Circular Letter No. 451

(Supersedes Circular Letter No. 395 dated April 6, 1995)

September 8, 1999

TO: Printing and Publishing Officials of the Federal Government

SUBJECT: Government Printing Office (GPO) Surcharges Applied to Commercially Procured Work

Over the past 3 years, there has been an 18.7 percent decline in the cost of commercial printing procured by GPO. In addition, over the past several years, there has been a decline in the volume of printing and binding orders placed through GPO. These factors have combined to result in the continuing under-recovery of GPO's administrative costs.

As GPO continues its efforts to obtain better values for printing in the marketplace and works to enhance its services to customers, it must be able to recover its administrative costs. It is, therefore, necessary to modify the April 1, 1995, administrative charge applied to commercially procured work. Because of the decline in the cost of commercial work, this slight increase to GPO's surcharge should not have a significant overall impact on agency budgets.

Effective October 1, 1999, the charges applied are as follows:

• Work classified as printing and binding, 7.0 percent to a limit of $20,000 per jacket, purchase order, or print order, plus 0.5 percent thereafter.

• A flat charge of $7.50 for all orders.

Administrative charges for expedited handling of rush work will be applied at double these rates. Such additional charges for expedited service on rush work will only be applied when authorized by the ordering agency.

Alternative approaches to GPO's surcharge are being explored, and rates will be reviewed periodically to assure that cost recovery is maintained as close to the break-even point as possible. Any inquiries concerning this letter should be directed to your GPO Account Representative or local Regional Manager.

Sincerely,

JIM BRADLEY
Director, Customer Services

Questions or comments regarding this service? Contact wwwadmin@gpo.gov .

Page #CIR451   September 8, 1999