(2) One signed copy shall be furnished to the contractor.

(3) One signed copy shall be retained in the contract file.

(d) Where the law of a foreign country requires that the original of a written contract be retained in the country, a signed copy shall be forwarded to the Department in lieu of the original.

[29 FR 12070, Aug. 25, 1964]

§ 6-1.353 English language translations.

If any part of a contract is not written in the English language, an accurate translation of such part shall be attached to the original and each copy of the contract whenever such action is determined to be feasible by the contracting officer.

[28 FR 7779, July 31, 1963]

Subpart 6-1.4—Procurement Responsibility and Authority

SOURCE: 33 FR 10516, July 24, 1968, unless otherwise noted.

§ 6-1.400 Scope of subpart.

This subpart sets forth the procurement responsibility and authority of the chief officer responsible for procurement and contracting officers, and treats the selection and designation of contracting officers to enter into and administer contracts, interagency agreements, purchase orders, grants, and other contractual arrangements, hereinafter referred to as "contracts" unless otherwise stated.

§ 6-1.401 Responsibility of the head of the procuring activity.

The Chief, Supply and Transportation Division, is designated the chief officer responsible for procurement and as such shall provide policy direction and prescribe standards, procedures, and regulations for the award and administration of contracts, both within and outside the United States, except for procurements by the Office of Foreign Buildings and those procurements outside the United States by the Office of Refugee and Migration Affairs.

§ 6-1.402 Authority of contracting offi

cers.

The authority of the Secretary of State to enter into and administer contracts, purchase orders, grants, and other agreements for the expenditure of funds involved in the acquisition of property or nonpersonal services and for the sale of personal property is delegated to those officials designated in § 6-1.404-2 and to any official designated to act for one of those enumerated during the absence or incapacity of the latter, subject to specific limitations stated in this subpart. When exercising the authority contained in this subpart, the designated official is a contracting officer.

§ 6-1.403 Requirements to be met before entering into contracts.

Contracting officers are responsible for the legal, technical, and administrative sufficiency of the contracts they enter into. To this end they shall obtain such available legal, technical, and financial advice as necessary for the proper execution of their duties. 86-1.404 Selection, designation, and termination of designation of contracting officers.

tractor. An appropriate contract clause is contained in § 6-7.151-11 of this chapter.

(c) The authority described in § 61.402 is delegated as follows:

(1) General delegation-Supply and Transportation Division. (i) The authority to enter into and administer contracts for the expenditure of funds involved in the acquisition of personal property and nonpersonal services, and for the sale of personal property, is delegated to the Chief, Supply and Transportation Division.

(ii) The authority to authorize the publication of paid advertisements, notices, and proposals within the United States is delegated to the Chief, Supply and Transportation Division. This authority may not be redelegated.

(2) Library. The authority to enter into and administer contracts (except grants) is delegated to the Librarian, Principal Acquisition Librarian, and Chief, Technical Services, for the acquisition of newspapers, books, maps, and periodicals, and for the acquisition of publication binding and repair services whenever the acquisition of such services is authorized by the Public Printer pursuant to the provisions of section 12 of the Act of January 12, 1895, 28 Stat. 602, as amended (44 U.S.C. 14).

(3) Office of Foreign Buildings. The authority to enter into and administer contracts is delegated to the Director, Office of Foreign Buildings, for transactions chargeable to funds available under the Foreign Service Buildings Act, 1926, as amended, or in other appropriations made available for foreign buildings operations.

(4) Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. The authority to enter into and administer contracts involving funds available for international educational and cultural activities is delegated to the Executive Director, the Chief, Division of Financial Management, and the Chief, Contract and Transportation Division.

(5) Diplomatic and consular posts located outside the United States. The authority to enter into and administer contracts for the expenditure of funds involved in the acquisition of supplies, equipment, publications, and nonper

sonal services; to sell personal property; and to authorize the publication of paid advertisements, notices and proposals, is delegated to the Principal Officer, Administrative Officer and General Services Officer.

(i) This authority, with the exception of that pertaining to paid advertising, may be redelegated to employees of the Foreign Service who are citizens of the United States and, in the case of joint or consolidated administrative operations, to employees of U.S. Government agencies who are citizens of the United States.

