[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 240 (Friday, December 15, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 59619-59621]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-26964]
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GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION
[Notice-MV-2017-05; Docket No. 2017-0002; Sequence No. 25]
Procurement Through Commercial e-Commerce Portals
AGENCY: Office of Acquisition Policy, General Services Administration.
ACTION: Notice of a public meeting and request for information.
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SUMMARY: The General Services Administration (GSA) and the Office of
Management and Budget (OMB) are interested in conducting an ongoing
dialogue with industry about Section 846 of the National Defense
Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2018, Procurement through
Commercial e-Commerce Portals. The dialogue begins with this public
notice and request for comment.
GSA is providing external stakeholders the opportunity to offer
input on the first implementation phase outlined in Section 846, an
implementation plan due to Congress within 90 days of enactment.
GSA and OMB are hosting a modified town-hall style public meeting
to help inform the Phase I submittal.
DATES: The public meeting will be conducted on January 9, 2018, at 8:30
a.m. Eastern Standard Time. Further Information for the public meeting
may be found under the heading SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION.
ADDRESSES: The meeting will be held at GSA's Central Office, at 1800 F
St NW, Washington, DC 20405.
Submit comments identified by ``Procurement Through Commercial e-
Commerce Portals'', by any of the following methods:
Regulations.gov: http://www.regulations.gov. Submit
comments by searching for ``Procurement Through Commercial e-Commerce
Portals''. Select the link ``Comment Now'' and follow the instructions
provided at the ``You are commenting on'' screen. Please include your
name, company name (if any), and ``Procurement Through Commercial e-
Commerce Portals'', on your attached document.
Mail: U.S. General Services Administration, Regulatory
Secretariat Division (MVCB), 1800 F Street NW, 2nd Floor, ATTN: Lois
Mandell, Washington, DC 20405-0001.
Instructions: Please submit comments only and cite ``Procurement
Through Commercial e-Commerce Portals'' in all correspondence related
to this case. All comments received will be posted without change to
http://www.regulations.gov, including any personal and/or business
confidential information provided.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Matthew McFarland at
[email protected], or 202-690-9232, for clarification of content,
public meeting information and submission of comment. For information
pertaining to status or publication schedules, contact the Regulatory
Secretariat at 202-501-4755. Please cite ``Procurement Through
Commercial e-Commerce Portals''.
Written Comments/Statements: Interested parties may submit written
comments to www.regulations.gov by January 16, 2018.
GSA and OMB encourage early engagement so that public input may be
considered in the formulation of the Phase I implementation plan, which
is due to Congress within 90 days of enactment of the NDAA for Fiscal
Year 2018.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background
The General Services Administration (GSA) was established to
provide the United States Government with centralized procurement. For
decades, GSA has provided access to commercial products through a
number of channels including GSA Advantage!, GSA eBuy, GSA Global
Supply, and the Federal Supply Schedules. Across the Government, the
market for commercial products is estimated to be greater than $50
billion annually.
GSA has long been focused on improving the acquisition of
commercial items. Throughout its history, GSA has sought to leverage
the best available technology to help agencies shorten the time to
delivery, reduce administrative cost, make compliance easier, be a
strategic thought leader and supplier of choice across the Federal
Government, and be a good partner to industry. Today, the best
available technology includes commercial e-commerce portals.
The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2018,
Section 846 Procurement Through Commercial e-Commerce Portals, directs
the Administrator of the GSA to establish a program to procure
commercial products through commercial e-commerce portals. Section 846
language can be found at the following link--https://interact.gsa.gov/group/commercial-platform-initiative. Section 846 paragraph (c)
instructs the ``Director of the Office of Management and Budget, in
consultation with the GSA Administrator and the heads of other relevant
departments and agencies,'' to carry out three implementation phases.
Phase I requires:
Not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this
Act, an implementation plan and schedule for carrying out the
program established pursuant to subsection (a), including a
discussion and recommendations regarding whether any changes to, or
exemptions from, laws that set forth policies, procedures,
requirements, or restrictions for the procurement of property or
services by the Federal Government are necessary for effective
implementation of this section.
GSA and OMB intend to establish an ongoing dialogue with industry
and interested parties in Government throughout the program's
implementation. As a first step, GSA and OMB are seeking feedback from
outside stakeholders on initial ideas for general program design and
buying practices and, in that context, whether existing laws, Executive
Orders, policies or other requirements may hinder effective
implementation of the program.
II. Written Comments
To assist GSA and OMB in drafting the Phase I implementation plan,
GSA and OMB are inviting interested parties to submit written comments.
