[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 242 (Tuesday, December 17, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 69010-69011]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-27119]
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SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION
Class Waiver of the Nonmanufacturer Rule
AGENCY: U.S. Small Business Administration.
ACTION: Notice of intent to waive the Nonmanufacturer Rule for
commercially available off-the-shelf laptop and tablet computers under
NAICS code 334111/PSC 7435.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) is considering
granting a request for a class waiver of the Nonmanufacturer Rule (NMR)
for commercially available off-the-shelf laptop and tablet computers
under North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code 334111
and Product Service Code (PSC 7435). This U.S. industry comprises
establishments primarily engaged in manufacturing commercially
available off-the-shelf laptop and tablet computers. According to the
request, no small business manufacturers supply this product to the
Federal government. If granted, the class waiver would allow otherwise
qualified regular dealers to supply the waived item(s), regardless of
the business size of the manufacturer, on a Federal contract set aside
for small business, service-disabled veteran-owned small business
(SDVOSB), women-owned small business (WOSB), economically disadvantaged
women-owned small business (EDWOSB), historically underutilized
business zones (HUBZone), or participants in the SBA's 8(a) Business
Development (BD) program.
DATES: Comments and source information must be submitted by January 16,
2020.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments and source information via the
Federal Rulemaking Portal at https://www.regulations.gov. If you wish
to submit confidential business information (CBI) as defined in the
User Notice at https://www.regulations.gov, please submit the
information to Carol Hulme, Program Analyst, Office of Government
Contracting, U.S. Small Business Administration, 409 Third Street SW,
8th Floor, Washington, DC 20416. Highlight the information that you
consider to be CBI, and explain why you believe this information should
be held confidential. SBA will review the information and make a final
determination as to whether the information will be published.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Carol Hulme, Program Analyst, by
telephone at 202-205-6347; or by email at [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Sections 8(a)(17) and 46 of the Small
Business Act (Act), 15 U.S.C. 637(a)(17) and 657s, and SBA's
implementing regulations require that recipients of Federal supply
contracts (except those valued between $3,500 and $250,000) set aside
for small business, SDVOSB, WOSB, EDWOSB, HUBZone, or BD program
participants, provide the product of a small business manufacturer or
processor if the recipient is not the actual manufacturer or processor
of the product. This requirement is commonly referred to as the
Nonmanufacturer Rule (NMR). 13 CFR 121.406(b). Sections
8(a)(17)(B)(iv)(II) and 46(a)(4)(B) of the Act authorize SBA to waive
the NMR for a ``class of products'' for which there are no small
business manufacturers or processors available to participate in the
Federal market.
As implemented in SBA's regulations at 13 CFR 121.1202(c), in order
to be considered available to participate in the Federal market for a
class of products, a small business manufacturer must have submitted a
proposal for a contract solicitation or been awarded a contract to
supply the class of products within the last 24 months.
The SBA defines ``class of products'' based on a combination of (1)
the six-digit NAICS code, (2) the four-digit PSC, and (3) a description
of the class of products.
The SBA is currently processing a request to waive the NMR for
commercially available off-the-shelf laptop and tablet computers under
NAICS code 334111 and PSC 7435. Table 1 below identifies manufacturers
of these products that SBA is aware of:
Table 1
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Manufacturer Product
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Acer America Corp......................... Laptops.
American Sunrex Corp...................... Laptops.
Apple, Inc................................ Laptops.
Asus USA.................................. Laptops.
Clevo..................................... Laptops.
Compal Electronics........................ Laptops.
Dell Technologies Inc..................... Laptops.
Elitegroup Computer Systems............... Laptops.
Eurocom Corporation....................... Laptops.
[[Page 69011]]
Flextronics Corporation d/b/a Flex........ Laptops.
Fujitsu America Inc....................... Laptops.
Gigabyte Technology....................... Laptops.
Google, LLC............................... Laptops.
Hasee Computer Co., Ltd................... Laptops.
Hewlett-Packard Enterprise Co............. Laptops.
Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd. d/b/a Laptops.
Foxconn Technology Group.
International Business Machines d/b/a IBM. Laptops.
Inventec Corp............................. Laptops.
Lenovo Group Ltd.......................... Laptops.
LG Electronics, Inc....................... Laptops.
Microsoft Corp............................ Laptops.
NEC Corporation of America................ Laptops.
Panasonic Corp............................ Laptops.
Pegatron Corp............................. Laptops.
Positivo Tecnologia SA fka Positivo Laptops.
Informatica SA.
Quantra Computer Inc...................... Laptops.
Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd............... Laptops.
Shenzhen Daystar Connect Technology Co. Laptops.
Ltd.
Sony Corp................................. Laptops.
Toshiba International Corporation......... Laptops.
TriGem Computer Inc....................... Laptops.
Wistron Corp.............................. Laptops.
Apple Inc................................. Tablets.
Asus USA.................................. Tablets.
Dell Technologies Inc..................... Tablets.
Fujitsu America Inc....................... Tablets.
Google LLC................................ Tablets.
Hewlett-Packard Enterprise Co............. Tablets.
HTC Corp.................................. Tablets.
Huawei Investment & Holding Co. Ltd....... Tablets.
Lenovo Group Ltd.......................... Tablets.
LG Electronics Inc........................ Tablets.
Microsoft Corp............................ Tablets.
Motorola Solutions Inc.................... Tablets.
Micro-Star International Co. Ltd.......... Tablets.
NEC Corporation of America................ Tablets.
Nokia Oyj................................. Tablets.
Nvidia Corporation........................ Tablets.
Panasonic Corporation..................... Tablets.
Pegatron Corp............................. Tablets.
Quanta Computer Inc....................... Tablets.
Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd............... Tablets.
Sony Corp................................. Tablets.
Toshiba International Corp................ Tablets.
Trimble, Inc.............................. Tablets.
Xiaomi United States...................... Tablets
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The SBA invites the public to comment on this pending request to
waive the NMR for commercially available off-the-shelf laptop and
tablet computers under NAICS code 334111 and PSC 7435. For purposes of
this waiver SBA will be using the Federal Acquisition Regulation
definition for COTS. (FAR) 2.101 (48 U.S.C. 2.101). SBA has already
adopted the FAR definition for COTS for purposes of the government
contracting programs. 13. CFR 125.1. The FAR definition for COTS states
the following:
(1) Means any item or supply (including construction material)
that is--(i) A commercial item (as defined in paragraph (1) of the
definition in this section); (ii) Sold in substantial quantities in
the commercial marketplace; and (iii) Offered to the Government,
under a contract or subcontract at any tier, without modification,
in the same form in which it is sold in the commercial marketplace;
and (2) Does not include bulk cargo, as defined in 46 U.S.C.
40102(4), such as agricultural products and petroleum products.
Under the proposed language of this waiver SBA would be granting a
class waiver only for laptops and computers procured by the government
that meet that definition. Specialty laptops and computers that are
modified to meet demands of the Federal Government would not be
included in the waiver. SBA is requesting comment on the specific
nature of this waiver, specifically the SBA's use of the COTS language
in a class waiver and whether the proposed language of the waiver is
appropriate given the commercial and Government markets for computers
and laptops. The public may comment or provide source information on
any small business manufacturers of this class of products that are
available to participate in the Federal market. The public comment
period will run for 30 days after the date of publication in the
Federal Register.
More information on the NMR and class waivers can be found at
https://www.sba.gov/contracting/contracting-officials/non-manufacturer-rule/non-manufacturer-waivers.
David Loines,
Director, Office of Government Contracting.
[FR Doc. 2019-27119 Filed 12-16-19; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8026-03-P