(ii) Direct transactions with vendors within the United States shall not exceed $5,000 per transaction unless such transaction is under a contract executed by the Department of State, the General Services Administration or other U.S. Government Agency. Such transactions with U.S. vendors shall be in accordance with small purchase procedures described in Subpart 1-3.6 of this title and Subpart 6-3.6 of this chapter.

(iii) No authority is delegated to enter into cost-reimbursement fixed-price incentive contracts.

or

(iv) When expressly authorized by a U.S. Government agency which does not have an authorized contracting officer at the post, the officers named above in this paragraph may enter into contracts for and on behalf of that agency. The exercise of this authority is subject to the provisions of the regulatory or other contracting officer designation issued by the contracting agency and any relevant administrative support or other interagency agreement. Statutory authorities and regulations of the contracting agency are applicable to contracts entered into pursuant to this authority and the contracting agency is responsible for informing the individual it has designated to act as its contracting officer of pertinent statutes and regulations which supplement, implement or deviate from Chapter 1 of this title. In view of the contracting officer's responsibility for the legal, technical, and administrative sufficiency of the contracts he enters into, questions regarding the propriety of procurement actions that the post is requested to take pursuant to this authority may

be referred to the Department for resolution with the headquarters of the agency concerned.

(6) Language Services Division. The authority to enter into and administer contracts (except grants) for translating, interpreting, and related linguistic and escort services is delegated to the Chief, Assistant Chief, and Staff Assistant.

(7) Office of Communications. The authority to enter into and administer contracts (except grants) for leasing wire service circuits is delegated to the Executive Officer and the Chief, Networks Staff.

(8) Foreign Service Institute. The authority to enter into and administer contracts for planning and conducting seminars; for guest lecturers, instructors, language tutors, area chairmen, and related professional services; and for tuition, books, and tutorial and other related training services, is delegated to the Director, Deputy Director for Management and Executive Offi

cer.

(9) Office of Overseas Schools. The authority to enter into and administer contracts for the overseas schools assistance activities of the Department is delegated to the Director.

(10) Office of International Conferences. The authority to enter into and administer contracts involving funds available from the International Conferences and Contingencies appropriation for the support of international conferences is delegated to the Director and Chief, Administrative Division.

(11) U.S. Mission to the United Nations. The authority to enter into and administer contracts involving funds available from the Missions to International Organizations appropriation for USUN is delegated to the Counselor for Administration and the Senior Advisor for Administrative Affairs.

[28 FR 7779, July 31, 1963, as amended at 34 FR 1143, July 2, 1969; 38 FR 22894, Aug. 27, 1973; 39 FR 8158, Mar. 4, 1974; 40 FR 58452, Dec. 17, 1975]

§ 6-1.404-3 Termination of designation.

(a) Designated contracting officers who relieve or succeed previously designated contracting officers will assume responsibility for the administration of contracts entered into by

the previously designated contracting officers of the activity to which they are assigned.

Subpart 6-1.6-Debarred and Ineligible Bidders

§ 6-1.604 Department of State procedure for administrative debarment.

(a) Administrative debarment may be initiated by any Contracting Officer of the Department.

(b) The recommendation for debarment together with a statement of the causes or conditions (see § 1-1.604 of this title), the suggested term of debarment, and the documentary evidence to support the recommendation will be submitted to the Chief, Supply and Transportation Division. If concurred in, the recommendation will be forwarded to the Legal Adviser for approval and returned to the Chief, Supply and Transportation Division. [40 FR 58452, Dec. 17, 1975]

86-1.604-1 Notice and hearing.

(a) Notice. A notice of proposed debarment will:

(1) Concisely state the facts on which the proposed debarment is predicated;

(2) Specify the period of the proposed debarment;

(3) Inform the firm or individual of the action which the Department may take in the event a low bid or proposal is received from the firm or individual before the proposed debarment is finally determined;

(4) Inform the firm or individual of its right, within twenty (20) days of the date of the notice of the proposed debarment, or such other time as may be specified in the notice, to request a hearing;

(5) Provide that the firm or individual may submit a written reply to the notice of proposed debarment within twenty (20) days of its date, or such other time as may be specified in the notice. The reply shall set forth the facts on which the firm or individual relies and request a hearing, if one is desired;

(6) Inform the firm or individual that if no reply or request for hearing

is received within twenty (20) days from the date of the notice of proposed debarment or such other time as may be specified in the notice, that the debarment will become effective on the date specified in the notice.

