Circular Letter
No. 534
June 19, 2003
TO: Printing and Publishing Officials of the Federal Government
SUBJECT: U.S. Government Printing Office (GPO) and Office
of Management and Budget (OMB) Compact for Government Printing
On June 6, 2003, the GPO and the OMB announced a compact
between the two agencies to develop a mechanism that will
allow Federal agencies direct access to printing vendors
to place printing orders, while still enabling the GPO to
meet its statutory requirements. The goal of this compact
is to reduce the cost of Federal printing and to ensure permanent
public access to all non-classified government publications.
GPO News Release No. 03-27 announcing the agreement and the
compact, which contains details about the initiative, are
available on the Web at http://www.access.gpo.gov/public-affairs/news/03news.html.
The texts of these documents are also enclosed.
By October 1, 2003, the GPO will develop a demonstration
print procurement contract, similar to a General Services
Administration Federal Supply Schedule for a Federal department
or agency of OMB's choosing. The actual demonstration project
will begin in FY 2004, and the competitive procurement process
will be deployed governmentwide in FY 2005.
Through future Circular Letters, we will keep you informed
of the development of the demonstration contract and how,
once implemented, the actual demonstration project is progressing.
Sincerely,
JIM BRADLEY
Managing Director, Customer Services
Enclosure
GPO/OMB News Release
GPO Contact: Veronica Meter
(202) 512-1991
vmeter@gpo.gov
OMB Contact: Trent Duffy
(202) 395-7254
www.omb.gov
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 6, 2003
GPO AND OMB ANNOUNCE A NEW
COMPACT
FOR GOVERNMENT PRINTING
Washington, DC - Public Printer of the United
States Bruce R. James and Office of Management
and Budget Director Mitchell E. Daniels,
Jr. today jointly announced an innovative
agreement that will free executive branch
agencies to choose their own printers while
saving taxpayer dollars. The agreement will
also empower the GPO to maximize public access
to federal information.
"Today's announcement is a victory for the
American taxpayer," said OMB Director Daniels. "It
builds on a competitive experiment that led
GPO to print this year's federal budget at
a savings of 23 percent. Federal agencies
will now be empowered to select printers
that provide the best deal for the taxpayers'
dollar. At the same time, this agreement
strikes a blow against the long-standing
'fugitive documents' problem, in which roughly
half of all government documents currently
do not make it into the federal depository
library program."
"We are extraordinarily pleased to join
in this agreement with OMB," said Public
Printer James. "It frees federal agencies
to competitively choose their own printers
and creates a system to provide the American
public with better access to more government
information than ever before. The government
is now moving the way private sector has
been moving, relying increasingly on electronic
information technology to create and disseminate
information products. The agreement we've
reached with OMB recognizes this trend by
using technology to increase public access
to information while providing a system for
efficiently managing the buying of the government's
declining printing needs, within the framework
of current law."
"On behalf of researchers and library users
in all types of libraries, the American Library
Association welcomes ideas that can improve
permanent public access to government information,
eliminate fugitive documents, and enhance
the Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP).
We believe this agreement will lead to more
and better access to the important information
published by the federal government," said
Dr. Carla Hayden, the incoming President
of the American Library Association and Director
of the Enoch Pratt Free Library in Baltimore,
Maryland.
Private sector printers also welcomed the
joint announcement. Ben Cooper, Executive
Vice President of Printing Industries of
America, said, "The Printing Industry of
America is pleased with the agreement that
the GPO and OMB have worked out to address
federal printing and print procurement. We
have worked closely with OMB and Public Printer
James on a new print procurement model and
we believe this announcement marks a new
era in federal printing policy and information
distribution. We look forward to working
with GPO during this transition period to
assure the industry serves the taxpayers'
needs.
###
COMPACT
between the
OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT AND BUDGET
and the
U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE
The Office of Management and Budget (OMB)
and the U.S. Government Printing Office (GPO)
share certain common goals. Both agencies
seek to develop a mechanism that will allow
Federal agencies direct access to printing
vendors for the purpose of placing printing
orders, while at the same time enabling the
GPO to meet its statutory requirements. Both
agencies seek to reduce the cost of Federal
printing and to ensure the permanent public
access to all non-classified government publications.
In furtherance of these goals OMB and GPO
agree to take the following steps:
By October 1, 2003, GPO will develop a demonstration
print procurement contract, similar to a
GSA Federa l Supply Schedule, for a Federal
department or agency of OMB's choosing. The
contract will feature a front-end electronic
system utilizing the World Wide Web that
will allow federal customers a one-stop,
integrated, print ordering and invoicing
system for all print jobs. Any registered
printer in the country would be free to submit
a price quote on any job placed in the system.
The federal customer would then select a
printer, using either lowest price or best
value techniques.
In support of this contract, GPO will register
and qualify printers for participation in
the contract and offer 24/7 customer and
printer support. In addition, GPO will offer,
on a cost recovery basis, additional printing
procurement services, including responsibility
determination, specification development,
technical and design assistance and press
inspections.
Agencies will have authority to address
issues of quality, time of delivery, and
other performance issues directly with the
printers they select. Payments will be routed
through GPO to private printers, with agencies
approving them before they are made.
Vendors participating in the contract would
pledge to provide their "most favored customer
pricing" to Federal customers and offer a
3% trade discount, during the demonstration
project, to fund the operating costs of the
contract. The amount of the trade discount
once deployed government wide will be reviewed
for possible future reduction. The Superintendent
of Documents, at its expense, will continue
to have access to publications produced under
this contract for public distribution. As
a condition of payment, vendors would be
required to provide GPO with one electronic
version of every document ordered under the
contract in a format acceptable to GPO and
two paper copies, in order to meet the requirements
of Chapter 19 of Title 44. U.S. Code.
To ensure that agency printing work is channeled
through the new competitive procurement process,
the Executive Branch will substantially limit
the circumstances where agencies may rely
on in-house or other Executive Branch printing
operations. OMB will seek audits and, where
appropriate, review by Inspectors General.
A demonstration project will begin in FY2004,
and the competitive procurement process will
be deployed governmentwide in FY2005.
OMB and GPO will work with the FAR Council
to ensure that appropriate regulatory changes
are made to reflect these new arrangements.
United States Government Printing Office
Washington, DC 20401
![Go to navigation.](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/eot2008/20081105070014im_/http://www.gpo.gov/images/transparent.gif) ![Go to Secondary Navigation.](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/eot2008/20081105070014im_/http://www.gpo.gov/images/transparent.gif) ![Go to Contact Information.](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/eot2008/20081105070014im_/http://www.gpo.gov/images/transparent.gif) ![Go to Search.](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/eot2008/20081105070014im_/http://www.gpo.gov/images/transparent.gif) ![Go to top of Content.](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/eot2008/20081105070014im_/http://www.gpo.gov/images/transparent.gif)
|