Waiver of 10 U.S.C. 2534 for Certain Defense Items Produced in the United Kingdom

AGENCY:

Department of Defense (DoD).

ACTION:

Notice of waiver of 10 U.S.C. 2534 for certain defense items produced in the United Kingdom.

SUMMARY:

The Under Secretary of Defense (Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics) is waiving the limitation of 10 U.S.C. 2534 for certain defense items produced in the United Kingdom (UK). 10 U.S.C. 2534 limits DoD procurement of certain items to sources in the national technology and industrial base. The waiver will permit procurement of items enumerated from sources in the UK, unless otherwise restricted by statute.

EFFECTIVE DATE:

This waiver is effective for one year, beginning August 19, 2000.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Mr. Michael Mutty, OUSD (AT&L), Director of Defense Procurement, Foreign Contracting, Room 3C762, 3060 Defense Pentagon, Washington, DC 20301-3060, telephone (703) 697-9353.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Subsection (a) of 10 U.S.C. 2534 provides that the Secretary of Defense may procure the items listed in that subsection only if the manufacturer of the item is part of the national technology and industrial base. Subsection (i) of 10 U.S.C. 2534 authorizes the Secretary of Defense to exercise the waiver authority in subsection (d), on the basis of the applicability of paragraph (2) or (3) of that subsection, only if the waiver is made for a particular item listed in subsection (a) and for a particular foreign country. Subsection (d) authorizes a waiver if the Secretary determines that application of the limitation “would impede the reciprocal procurement of defense items under a memorandum of understanding providing for reciprocal procurement of defense items” and if he determines that “that country does not discriminate against defense items produced in the United States to a greater degree than the United States discriminates against defense items produced in that country.” The Secretary of Defense has delegated the waiver authority of 10 U.S.C. 2534(d) to the Under Secretary of Defense (Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics).

DoD has a reciprocal procurement Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the UK that was signed on December 13, 1994.

The Under Secretary of Defense (Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics) finds that the UK does not discriminate against defense items produced in the United States to a greater degree than the United States discriminates against defense items produced in the UK, and also finds that application of the limitation in 10 U.S.C. 2534 against defense items produced in the UK would impede the reciprocal procurement of defense items under the MOU.

Under the authority of 10 U.S.C. 2534, the Under Secretary of Defense (Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics) has determined that application of the limitation of 10 U.S.C. 2534(a) to the procurement of any defense item produced in the UK that is listed below would impede the reciprocal procurement of defense items under the MOU with the UK.

On the basis of the foregoing, the Under Secretary of Defense (Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics) is waiving the limitation in 10 U.S.C. 2534(a) for procurements of any defense item listed below that is produced in the UK. This waiver applies only to the limitations in 10 U.S.C. 2534(a). It does not apply to any other limitation, including sections 8016 and 8067 of the DoD Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2000 (Public Law 106-79). This waiver applies to procurement under solicitations issued during the period from August 19, 2000, to August 18, 2001. Similar waivers were granted for the period from August 4, 1998, to August 3, 2000 (63 FR 38815, July 20, 1998, and 64 FR 38896, July 20, 1999). For contracts entered into prior to August 4, 1998, this waiver applies to procurements of the defense items listed below under—

(1) Subcontracts entered into during the period from August j19, 2000, to August 18, 2001, provided the prime contract is modified to provide the Government adequate consideration such as lower cost or improved performance; and

(2) Options that are exercised during the period from August 19, 200, to August 18, 2001, if the option prices are adjusted for any reason other than the application of the waiver, and if the contract is modified to provide the Government adequate consideration such as lower cost or improved performance.

List of Items to Which This Waiver Applies

1. Air circuit breakers.

2. Welded shipboard anchor and mooring chain with a diameter of four inches or less.

3. Gyrocompasses.

4. Electronic navigation chart systems.

5. Steering controls.

6. Pumps.

7. Propulsion and machinery control systems.

8. Totally enclosed lifeboats.

9. Ball and roller bearings.