooklyn, New York.
    Contract Activity: Office Supplies & Paper Products Acquisition 
Center, New York, New York.
    Product/NSN: Gloves, Surgeon's, Sterile Disposable
    Glove, Surgeon, Encore, Size 5.5/6515-00-NIB-0121
    Glove, Surgeon, Encore, Size 6.0/6515-00-NIB-0122
    Glove, Surgeon, Encore, Size 6.5/6515-00-NIB-0123
    Glove, Surgeon, Encore, Size 7.0/6515-00-NIB-0124
    Glove, Surgeon, Encore, Size 7.5/6515-00-NIB-0125
    Glove, Surgeon, Encore, Size 8.0/6515-00-NIB-0126
    Glove, Surgeon, Encore, Size 8.5/6515-00-NIB-0127
    Glove, Surgeon, Encore, Size 9.0/6515-00-NIB-0128
    Glove, Surgeon, Derma Prene, Size 5.5/6515-00-NIB-0129
    Glove, Surgeon, Derma Prene, Size 6.0/6515-00-NIB-0130
    Glove, Surgeon, Derma Prene, Size 6.5/6515-00-NIB-0131
    Glove, Surgeon, Derma Prene, Size 7.0/6515-00-NIB-0132
    Glove, Surgeon, Derma Prene, Size 7.5/6515-00-NIB-0133
    Glove, Surgeon, Derma Prene, Size 8.0/6515-00-NIB-0134
    Glove, Surgeon, Derma Prene, Size 8.5/6515-00-NIB-0135
    Glove, Surgeon, Derma Prene, Size 9.0/6515-00-NIB-0136
    Glove, Surgeon, Encore Ultra-thick Orthopedic, Size 6.0/6515-00-
NIB-0145
    Glove, Surgeon, Encore Ultra-thick Orthopedic, Size 6.6/6515-00-
NIB-0146
    Glove, Surgeon, Encore Ultra-thick Orthopedic, Size 7.0/6515-00-
NIB-0147
    Glove, Surgeon, Encore Ultra-thick Orthopedic, Size 7.5/6515-00-
NIB-0148
    Glove, Surgeon, Encore Ultra-thick Orthopedic, Size 8.0/6515-00-
NIB-0149
    Glove, Surgeon, Encore Ultra-thick Orthopedic, Size 8.5/6515-00-
NIB-0150
    Glove, Surgeon, Encore Ultra-thick Orthopedic, Size 9.0/6515-00-
NIB-0151
    Glove, Surgeon, Encore MicrOptic, Size 5.5/6515-00-NIB-0152
    Glove, Surgeon, Encore MicrOptic, Size 6.0/6515-00-NIB-0153
    Glove, Surgeon, Encore MicrOptic, Size 6.5/6515-00-NIB-0154
    Glove, Surgeon, Encore MicrOptic, Size 7.0/6515-00-NIB-0155
    Glove, Surgeon, Encore MicrOptic, Size 7.5/6515-00-NIB-0156
    Glove, Surgeon, Encore MicrOptic, Size 8.0/6515-00-NIB-0157
    Glove, Surgeon, Encore MicrOptic, Size 8.5/6515-00-NIB-0158
    Glove, Surgeon, Encore MicrOptic, Size 9.0/6515-00-NIB-0159
    Glove, Surgeon, Encore Acclaim, Size 5.5/6515-00-NIB-0160
    Glove, Surgeon, Encore Acclaim, Size 6.0/6515-00-NIB-0161
    Glove, Surgeon, Encore Acclaim, Size 6.5/6515-00-NIB-0162
    Glove, Surgeon, Encore Acclaim, Size 7.0/6515-00-NIB-0163
    Glove, Surgeon, Encore Acclaim, Size 7.5/6515-00-NIB-0164
    Glove, Surgeon, Encore Acclaim, Size 8.0/6515-00-NIB-0165
    Glove, Surgeon, Encore Acclaim, Size 8.5/6515-00-NIB-0166
    Glove, Surgeon, Encore Acclaim, Size 9.0/6515-00-NIB-0167
    Glove, Surgeon, Biogel, Size 5.5/6515-00-NIB-0168
    Glove, Surgeon, Biogel, Size 6.0/6515-00-NIB-0169
    Glove, Surgeon, Biogel, Size 6.5/6515-00-NIB-0170
    Glove, Surgeon, Biogel, Size 7.0/6515-00-NIB-0171
    Glove, Surgeon, Biogel, Size 7.5/6515-00-NIB-0172
    Glove, Surgeon, Biogel, Size 8.0/6515-00-NIB-0173
    Glove, Surgeon, Biogel, Size 8.5/6515-00-NIB-0174
    Glove, Surgeon, Biogel, Size 9.0/6515-00-NIB-0175
    Glove, Surgeon, Biogel M, Size 5.5/6515-00-NIB-0176
    Glove, Surgeon, Biogel M, Size 6.0/6515-00-NIB-0177
    Glove, Surgeon, Biogel M, Size 6.5/6515-00-NIB-0178
    Glove, Surgeon, Biogel M, Size 7.0/6515-00-NIB-0179
    Glove, Surgeon, Biogel M, Size 7.5/6515-00-NIB-0180
    Glove, Surgeon, Biogel M, Size 8.0/6515-00-NIB-0181
    Glove, Surgeon, Biogel M, Size 8.5/6515-00-NIB-0182
    Glove, Surgeon, Biogel M, Size 9.0/6515-00-NIB-0183
    Glove, Surgeon, Biogel Orthopedic, Size 5.5/6515-00-NIB-0192

