[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 19 (Tuesday, January 29, 2013)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 6188-6189]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-01748]


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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION

NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION

48 CFR Parts 25 and 52

[FAC 2005-65; FAR Case 2012-012; Item III; Docket 2012-0012, Sequence 
1]
RIN 9000-AM24


Federal Acquisition Regulation; Free Trade Agreement--Colombia

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

ACTION: Final rule.

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SUMMARY: DoD, GSA, and NASA have adopted as final, with change, the 
interim rule amending the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) to 
implement the United States-Colombia Trade Promotion Agreement. This 
Trade Promotion Agreement is a free trade agreement (FTA) that provides 
for mutually non-discriminatory treatment of eligible products and 
services from Colombia.

DATES: Effective Date: January 29, 2013.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Cecelia L. Davis, Procurement 
Analyst, at 202-219-0202 for clarification of content. For information 
pertaining to status or publication schedules, contact the Regulatory 
Secretariat at 202-501-4755. Please cite FAC 2005-65, FAR Case 2012-
012.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Background

    DoD, GSA, and NASA published an interim rule in the Federal 
Register at 77 FR 27548 on May 10, 2012, to implement the United 
States-Colombia Trade Promotion Agreement Implementation Act (Pub. L. 
112-42) (19 U.S.C. 3805 note). The comment period closed on July 9, 
2012. No comments were received on the interim rule.
    The interim rule added Colombia to the definition of ``Free Trade 
Agreement country'' in multiple locations in the FAR.
    The Colombia FTA covers acquisition of supplies and services equal 
to or exceeding $77,494. The threshold for the Colombia FTA is 
$7,777,000 for construction. The excluded services for the Colombia FTA 
are the same as for the Bahrain FTA, Dominican Republic--Central 
American FTA, Chile FTA, NAFTA, Oman FTA, and Peru FTA.
    Because the Colombia FTA construction threshold of $7,777,000 is 
the same as the World Trade Organization (WTO) Government Procurement 
Agreement (GPA) threshold, no new clause alternates are required for 
the Buy American Act--Construction Materials under Trade Agreements 
provision and clause (FAR 52.225-11 and 52.225-12) or the Recovery Act 
FAR clauses at 52.225-23 and 52.225-24.
    The final rule corrects the alphabetical order of the listing of 
the Colombia Free Trade Agreement in the heading of the fourth column 
of the table at FAR 25.401(b).

II. Executive Order 12866

    Executive Orders (E.O.s) 12866 and 13563 direct agencies to assess 
all costs

[[Page 6189]]

and benefits of available regulatory alternatives and, if regulation is 
necessary, to select regulatory approaches that maximize net benefits 
(including potential economic, environmental, public health and safety 
effects, distributive impacts, and equity). E.O. 13563 emphasizes the 
importance of quantifying both costs and benefits, of reducing costs, 
of harmonizing rules, and of promoting flexibility. The Office of 
Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) has deemed that this is a 
significant regulatory action and, therefore, was subject to review 
under section 6(b) of E.O. 12866, Regulatory Planning and Review, dated 
September 30, 1993, and that this rule is not a major rule under 5 
U.S.C. 804.

III. Regulatory Flexibility Act

    The Department of Defense, the General Services Administration, and 
the National Aeronautics and Space Administration certify that this 
final rule will not have a significant economic impact on a substantial 
number of small entities within the meaning of the Regulatory 
Flexibility Act, 5 U.S.C. 601, et seq. Although the rule now opens up 
Government procurement to the goods and services of Colombia, DoD, GSA, 
and NASA do not anticipate any significant economic impact on U.S. 
small businesses. The Department of Defense only applies the trade 
agreements to the non-defense items listed at Defense Federal 
Acquisition Regulation Supplement 225.401-70, and acquisitions that are 
set aside or provide other form of preference for small businesses are 
exempt. FAR 19.502-2 states that acquisitions of supplies or services 
with an anticipated dollar value between $3,000 and $150,000 (with some 
exceptions) are automatically reserved for small business concerns.

IV. Paperwork Reduction Act

    The rule affects the certification and information collection 
requirements in the provisions at FAR 52.212-3, 52.225-4, 52.225-6, and 
52.225-11 currently approved under the Office of Management and Budget 
Control Numbers 9000-0136, titled: Commercial Item Acquisition; 9000-
0130, titled: Buy American Act-Free Trade Agreements-Israeli Trade Act 
Certificate; 9000-0025, titled: Trade Agreements certificate; and 9000-
0141, titled: Buy American-Construction, respectively, in accordance 
with the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. chapter 35). The impact, 
however, is negligible because it is just a question of which category 
offered goods from Colombia would be listed under.

List of Subjects in 48 CFR Parts 25 and 52

    Government procurement.

    Dated: January 23, 2013.
Laura Auletta,
Director, Office of Governmentwide Acquisition Policy, Office of 
Acquisition Policy.

Interim Rule Adopted as Final with Change

0
Accordingly, the interim rule amending 48 CFR parts 25 and 52, which 
was published in the Federal Register at 77 FR 27548, May 10, 2012, is 
adopted as final with the following change:

PART 25--FOREIGN ACQUISITION

0
1. The authority citation for 48 CFR parts 25 and 52 continues to read 
as follows:

    Authority:  40 U.S.C. 121(c); 10 U.S.C. chapter 137; and 51 
U.S.C. 20113.


25.401   [Amended]

0
2. Amend section 25.401, in the table that follows paragraph (b), by 
removing from the table heading ``Colombia FTA, Chile FTA,'' and adding 
``Chile FTA, Colombia FTA,'' in its place.

[FR Doc. 2013-01748 Filed 1-28-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6820-EP-P