(b) Hearing. Hearings requested in connection with debarment proceedings shall be conducted before the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Operations or his designee. An opportunity shall be afforded to the firm or individual to appear with witnesses and counsel, to present facts or circumstances showing cause why such firm or individual should not be debarred. If the firm or individual elects not to appear, the reviewing authority will make the decision based on the facts on record and such additional evidence as may be furnished by the parties involved. After consideration of the facts, the reviewing authority shall notify the firm or individual of the final decision.

[40 FR 58452, Dec. 17, 1975]

Subpart 6-1.8—Labor Surplus Area Concerns

§ 6-1.800 Scope of subpart.

Subpart 1-1.8 is not applicable to procurement by the Department outside the United States. (32A CFR Ch. I; 25 FR 5283).

[28 FR 7779, July 31, 1963]

Subpart 6-1.9-Reporting Possible Antitrust Violations

86-1.901 General.

Reports of possible antitrust violations shall be forwarded by contracting officers of the Department to the Supply and Transportation Services Division in Washington. These reports shall include the documents and additional information required pursuant to §§ 1-1.902 and 1-1.903 of this title. [31 FR 6623, May 4, 1966]

Subpart 6-1.10-Publicizing Procurement Actions

SOURCE: 36 FR 4377, Mar. 5, 1971, unless otherwise noted.

§ 6-1.1001 General policy.

To obtain full competition and provide information to the public FPR 11.1001 requires that prospective prime contractors and subcontractors be informed of proposed Government procurements or procurements it has awarded.

§ 6-1.1002 Availability of invitations for bids and requests for proposals.

A copy of all unclassified invitations for bids and requests for proposals issued by the Supply and Transportation Division will be displayed for prospective contractors and subcontractors.

86-1.1003 Synopses of proposed procure

ments.

§ 6-1.1003-1 Department of Commerce Synopsis.

As provided in FPR 1-1.1003-2(a)(9) procurements by the Foreign Service posts outside the United States are exempted from the provisions of this section.

§ 6-1.1003-2 General requirements.

(a) Except as provided in FPR 11.1003-2(a) all proposed Department procurement actions of $5,000 and above shall be synopsized in the Commerce Business Daily.

(b) Preparation and transmittal of synopses of proposed procurements of the Supply and Transportation Division will be prepared by the Procurement Branch in accordance with the procedures set out in FPR 1-1.1003-7.

(c) Those officers to whom contracting authority has been delegated as enumerated in § 6-1.404-2 of this title are responsible for publicizing proposed procurement actions as required by FRP 1-1.10.

PART 6-2-PROCUREMENT BY FORMAL ADVERTISING

Subpart 6-2.1-Use of Formal Advertising

Sec.

6-2.102 Policy.

Subpart 6-2.2-Solicitation of Bids

6-2.201 Preparation of invitations for bids.

[Dept. Reg. 108.510, 29 FR 12071, Aug. 25, 1964, as amended at 31 FR 10193, July 28, 1966]

86-2.202 Miscellaneous rules for solicitation of bids.

§ 6-2.202-1 Bidding time.

Any request for a procurement which does not provide for the minimum bidding time required under FPR 1-2.202-1(c) must be justified in writing and approved by the Contracting Officer.

§ 6-2.202-50 Grouping of items in a single invitation for bids.

(a) It is basic Government policy that procurement shall be effected by formal advertising, except as provided in Subpart 1-3.2 of this title. Consequently, requirements aggregating more than $10,000 shall not be broken down into several purchases or contracts of less than $10,000 merely for the purpose of utilizing negotiation. (See § 1-3.602 of this title.) In order to minimize the administrative costs to the Government each invitation for bids shall include all items suitable for procurement by the procuring activity at the time the invitation is being prepared which are customarily provided by the prospective bidders.

(b) For example, hardware products, spare parts for vehicles, and office supplies would not be listed on a single invitation, unless in a particular circumstance the prospective bidders customarily handled items from all three of these categories. But a wide variety of items in any one of these categories could normally be listed on a single invitation because prospective bidders would normally carry a full line of the products within their specialized field. [Dept. Reg. 108.510, 29 FR 12071, Aug. 25, 1964, as amended at 40 FR 58453, Dec. 17, 1975]

§ 6-2.202-51 Grouping of items to facilitate award.

Invitations may provide that awards will be made by items, or by groups of items. Grouping inexpensive items has the following advantages:

(a) By reducing the number of awards which must be made by the