GSA and OMB are encouraging those comments be submitted before the
public meeting on January 9, 2018, which will help
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GSA and OMB prepare informed questions for the public meeting
discussions. However, all comments must be submitted by January 16,
2018, which will allow the Government to take them into account before
drafting the Phase I implementation plan.
To facilitate comment submission, GSA and OMB have developed a
number of questions grouped around three focus areas--program design,
business practices, and implementation. Each question is intended to
provide respondents with a general framework for commenting. These
questions are not intended to be all-inclusive; other comments and
observations are encouraged. GSA and OMB understand the tight timeframe
for initial comment may limit commenters' ability to fully address
every issue and are therefore encouraging commenters to continue their
analysis and provide additional input at future outreach sessions.
A. General Program Design
1. Leveraging existing e-commerce portal providers. What factors
would encourage portal providers to contract with GSA to operate e-
commerce portals for Government use? What are the standard terms and
conditions relating to purchasing through the portal? Which of these
standard terms and conditions would need to change for Federal
Government buying? What relief from applicable laws, Executive Orders,
regulations, and policies is necessary for portal providers to want to
enter this marketplace?
2. Number of portals. What factors should GSA take into
consideration when determining the appropriate number of contracts to
award to portal providers to achieve the objectives of the law (i.e.,
enhancing competition, expediting procurement, enabling market
research, and ensuring reasonable pricing of commercial products)? For
example, would it be appropriate for GSA to seek to limit overlap of
product categories and/or make award to a single portal provider for a
product category? In some industries, such as travel, aggregators and
metasearch engines permit easy comparison shopping. Does such a model
fit into a commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) product marketplace?
3. Phase-in. Section 846 envisions that the program would be
available to acquisitions under the simplified acquisition threshold
(SAT), which pursuant to NDAA Section 806, will be $250,000.
Notwithstanding this limitation, should GSA take an incremental
approach to the roll-out of the program? If so, should the phase-in be
based on dollar value (e.g., focus initially on a threshold below the
SAT), certain product categories (e.g., lab equipment, office supplies,
clothing), and/or some other variable? Explain.
4. Relationship between GSA, Government buyers, e-commerce portal
providers, and sellers through portal providers. What is the commercial
practice for the privity of contract relationship between e-commerce
portal providers, sellers through portal providers, and buyers? Who
should have privity of contract under the program? Should the portal
provider have privity of contract with the sellers? Should the
Government buyer have privity of contract with the seller through the
portal provider?
5. Relationship to existing programs. How should GSA consider the
relationship between this program and other GSA managed Government-wide
acquisition programs that provide ready access to COTS items, such as
the Federal Supply Schedules and the national supply system? What
unintended consequences, if any, do you envision, and what steps, if
any, do you recommend to avoid them?
B. Buying Practices
1. Competition. How do commercial firms consider competition when
conducting purchases through commercial e-commerce portals, compared to
the Federal Government's approach to competition in its acquisition
system? Should all purchases between the micro-purchase threshold and
the SAT be treated in identical fashion in terms of competition? How,
if at all, should the competition rules be modified from what is
currently required by the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) for COTS
purchases?
2. Pricing, delivery and other terms of sale. How do commercial
firms establish pricing, delivery, and other terms of sales when buying
COTS products through commercial e-commerce portals? Should the
Government's commercial e-commerce portal program allow GSA and/or
Government buyers to negotiate discounts from stated prices and other
concessions (e.g., volume discounts, faster delivery, longer
warranties), as is done under the Federal Supply Schedules contracts?
Alternatively, should Government buyers be restricted to a ``take it or
leave it'' approach that limits customers to the prices sellers offer
commercial customers based on the competitive pressures of the
platform? How does the relationship between the e-commerce portal
provider and supplier drive the approach?
3. Compliance. What is the commercial practice of e-commerce portal
providers for monitoring compliance with applicable laws/regulations
and supply chain risk management of sellers through the portal? To the
extent that purchases made through the portal are subject to certain
Government-unique requirements, who should be responsible for ensuring
compliance (e.g., the platform provider, the seller, the government
buyer, other)?
4. Considerations for small businesses, socio-economic programs,
and mandatory sources. What, if any, adjustments should be made to
existing requirements associated with small businesses, socio-economic
programs, and mandatory sources?
5. Supplier and product performance. What are the commercial
practices for reviewing supplier and product performance on commercial
e-commerce portals? How should the Government use supplier and product
reviews for this program? Should Government reviews be public? Should
the Government rely on commercial reviews integrated in the existing e-
commerce platform when making purchases through the program? What role
should existing Government past performance data play in the program?
