[Comments on Federal Acquisition Circular 84-10]

GAO was asked to comment on Federal Acquisition Circular 84-10 which amends the Federal Acquisition Regulation with respect to planning for future competition, integrity of unit prices, certificates of commercial pricing, small business subcontracting policy, and the definition of a major system. GAO had no objection to the proposed coverage but suggested an addition concerning the integrity of unit prices which would require offerers to: (1) indicate items identified as those which they will not manufacture or to which they will not contribute significant value that are also commercial items; and (2) show the difference between the commercial price paid by the offerer and the price charged to the government by the offerer. This would alert government buyers as to the amount added to the price of the item and would encourage the breakout of such commercially available items where the markup is significant.