[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 19 (Tuesday, January 29, 2013)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 6192-6193]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-01752]


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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION

NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION

48 CFR Chapter 1

[Docket FAR 2013-0078, Sequence 1]


Federal Acquisition Regulation; Federal Acquisition Circular 
2005-65; Small Entity Compliance Guide

AGENCY: 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 DOD, GSA, 
and NASA. 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 the rule 
appearing in Federal Acquisition Circular (FAC) 2005-65, which amends 
the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR). An asterisk (*) next to a 
rule indicates that a regulatory flexibility analysis has been 
prepared. Interested parties may obtain further information regarding 
this rule by referring to FAC 2005-65, which precedes this document. 
These documents are also available via the Internet at http://www.regulations.gov.

DATES: January 29, 2013.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For clarification of content, contact 
the analyst whose name appears in the table below. Please cite FAC 
2005-65 and the FAR case number. For information pertaining to status 
or publication schedules, contact the Regulatory Secretariat at 202-
501-4755.

                      List of Rules in FAC 2005-65
------------------------------------------------------------------------
        Item              Subject         FAR Case          Analyst
------------------------------------------------------------------------
I..................  Prohibition on          2012-013  Jackson.
                      Contracting
                      with Inverted
                      Domestic
                      Corporations.
II *...............  Extension of            2012-007  Lague.
                      Sunset Date for
                      Protests of
                      Task and
                      Delivery Orders.
III................  Free Trade              2012-012  Davis.
                      Agreement---
                      Colombia.
IV *...............  Unallowability          2011-011  Chambers.
                      of Costs
                      Associated with
                      Foreign
                      Contractor
                      Excise Tax.
V..................  Technical
                      Amendments.
------------------------------------------------------------------------


SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Summaries for each FAR rule follow. For the 
actual revisions and/or amendments made by these FAR cases, refer to 
the specific item numbers and subjects set forth in the documents 
following these item summaries. FAC 2005-65 amends the FAR as specified 
below:

Item I--Prohibition on Contracting With Inverted Domestic Corporations 
(FAR Case 2012-013)

    This rule adopts as final an interim rule implementing section 738 
of Division C of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2012 (Pub. L. 
112-74), which prohibits the award of contracts using Fiscal Year 2012 
appropriated funds to any foreign incorporated entity that is treated 
as an inverted domestic corporation or to any subsidiary of such an 
entity. The interim rule extended an existing prohibition that applied 
to the use of Fiscal Year 2008 through 2010 funds. Contracting officers 
are prohibited from awarding contracts using appropriated funds to any 
foreign incorporated entity that is treated as an inverted domestic 
corporation or to any subsidiary of such entity, unless an exception 
applies. This rule will not have any significant economic impact on 
small businesses because this rule only applies to an offeror that is 
an inverted domestic corporation and wants to do business with the 
Government. Small business concerns are unlikely to have been 
incorporated in the United States and then reincorporated in a tax 
haven.

Item II--Extension of Sunset Date for Protests of Task and Delivery 
Orders (FAR Case 2012-007)

    This final rule amends the FAR to implement section 825 of the Ike 
Skelton National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2011 (Pub. 
L. 111-383) and section 813 of the National Defense Authorization Act 
for Fiscal Year 2012 (Pub. L. 112-81). These statutes extend the sunset 
date for protests against awards of task or delivery orders to 
September 30, 2016. There is no effect on Government automated systems.

Item III--Free Trade Agreement--Colombia (FAR Case 2012-012)

    This final rule adopts, with minor change, the interim rule 
published in the Federal Register at 77 FR 27548 on May 10, 2012, 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.
    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.

Item IV--Unallowability of Costs Associated With Foreign Contractor 
Excise Tax (FAR Case 2011-011)

    This final rule amends the FAR to implement certain requirements of 
section 301 of the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act of 
2010, which imposes a 2 percent excise tax on certain Federal 
procurement payments to foreign persons. First, the statute disallows 
the cost of the 2 percent excise tax on certain foreign procurements as 
part of a payment, or as part of a cost-based negotiated price. Second, 
the statute stipulates that no funds are to be disbursed to any foreign 
contractor in order to reimburse the tax imposed. This rule will have a 
minimal economic impact on small businesses because the 2 percent 
excise tax is

[[Page 6193]]

applied only to foreign persons that receive Federal procurement 
payments pursuant to a contract with the Government of the United 
States for the provision of goods or services, if the goods are 
manufactured or produced in, or the services are performed in, a 
country that is not a party to an international procurement agreement 
with the United States.

Item V--Technical Amendments

    Editorial changes are made at FAR 1.106, 2.000, and 31.205-6.

    Dated: January 23, 2013.
Laura Auletta,
Director, Office of Governmentwide Acquisition Policy, Office of 
Acquisition Policy, Office of Governmentwide Policy.
[FR Doc. 2013-01752 Filed 1-28-13; 8:45 am]
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