Commercial supplier agreements means terms and conditions customarily offered to the public by vendors of supplies or services that meets the definition of “commercial products and commercial services” set forth in FAR 2.101 and intended to create a binding legal obligation on the end user. Commercial supplier agreements are particularly common in information technology acquisitions, including acquisitions of commercial computer software and commercial technical data, but they may apply to any products or service. The term applies—

1. (a) Regardless of the format or style of the document. For example, a commercial supplier agreement may be styled as standard terms of sale or lease, Terms of Service (TOS), End User License Agreement (EULA), or another similar legal instrument or agreement, and may be presented as part of a proposal or quotation responding to a solicitation for a contract or order;

2. (b) Regardless of the media or delivery mechanism used. For example, a commercial supplier agreement may be presented as one or more paper documents or may appear on a computer or other electronic device screen during a purchase, software installation, other product delivery, registration for a service, or another transaction.

   Economic price adjustment (EPA) method means the agreed upon procedure by which pricing may be adjusted throughout the contract period to include, but not limited to, the mechanism(s) to be used to adjust pricing (e.g., adjustments based on established pricing), the pricing subject to adjustment, and any other requirements (e.g., timing, frequency, limits on increases).

   GSA Information System means an information system used or operated by the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) or by a contractor or other organization on behalf of the U.S. General Services Administration including:

   1. (1) Cloud information system means information systems developed using cloud computing. Cloud computing is a model for enabling ubiquitous, convenient, on-demand network access to a shared pool of configurable computing resources (e.g., networks, servers, storage, applications) that can be rapidly provisioned and released with minimal management effort or service provider interaction. Cloud information systems include Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS), or Software as a Service (SaaS). Cloud information systems may connect to the GSA network.
   2. (2) External information system means information systems that reside in contractor facilities and typically do not connect to the GSA network. External information systems may be government-owned and contractor-operated or contractor-owned and -operated on behalf of Federal Government (when GSA is the managing agency).
   3. (3) Internal information system means information systems that reside on premise in GSA facilities and may connect to the GSA network. Internal systems are operated on behalf of GSA or the Federal Government (when GSA is the managing agency).
   4. (4) Low Impact Software as a Service (LiSaaS) System means cloud applications that are implemented for a limited duration, considered low impact and would cause limited harm to GSA if breached.
   5. (5) Mobile application means a type of application software designed to run on a mobile device, such as a smartphone or tablet computer.

   Information System means a discrete set of information resources organized for the collection, processing, maintenance, use, sharing, dissemination, or disposition of information.

   Packaging means the material used to protect an item. Packaging includes, but is not limited to: brand packaging, grouped packaging, shipping packaging, ancillary packaging, and redundant packaging.

   1. (1) Brand packaging, sales packaging or primary packaging means packaging intended to provide the user or consumer with the individual unit of the product, such as plastic casing.
   2. (2) Grouped packaging or secondary packaging means packaging intended to bundle, sell in bulk, brand, or market/display products.

   3. (3) Shipping packaging means packaging that serves as protection for the goods to ensure safe transport to the end customer, including:

      1. (i) Ancillary packaging or transport packaging or tertiary packaging means packaging intended to secure the product, such as packing peanuts, wrapping materials, or molded materials. Ancillary packaging (or all shipping packaging) is typically outside of brand packaging.
      2. (ii) Redundant packaging or unnecessary packaging means packaging that does not add any measurable protection to the supply being shipped, such as multiple layers of bubble wrap to an already durable product that is encased in a cardboard box. An example of this is a home testing kit with all plastic components already packaged in a cardboard box with cardboard inserts to absorb shock, that is then shipped in multiple layers of bubble wrap. In this example the bubble wrap is the redundant single-use plastic packaging.
   4. (4) Ancillary packaging or transport packaging or tertiary packaging means packaging intended to secure the product, such as packing peanuts, wrapping materials, or molded materials. Ancillary packaging (or all shipping packaging) is typically outside of brand packaging.
   5. (5) Redundant packaging or unnecessary packaging means packaging that does not add any measurable protection to the supply being shipped, such as multiple layers of bubble wrap to an already durable product that is encased in a cardboard box. An example of this is a home testing kit with all plastic components already packaged in a cardboard box with cardboard inserts to absorb shock, that is then shipped in multiple layers of bubble wrap. In this example the bubble wrap is the redundant single-use plastic packaging.

   Plastic means a synthetic or semisynthetic material chemically synthesized by the polymerization of organic substances that can be shaped into various rigid and flexible forms, and includes coatings and adhesives. “Plastic” excludes natural rubber or naturally occurring polymers such as proteins or starches.

   Single-use plastic (SUP) packaging means any plastic used for the containment, protection, handling, delivery, or presentation of goods by a producer for a consumer with the intent of being used once and then discarded, recycled or disposed of immediately after its contents have been used or unpackaged, and typically not refilled or otherwise reused by the producer. Packaging includes, but is not limited to brand packaging, grouped packaging, shipping packaging, ancillary packaging, and redundant packaging.

   Single-use plastic (SUP) free packaging means Single-use plastic (SUP) free packaging means product or shipping containment materials free of single-use plastic. Other attributes of single-use plastic free packaging may include the following: use of minimal materials, will be reused multiple times, or produces less emissions compared to traditional manufacturing or distribution. These additional attributes alone do not qualify as SUP free. Examples may include, but are not limited, to corrugated cardboard, paper products, and paper backed tape.

[83 FR 7633, Feb. 22, 2018, as amended at 86 FR 68442, Dec. 2, 2021; 87 FR 7395, Feb. 9, 2022; 89 FR 48336, June 6, 2024; 89 FR 55523, July 5, 2024; 89 FR 63327, Aug. 5, 2024]