U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates and Italian Minister of Defense Ignazio La Russa on Monday signed an updated Reciprocal Defense Procurement Memorandum of Understanding,
which allows effective defense cooperation by establishing principles
and procedures recognized by both governments for the conduct of
defense procurements.
Under this agreement, each government provides access to its defense market to the industry of the other country.
The MOU allows each country specific benefits on a reciprocal basis, consistent with national laws and regulations.
These include provisions for duty-free certificates and in most cases
the evaluation of offers without applying price differentials under
"buy national" laws.
The United
States and Italy established and maintained understandings relating to
reciprocal defense procurement since 1978. The MOU was last extended in
November 1990.
The MOU promotes
rationalization, standardization, and interoperability of defense
equipment with allies and other allied governments. It provides a
framework for on-going communication regarding market access and procurement matters affecting effective defense cooperation
Brief History
The EU public procurement market, including EU
institutions and Member States and local governments, total
around USD 800 billion annually.
This market is regulated by four "classic" Directives:
public works, public supplies, public services and
utilities. The Directives cover contracts above a certain
threshold in all public sectors except utilities, which is
regulated by a separate Directive, applicable to private as well
as public undertakings.
Most EU tenders for public works/supplies are open to
U.S. companies.
However, some contract opportunities in the utilities sector
(water, transport, and telecommunications) are closed to
U.S.-based companies because of certain articles in EU law
permitting a local content requirement of 50 percent.
Moreover, in the utilities sector, preference must be given to an
EU bid over a non-EU bid if the bids are equivalent and the price
difference is less than 3 percent.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com, http://www.buyusa.gov