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On December 20, 2004, Federal Acquisition Circular (FAC) 2001-26 was published in the Federal Register. The FAC covered seven items:
- Electronic Representations and Certifications
- Excluded Parties List System Enhancement
- Special Procurement Authority
- Notification of Employee Rights Concerning Payment of Union Dues and Fees
- Mentor Protégé Program - Delegation of Approval Authority for Mentor Protégé Agreements
- Applicability of the Cost Principles and Penalties for Unallowable Costs
- Technical Amendments
Item 4 and 7 were effective December 20, 2004; Item 1 was effective
January 1, 2005; and Items 2, 3, 5, and 6 will effective January 19, 2005.
Here are some of the highlights:
Item 1 - Contractors who are registered in the Central Contractor Registration (CCR) can now go to the Online Representations and Certifications Application (ORCA) and prepare an annual representations and certifications. These representations and certifications will be used in lieu of them submitting their representations and certifications with their bid/proposal. FAR Provision 52.204-8, Annual Representations and Certifications, must be included in all solicitations except a commercial item solicitation that is issued under FAR Part 12. If you include FAR 52.204-7, Central Contractor Registration, in your solicitation, you no longer include the 26 representations and certifications listed in FAR 4.1202. You can still require any representations or certifications that are not listed. If you do not include FAR 52.204-7 in your solicitation, you can still include all applicable representations and certifications. The offeror then checks a box in 52.204-8 that states they have completed the annual representations and certifications. You can access the vendors' annual representations and certifications at the following Web site: http://orca.bpn.gov/publicsearch.aspx. The FAC also incorporated ORCA into FAR Provisions 52.212-1, Instructions to Offerors - Commercial Items, and 52.212-3, Offeror Representations and Certifications - Commercial Items. All three provisions have a January 2005 effective date. Vendors can find an On-line Representations and Certifications Application Handbook at http://orca.bpn.gov/ORCA_Handbook9_04ver.pdf.
Item 2 - The FAR was amended to incorporate the Excluded Parties List System (EPLS),
General Services Administration's (GSA) new searchable on-line electronic list of parties excluded from doing business
with the Federal Government. The EPLS enables agencies to directly input data into
this system. It also eliminates hard copies of the List of Parties Excluded from
Federal Procurement and Nonprocurement Programs and requires the acquisition community
to use the EPLS at http://epls.gov instead. Additional information can be found at
FAR 9.404 Excluded Parties List System. FAR clause 52.209-6 and provision 52.213-4
have been modified to incorporate EPLS.
Item 3 - This item incorporates the Special Emergency Procurement Authority into the FAR.
It authorizes higher dollar thresholds for micro-purchases and simplified acquisitions
that were included in the Ronald Reagan National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal
Year 2005.
Item 4 - Federal contractors and subcontractors will be required to post notices informing
their employees that under Federal law they cannot be required to join a union or maintain
membership in a union to retain their job.
Item 5 - This final rule amends FAR 19.702, Statutory Requirements, to change the approval
authority of the Mentor Protégé Agreements to the Department of Defense (DOD) Military Departments and Defense
Agencies.
Item 6 - This final rule increases the thresholds of FAR 42.709(b) and 42.709-6 from $500K
to $550K for contracts subject to penalties if a contractor includes expressly unallowable
costs in a claim for reimbursement. The rule is of importance to Contracting Officers (COs) and contractors who
negotiate contracts and modifications, and determine costs using FAR Part 31.
Item 7 - Editorial changes were made to the FAR.
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