[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 93 (Friday, May 12, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Page 30573]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-11976]


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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE


Reciprocal Procurement Memoranda of Understanding--Implementation 
Reviews

AGENCY: Department of Defense.

ACTION: Request for public comments.

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SUMMARY: The Office of Foreign Contracting, Defense Procurement, is 
seeking information that will assist it in reviewing the defense 
procurement practices of countries with which the Department of Defense 
(DoD) has a reciprocal procurement Memorandum of Understanding (MOU). 
These countries are: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, 
Egypt, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Israel, Italy, Luxembourg, 
Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, and 
the United Kingdom. Interested parties are invited to submit written 
comments concerning the defense procurement practices of MOU countries 
that will assist the Office of Foreign Contracting in evaluating the 
manner in which these reciprocal MOUs are being implemented.

DATES: Comments must be received no later than June 26, 2000.

ADDRESSES: Send all comments to Domenico C. Cipicchio, Deputy Director, 
Defense Procurement, Foreign Contracting, OUSD (AT&L), 3060 Defense 
Pentagon, Washington, DC 20301-3060.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Susan M. Hildner, Procurement Analyst, 
Defense Procurement, Foreign Contracting, OUSD (AT&L), 3060 Defense 
Pentagon, Washington, DC 20301-3060, (703) 697-9352.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The DoD has a bilateral reciprocal defense 
procurement MOU with each of the countries identified above. These MOUs 
are designed to promote interoperability and standardization of defense 
equipment between the U.S. and its allies. The MOUs also seek to 
eliminate buy-national barriers and other discriminatory procurement 
practices so that the industries of each country receive fair and equal 
access to each other's defense procurements. The Office of Foreign 
Contracting will be performing reviews of the manner in which these 
MOUs are being implemented and is interested in obtaining information 
on any discriminatory practices that hinder the ability of U.S. 
suppliers to compete for defense-related procurements within any of 
these countries. Problem areas could include: Inability to locate 
publication notices on upcoming procurements, difficulty in obtaining 
solicitations in a timely manner, inadequate response time for offers, 
issues associated with application of customs duties, buy-national 
practices that favor other than U.S. industry, imposition of offset 
requirements, inability to obtain debriefing information, inability to 
protest source selection decisions, and protection of proprietary 
information as well as any other discriminatory practice that needs to 
be addressed.
    All materials should be submitted with 3 copies. Material that is 
business confidential information will be exempted from public 
disclosure as provided for by 5 U.S.C. 552(b)(4) (Freedom of 
Information ACT (FOIA) rules). Anyone submitting business confidential 
information should clearly identify the business confidential portion 
of the submission and also provide a non-confidential submission, which 
can be placed in the public file. Comments not marked business 
confidential may be subject to disclosure under FOIA.

Michele P. Peterson,
Executive Editor, Defense Acquisition Regulations Council.
[FR Doc. 00-11976 Filed 5-11-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 5000-04-M