Federal Acquisition Regulation; Electronic Commerce in Federal Procurement

The Civilian Agency Acquisition Council and the Defense Acquisition Regulations Council (Councils) have agreed on a final rule amending the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) to further implement section 850 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1998; and implement section 810 of the Floyd D. Spence National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2001. Section 850 calls for the use of cost-effective procedures and processes that employ electronic commerce in the conduct and administration of Federal procurement systems. This includes the designation in the FAR of a single point of universal electronic public access to Governmentwide procurement opportunities (the "Governmentwide Point of Entry" or "GPE"). Section 810 allows agencies to provide access to notices through the GPE, as designated in the FAR, instead of publishing them via the Commerce Business Daily (CBD). This rule finalizes the interim rule that designated Federal Business Opportunities (FedBizOpps) as the GPE. In addition, this final rule makes the GPE the exclusive official source for public access to notices of procurement actions over $25,000.