Building Partner Capacity · 3 of 3
A capacity building case is funded from an annual appropriation, and an appropriation has a life. The manual sets out three phases of availability: current or unexpired, expired, and cancelled (SAMM C15.1.4).
Only the first of those allows new obligations. During the period of availability, implementing agencies and program offices have the authority to use current funds for new obligations, adjustments, expenditures and outlays (SAMM C15.1.4.1).
Everything in this piece follows from that. Where a sales case is paid for by a partner and can take as long as the partner tolerates, a capacity building case is running against a date set by Congress. Whose money it is, and why the recipient never signs, is covered in what Building Partner Capacity is and who the customer is.
Three published periods sit between a request and a case document.
The percentage is worth reading carefully. It is a standard applied across a population of cases, not a promise about any one of them.
Two familiar charges fall away when American appropriations are paying.
Nonrecurring costs are one. "USG appropriated funds may not be used to pay Nonrecurring Costs (NC) associated with U.S.-origin defense articles; therefore, IAs will not apply NC to BPC cases and will reflect costs as waived" in the case system (SAMM C15.3.7.2.4).
Domestic sourcing preference is the other. "The Buy American Act ( 41 U.S.C. 8301 ) does not apply to BPC procurements" (SAMM C15.3.8.2).
Cooperatively produced articles are the exception that proves the first rule. Where a cooperative participant will not waive its share of a special nonrecurring charge, the recipient must agree to pay it within 90 days of being notified. If it does not, the article is removed from the request and from the case (SAMM C15.3.7.2.4.1).
The document that binds the program is the one sent to Congress. Implementing agencies must take care whenever items and quantities change, to ensure they do not change or exceed the nature and scope of the notified program (SAMM C15.3.7).
Growth requires going back. Quantities or values under a notified program may not increase without a re-notification of that program to Congress (SAMM C15.3.7). The notice itself is described in Section 333, the authority to build partner capacity.
There is a stated target for how long equipment may sit once the government has it. "To the maximum extent practical, defense articles should be delivered to the Benefitting Partner within 120 days of receipt by the USG" (SAMM C15.3.6.1).
Transfer is documented rather than assumed. Materiel transfer documents are uploaded to the security cooperation systems within 30 days of title transfer (SAMM C15.5.6.5).
Responsibility sits in one place. The implementing agency has overall responsibility for case development, timely obligation of funds, execution and closure. It must also be aware of the nature and limitations of the appropriated funds in use, so that its activities meet the obligation, expiration and cancellation timelines (SAMM C15.1.6.7).
Closure on these cases is not an administrative tidy up at the end. It is a deadline with a date on it.
"DSCA requires that BPC case and training grants funded with expiring/cancelling funds be closed by the IA no later than July 31st of the cancelling year, which allows time for residual funds to be redirected or returned before the deadline" (SAMM C15.7.1).
Three things have to be true by that date. Vendors must have delivered all items to the government, submitted all invoices, and had all outstanding obligations paid in full (SAMM C15.7.1). A supplier with an unbilled invoice in July of a cancelling year is a problem for the whole case, not only for itself.
The deadline has a named owner, appointed more than a year ahead. Each implementing agency submits contact details for a Closure Facilitator "no later than 15 months prior to funds cancellation", and that person submits a list of contracts holding funds that will cancel the following fiscal year (SAMM C15.7.2).
The job is to find trouble early. The Closure Facilitator directs stakeholders to review cancelling cases and grants, and to identify any at risk of not closing by 31 July. The Facilitator also identifies valid unliquidated obligations subject to closure, so it can be settled whether funds remain available for later adjustments (SAMM C15.7.2).
The final step is mechanical and quick. The accounting service reviews the closure certificate and "should close BPC cases and training grants containing no inhibitors within 30 days of receipt", processing the closure transaction and pushing it through the departmental systems (SAMM C15.7.4).
For anyone supplying into one of these programs, the useful summary is that the calendar, not the contract, sets the pace. Obligation, delivery, invoicing and closure all have to happen inside the life of an appropriation, and an item that slips past the date does not simply arrive late.
| Period of availability | The window in which an appropriation may be obligated. SAMM C15.1.4.1. |
|---|---|
| Nonrecurring cost | A charge recovering earlier development or production investment, waived on these cases. SAMM C15.3.7.2.4. |
| Re-notification | A fresh notice to Congress, required where quantities or values increase. SAMM C15.3.7. |
| Closure Facilitator | The named person appointed 15 months before cancellation to drive closure. SAMM C15.7.2. |
| Cancelling year | The fiscal year in which an appropriation ceases to be available at all. |
Every statement above links to the document behind it. The full source list for this piece is on the sources page.
This page describes public United States government programs for general information. It is not legal, regulatory or procurement advice, and it does not address the facts of any particular case.
Appropriations expire, and delivery has to happen inside them. Sentfore supports the delivery end of defense programs in difficult environments, providing secure movement, protective security, facilities and life support. Its principals have worked on overseas defense and security programs of that kind. Requirements can be sent through the contact page.