6. Responsibility of platform sellers. What are the commercial
practices of e-commerce portal providers vetting the sellers on their
platform? What, if any, responsibility determination should be made for
companies selling through the portals, who should make the
responsibility determination, and when should such a determination be
made?
C. Implementation
1. Changes to existing acquisition framework for COTS items. If the
program were only to apply core commercial item clauses in contracts
with e-commerce portal providers and suppliers who sell through the
portal, could the program operate successfully in part or in full? If
not, what additional changes are needed to statutes, Executive Orders,
regulations, policies, and other guidance and tools, to make the
program successful? Where possible, please tie recommendations for
relief to suggestions made in response to other questions to help
illustrate the potential benefits of action and the potential
consequences of inaction.
2. Level of relief. Should the list of applicable laws, Executive
Orders, regulations, and policies applicable to program purchases be
identical for all COTS transactions over the micro-purchase threshold
and up to the SAT?
[[Page 59621]]
3. Rulemaking. Should the regulations for this program be in the
FAR, in separate GSA regulations, or both? Why?
D. Additional Considerations
What other issues are especially important in thinking about Phase
I and the initial implementation plan?
III. Public Meeting
GSA and OMB are holding a modified town-hall style public meeting
on January 9, 2018. The meeting will start at 8:30 a.m. Eastern
Standard Time and conclude no later than 4:00 p.m. Eastern Standard
Time. Attendees can attend the meeting in person at GSA Central Office
or virtually through GSA's internet meeting platform, Adobe Connect.
Further details on the virtual meeting will be made available via GSA
Interact at https://interact.gsa.gov/group/commercial-platform-initiative. (GSA may encourage industry-to-industry dialogue through
this interact site.)
GSA and OMB will not make presentations and will not answer
questions during this meeting. Instead, GSA and OMB will actively
listen to the viewpoints and information presented by different
interested parties. GSA and OMB may pose questions to participants to
clarify feedback, to generate dialogue, or to increase understanding.
This meeting will focus on Phase I. Future sessions are envisioned
to gather information for subsequent implementation phases.
In-person Attendance: Interested parties may attend the public
meeting to be held in the GSA Auditorium at GSA Headquarters, located
at 1800 F St NW, Washington, DC 20405. The public is asked to pre-
register by January 2, 2018, due to security and seating limitations.
To pre-register, email the names of attendees (required) and the name
of their organization (not required) to Mr. Matthew McFarland at
[email protected].
Registration check-in will begin at 7:30 a.m. Eastern Standard Time
January 9, 2018, and the meeting will start promptly at 8:30 a.m.
Eastern Standard Time, January 9, 2018. Attendees must be prepared to
present a form of government-issued photo identification.
Oral Presentations: GSA and OMB intend to conduct a modified town-
hall/panel style discussion focused around each of the three main
topics outlined above (i.e., program design, buying practices, and
implementation). GSA will assign parties interested in presenting (at
the public meeting) into panels.
GSA intends to organize panel discussions around each of the three
topic areas (General Program Design, Buying Practices, and
Implementation). Each panel discussion will include up to five
panelists and is expected to run between one to two hours. Parties
wishing to participate as a panel member should email Mr. Matthew
McFarland at [email protected] by December 28, 2017, noting which of
the three topics they wish to address.
GSA will select the panelists from amongst those expressing an
interest and will formally notify them of which panel and estimated
starting time. In selecting panelists, GSA will seek an array of
perspectives, backgrounds, and views.
As part of the facilitated dialogue, GSA and OMB employees will ask
the panelists questions. Time permitting, other attendees may also be
invited to ask questions. Time will be reserved before the conclusion
of the meeting for attendees to comment on issues not already
addressed.
Note: Requests made after the deadline to participate on a panel
may be accepted if space permits.
Virtual Attendance: Interested parties may also attend virtually
through GSA's virtual meeting platform, hosted by Adobe Connect.
Further details on the virtual meeting will be made available via GSA
Interact at https://interact.gsa.gov/group/commercial-platform-initiative.
Meeting Accommodations: The public meeting is physically accessible
to people with disabilities. Request for sign language interpretation
or other auxiliary aids should be directed to Mr. Matthew McFarland at
[email protected] or 202-690-9232 by December 28, 2017.
The TTY number for further information is: 1-800-877-8339. When the
operator answers the call, let them know the agency is the General
Services Administration; the point-of-contact is Mr. Matthew McFarland
at 202-690-9232.
Dated: December 11, 2017.
Jeffrey A. Koses,
Senior Procurement Executive, Office of Acquisition Policy, Office of
Government-wide Policy, General Services Administration.
[FR Doc. 2017-26964 Filed 12-14-17; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6820-61-P