- Berry Amendment
The Berry Amendment (USC, Title 10, Section 2533a), requires the Department of Defense to give preference in procurement to domestically produced, manufactured, or home grown products, most notably
food ,clothing ,fabric s, and specialtymetal s. Congress originally passed domestic source restrictions as part of the1941 Fifth Supplemental DOD Appropriations Act in order to protect the domestic industrial base in the time ofwar . TheDefense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS) was amended to include exceptions for the acquisition of food, specialty metals, and hand or measuring tools when needed to support contingency operations or when the use of other-than-competitive procedures is based on an unusual and compelling urgency. The specialty metals provision was added in 1973. This provision requires that specialty metals incorporated in products delivered under DOD contracts to be melted in the United States or a “qualifying country”. Specialty metals include certain steel, titanium, zirconium and other metal alloys that are important to the DOD.On
April 10 ,2007 the Undersecretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics determined that most compliantfastener s could not be obtained in sufficient quantity without unreasonably delaying production, and excepted most fasteners from the requirement [http://guidebook.dcma.mil/225/dc07-159.htm] .Congress has since revised the Berry amendment in the
Fiscal Year 2007 and Fiscal Year 2008National Defense Authorization Act s. The revised statute, [http://uscode.house.gov/uscode-cgi/fastweb.exe?getdoc+uscview+t09t12+1654+3++%28%29%20%20A 10 U.S.C. 2533b] , now includes exemptions for certain Commercial-Off-The-Shelf (COTS) items, ade minimis exception for small amounts of non-domestic metal (excluding high-performancemagnet s), amarket basket approach to measuring the amount of domestic metal content in articles delivered to DOD and a national security waiver to prevent the delay in delivery of critically needed systems to troops incombat . Additionally, the blanket exemption for fasteners was removed by Congress, now requiring that at least 50% of commercial fastener specialty metal content be domestic. Finally, Congress required that all waivers or Domestic Non-Availability Determinations (DNADs) be reviewed and revised to comply with the amended law [http://www.govtrack.us/congress/billtext.xpd?bill=h110-4986] .The original "Berry Amendment," 10 U.S.C. 2533a now excludes specialty metals and applies generally to textile materials [http://uscode.house.gov/uscode-cgi/fastweb.exe?getdoc+uscview+t09t12+1653+3++%28%29%20%20A] .
Reference: [http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/natsec/RL31236.pdf http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/natsec/RL31236.pdf]
External links
* [http://www.acq.osd.mil/dpap/paic/berryamendment.htm A synopsis from www.acq.osd.mil]
* [http://www.amtacdc.org/media/030710.asp Some facts from AMTAC, a pro-Berry Amendment trade union]
* [http://www.acq.osd.mil/dpap/dars/dfars/html/current/252225.htm#252.225-7014 The text of the "Domestic Specialty Metals" clause]
* [http://www.dcma.mil/dnad/files/2007-1997-ATL_signed.doc Domestic Non-Availability Determination for fasteners]
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