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COMMITTEE FOR PURCHASE FROM PEOPLE WHO ARE BLIND OR SEVERELY DISABLED

Committee for Purchase From People Who Are Blind or Severely Disabled

NOTICE: NOTICES

DOCUMENT ACTION: Clarification of scope of the procurement preference and sourcing requirements for commodities and other products on the Procurement List; Publication of commodities and related products with governmentwide

SUBJECT CATEGORY: Clarification of Scope of Procurement List Additions; 2007 Commodities Procurement List

DATES: The effective date for the 2007 A List is January 1, 2007.

DOCUMENT SUMMARY: The Committee for Purchase From People Who Are Blind or Severely Disabled (the Committee) is clarifying the scope of the procurement preference and sourcing requirements for commodities and other products on the Procurement List and publishing those which have been identified as satisfying Governmentwide requirements and thus subject to Governmentwide procurement preference for 2007. The full list of products with Governmentwide procurement preference is posted on http://www.jwod.gov. Changes to the list as published in the Federal Register on April 28, 2006 (71 FR 2513625143) are identified in this notice.

SUMMARY: Procurement list; additions and deletions,

DOCUMENT BODY: [[Page 69536]]
procurement preference (A List) as of January 1, 2007.

SUPPLEMENTAL INFORMATION

The decentralized nature of today's Federal acquisition environment requires the Committee to more specifically consider and communicate the applicability of each Procurement List addition, depending on the type of product and scope of the associated requiring/contracting activities. There are effectively three categories of products furnished under the auspices of the Javits WagnerO'Day (JWOD) Program, each with a different level of procurement source preference.

The first category (the A List) contains commoditytype products that are commonly used in office and light industrial settings. These products, when furnished by the JWOD Program, are widely available through multiple Government and commercial distribution channels, and are delivered to customers in timeframes consistent with industry best practices. For most office supplies, this means on a nextday or two day basis. For oversize office products (e.g., chair mats), or janitorial/sanitary products, delivery times may be three to five days after receipt of order.
``A List'' products must be purchased by Federal employees whenever they are available within required timeframes and quantities. JWOD authorized commercial distributors must stock the items, obtain them from approved wholesalers or, to the extent permitted, coordinate nonprofit agency shipments, to make A List items available for quick delivery. Any ``essentially the same'' commercial equivalents to these products, as determined by the Committee, are identified to the Government and commercial distribution channels, and are excluded from contract sales to Federal employees in accordance with the Committee's regulations at 41 CFR 515.3(a). If a Federal customer orders an equivalent item, JWODauthorized distributors are required to substitute and deliver the corresponding A List product instead. This effectively gives JWOD purchasing preference to each of the A List products across all entities of the Government, comparable to the Total Government Requirement scope previously extended to certain general Procurement List additions. A complete and updated copy of the A List will be maintained on the Committee's Web site at http://www.jwod.gov/distributors .

Examples of A List products include writing instruments, paper pads, desktop accessories, and general purpose cleaner in retailsized bottles. The A List, previously updated annually in conjunction with print catalog cycles, will be updated quarterly by the Committee staff beginning April 1, 2007. Note: As with any proposed addition, new products must first go through a notice and comment rulemaking process and receive the Committee's approval to be added to the Procurement List before being classified as or placed on the A List.

The second category (the B List) contains products that are not used in volume in most offices, but have broad applicability across multiple Federal agencies, and the demand for these items is aggregated by the General Services Administration (GSA). As such, GSA is the JWOD Program's responsible contracting activity for these items on behalf of the rest of the Federal Government, just as GSA fulfills this role for the A List items. However, given the B List items' lessthanuniversal demand, particularly in terms of office use, the B List items are not required to be available through all commercial distribution channels. The B List items are available through the Federal Supply System, as managed by GSA, and will be carried by authorized commercial distributors who carry comparable commercial product families. The JWOD purchasing preference extends to these items and applies to all entities of the Government when such items meet customers' needs and are available in the timeframe and quantities necessary.

Examples of B List items include inkjet large format paper and many cleaning supplies such as mops, chemical cleaning solutions and floor polishing pads. However, whether the commercial equivalents of such items will be excluded from contract sales to Federal employees will be decided by the Committee on a casebycase analysis based on distribution channel and availability. This effectively gives JWOD purchasing preference to each of the B List products for the Broad Government Requirement.

The third category (the C List) contains specialized or niche products (i.e., adapted to a specific function or demand) that are most often designed and manufactured to meet the needs of a single Federal agency, or a group of customers with a unique requirement. These products, when furnished under the JWOD Program, are sponsored by and have procurement preference for the specific Federal agency or agencies that defined the requirement. The JWOD procurement preference does not apply to Federal agencies that are not identified on the Procurement List documentation for such items. Generally, C List items are only made available to Federal customers through the distribution channels authorized by the requiring office. If Federal agencies whose requirements are not specified on the Procurement List would like to purchase C List items, they must refer their request to the sponsoring contracting activity. Alternatively, Federal agencies may ask the Committee to change the Procurement List in order to add their agency as an additional contracting activity.

Examples of C List products include plastic mail trays added to the Procurement List for the specific requirements of the U.S. Postal Service, and tree marking paint sold by GSA for the exclusive use of the U.S. Forest Service. C List items may be labeled and marketed in a manner that associates them with the JWOD Program, but does not imply purchasing preference for either the Total Government Requirement (A List) or the Broad Government Requirement (B List).

In the future, when proposing to add a product to its Procurement List, the Committee's notices published in the Federal Register will identify the category group (A List, B List or C List) to which the product has been assigned, and thus identify the intended scope of the JWOD procurement preference.

Clerical corrections are hereby made to the following products and/ or producing nonprofit agencies proposed for the 2007 A List as published in the
[[Page 69537]]
Federal Register Notice of April 28, 2006 (71 FR 2513625143): Nonprofit Agency: Susquehanna Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired, Lancaster, PA

Incorrect Noun Name: SKILCRAFT SAVVY Unreal Stop Remover

Correct Noun Name: SKILCRAFT SAVVY Unreal Spot Remover

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT Kimberly M. Zeich, Telephone: (703) 6037740, Fax: (703) 6030655, or email Alist2007@jwod.gov.