1. Explanation of Material Transmitted:

   This NIH Manual Chapter was promulgated to familiarize NIH acquisition staff with the policies and procedures for acquiring commercial items and constituted the training described under Section 8203 of Public Law 103-355, Federal Acquisition Streamlining Act (FASA) of 1994. At the present time the Basic Simplified Acquisition training course which the HHS University (HHSU) sponsors includes training in commercial item acquisition. The Federal Acquisition Institute (FAI) has three free online training modules (http://www.fai.gov/training/findcourses.asp) on commercial item acquisition, CLC 020, 023 and 131.

   The Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) should be consulted (http://www.arnet.gov/far/) for the most current guidance regarding the acquisition of commercial items

2. Filing Instructions:

   Remove: NIH Manual Chapter 6012-1/26012-1, dated 08/01/1998. .
   Insert: None.

PLEASE NOTE: For information on:

• content of this chapter, contact the Issuing Office listed above.

• NIH Manual System, contact the Division of Management Support, Office of Management Assessment, OM on 301-496-2832.

• on-line information, use: http://oma.od.nih.gov/manualchapters/