a. Cardholders may purchase AbilityOne Procurement List supplies directly from AbilityOne or from one of their authorized distributors to satisfy the mandatory requirement. CHs should first shop at their respective local AbilityOne® Base Supply Center (BSC), where such stores exist. AbilityOne profits are maximized for purchases made directly from AbilityOne, such as a BSC or an AbilityOne online catalog. The AbilityOne producing agency sells the supply at a set price (fair market value). The distributor can sell the supply at varying prices but is not allowed to sell below the fair market value.

b. If FPI/UNICOR and AbilityOne participating nonprofit agencies produce identical supplies or services, FPI/UNICOR is the higher priority for supplies and AbilityOne is the higher priority for services (FAR 8.603 and 8.002). Unlike FPI/UNICOR procedures, AbilityOne purchasing procedures are applicable to all purchases regardless of dollar value and do not allow contracting officers to authorize purchase from an alternate source. If the requirement can be fulfilled with an AbilityOne product on the Procurement List, the CH must purchase from FPI/UNICOR unless they receive a waiver from FPI/UNICOR allowing them to purchase from AbilityOne.

c. Cardholders may request a waiver from AbilityOne following the procedures at AbilityOne’s Policy 51.541 . Before AbilityOne approves any waiver request, it can (1) review product information to ensure the alternate product is essentially the same as the AbilityOne product, and (2) offer a price match.

d. AbilityOne purchasing procedures do not allow contracting officers to authorize purchase from an alternate source. Prices of items on the Procurement List are fair market prices as established by AbilityOne (FAR 8.707). Purchase at these established prices is mandated without further consideration of prices available from the private sector.

e. For units in Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom, the preferred use policy for office supplies is through the Joint Office Supply Europe program (JOSE). For information on JOSE, cardholders may contact their A/OPC or view the JOSE Preferred Use Policy for Office Supplies memorandum.