Source: http://www.fedgovcontracts.com/pe04-211.htm
Timestamp: 2017-12-18 08:39:53
Document Index: 263553546

Matched Legal Cases: ['art 225', 'art 252', 'art 225', 'art 252', 'art 25', 'art 52', 'art 225', 'art 252']

12/15/04 Dispatch: Defense FAR Supplement - Chile and Singapore Free Trade Agreements
SOURCE: Federal Register, December 15, 2004, Vol. 69, No. 240, page 74991
SYNOPSIS: DOD is adopting as final, with changes, the interim rule that amended DFARS Part 225, Foreign Acquisitions, and the related clauses in DFARS Part 252 to implement the the United States-Chile Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act (USCFTA) (Public Law 108-77) and United States-Singapore Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act (USSFTA) (Public Law 108-78).
EDITOR'S NOTE: For more on the interim rule, see the January 13, 2004, FEDERAL CONTRACTS DISPATCH "Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS); Chile and Singapore Free Trade Agreements."
SUPPLEMENTAL INFORMATION: On January 13, 2004, DOD published an interim rule that amended DFARS Part 225 and the corresponding clauses in DFARS Part 252 to implement the USCFTA and the USSFTA. For the most part, the DFARS interim rule paralleled the interim rule in Federal Acquisition Circular (FAC) 2001-19 that amended Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Part 25 and the corresponding clauses in FAR Part 52 to implement the USCFTA and the USSFTA (see the January 7, 2004, FEDERAL CONTRACTS DISPATCH "Federal Acquisition Circular (FAC) 2001-19, SF 330 Effectivity Delay and Free Trade Acts," Item (2)). For example, the term "North American Free Trade Agreement" (NAFTA) was replaced throughout DFARS Part 225 and DFARS Part 252 by the term "Free Trade Agreements" (FTA), which encompasses NAFTA, USCFTA, USSFTA, and any future free trade agreements into which the United States may enter, just as in FAC 2001-19. Also, the terms "NAFTA country," "NAFTA country end product." and "NAFTA country construction material" were replaced by "Free Trade Agreement country," "Free Trade Agreement country end product" and "Free Trade Agreement country construction material," respectively.
Another parallel with FAC 2001-19 was the addition of the sentence "United States law will apply to resolve any claim of breach of this contract" in DFARS 252.225-7021, Trade Agreements; DFARS 252.225-7036, Buy American Act -- Free Trade Agreements -- Balance of Payments Program; and DFARS 252.225-7045, Balance of Payments Program -- Construction Material Under Trade Agreements. This sentence was added because both the USCFTA and the USSFTA provide that the United States is authorized to resolve any claim against it, and require that contracts specify the law that will apply to resolve any breach of contract claim.
No comments were submitted in response to the interim rule. However, in adopting the interim rule as final, DOD has made the following two changes:
The sentence ""United States law will apply to resolve any claim of breach of this contract" is removed from DFARS 252.225-7021, DFARS 252.225-7036, and DFARS 252.225-7045 because FAC 2001-25 contains a new clause, FAR 52.233-4, Applicable Law for Breach of Contract Claim, which consists of that sentence and is required to be included in all federal contracts (for more on FAC 2001-25, see the October 5, 2004, FEDERAL CONTRACTS DISPATCH "Federal Acquisition Circular (FAC) 2001-25, Miscellaneous Amendments," Item (2)).
Paragraph (c)(i)(B) of DFARS 225.502, Application, was amended by the interim rule to state, "If the acquisition is also subject to a Free Trade Agreement, then end products of the applicable Free Trade Agreement country are also exempt from application of the Buy American Act or Balance of Payments Program evaluation factor." However, in acquisitions subject to a Free Trade Agreement, only eligible products of the applicable Free Trade Agreement country are exempt from application of the Buy American Act or Balance of Payments Program evaluation factor -- for example, for acquisitions between $25,000 and $58,550, a Mexican end product would be a "NAFTA country end product" but would not be an "eligible product" in accordance with the thresholds at FAR 25.402, General. Therefore, paragraph (c)(i)(B) is amended to replace "end products" with "eligible products."