[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 225 (Wednesday, November 22, 2006)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 67780-67781]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 06-9302]


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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION

NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION

48 CFR Chapter 1

[Docket FAR--2006--0023, Sequence 7]


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.

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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, 
(202) 501-4225. For clarification of content, contact the analyst whose 
name appears in the table below.

                                          List of Rules in FAC 2005-14
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      Item                          Subject                             FAR case                 Analyst
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*I.............  Common Identification Standard for             2005-015                 Jackson.
                  Contractors.
II.............  Removal of Sanctions Against Certain EU        2005-045                 Olson.
                  Countries.
III............  Free Trade Agreements--Bahrain and Guatemala   2006-017                 Parnell.
                  (Interim).
IV.............  Free Trade Agreements--Morocco...............  2006-001                 Parnell.
V..............  Technical Amendments.........................  .......................  .......................
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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,

[[Page 67781]]

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.
[FR Doc. 06-9302 Filed 11-21-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6820-EP-S