[[Page 79044]]

    Glove, Surgeon, Biogel Orthopedic, Size 6.0/6515-00-NIB-0193
    Glove, Surgeon, Biogel Orthopedic, Size 6.5/6515-00-NIB-0194
    Glove, Surgeon, Biogel Orthopedic, Size 7.0/6515-00-NIB-0195
    Glove, Surgeon, Biogel Orthopedic, Size 7.5/6515-00-NIB-0196
    Glove, Surgeon, Biogel Orthopedic, Size 8.0/6515-00-NIB-0197
    Glove, Surgeon, Biogel Orthopedic, Size 8.5/6515-00-NIB-0198
    Glove, Surgeon, Biogel Orthopedic, Size 9.0/6515-00-NIB-0199
    Glove, Surgeon, Biogel Indicator, Size 5.5/6515-00-NIB-0200
    Glove, Surgeon, Biogel Indicator, Size 6.0/6515-00-NIB-0201
    Glove, Surgeon, Biogel Indicator, Size 6.5/6515-00-NIB-0202
    Glove, Surgeon, Biogel Indicator, Size 7.0/6515-00-NIB-0203
    Glove, Surgeon, Biogel Indicator, Size 7.5/6515-00-NIB-0204
    Glove, Surgeon, Biogel Indicator, Size 8.0/6515-00-NIB-0205
    Glove, Surgeon, Biogel Indicator, Size 8.5/6515-00-NIB-0206
    Glove, Surgeon, Biogel Indicator, Size 9.0/6515-00-NIB-0207
    Glove, Surgeon, Biogel Neotech, Size 5.5/6515-00-NIB-0208
    Glove, Surgeon, Biogel Neotech, Size 6.0/6515-00-NIB-0209
    Glove, Surgeon, Biogel Neotech, Size 6.5/6515-00-NIB-0210
    Glove, Surgeon, Biogel Neotech, Size 7.0/6515-00-NIB-0211
    Glove, Surgeon, Biogel Neotech, Size 7.5/6515-00-NIB-0212
    Glove, Surgeon, Biogel Neotech, Size 8.0/6515-00-NIB-0213
    Glove, Surgeon, Biogel Neotech, Size 8.5/6515-00-NIB-0214
    Glove, Surgeon, Biogel Neotech, Size 9.0/6515-00-NIB-0215
    NPA: Bosma Industries for the Blind, Inc., Indianapolis, IN.
    Contract Activity: Veterans Affairs National Acquisition Center, 
Hines, IL.

Services

    Service Type/Location: Custodial Service, Camp Bullis, Buildings 
5000, 6110, and 6201, San Antonio, Texas.
    NPA: Professional Contract Services, Inc., Austin, Texas.
    Contract Activity: MEDCOM Health Care Acquisition Activity, Fort 
Sam Houston, Texas.
    Service Type/Location: Janitorial/Custodial, U.S. Army Reserve 
Center, Fraser, Michigan.
    NPA: Jewish Vocational Service and Community Workshop, Inc., 
Southfield, Michigan.
    Contract Activity: HQ, 88th Regional Support Command, Fort 
Snelling, Minnesota.
    This action does not affect current contracts awarded prior to the 
effective date of this addition or options that may be exercised under 
those contracts.

Sheryl D. Kennerly,
Director, Information Management.
[FR Doc. 02-32764 Filed 12-26-02; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6353-01-P