FAR 25.104—Nonavailable articles.
Plain-English Summary
FAR 25.104 identifies specific articles that the Government has already determined to be “nonavailable” for purposes of the Buy American statute and related domestic preference rules in FAR Part 25. In practice, this means these listed items are treated as not reasonably available from domestic sources, so they may be exempt from the domestic source restrictions when the applicable FAR provision or clause relies on the nonavailability determination in 25.103(b)(1)(i). The section covers a long, item-by-item list of commodities and products, including certain metals and minerals, agricultural products, fibers, chemicals, books and printed materials, spare parts for foreign-made equipment, and other specialized items such as quartz crystals, raw silk, and cobra venom. It also explains that the list is not static: it must be published in the Federal Register for public comment at least every five years, and anyone may submit recommendations to delete items from the list if they provide enough data and rationale. For contracting officers, this section is a key reference point when evaluating whether a domestic preference exception applies; for contractors, it signals which items may be eligible for foreign sourcing without violating domestic preference requirements, subject to the rest of the procurement rules and any applicable clause language.
Key Rules
Listed items are nonavailable
The section establishes a specific list of articles that have been determined to be nonavailable under FAR 25.103(b)(1)(i). If a procurement item matches one of these descriptions, it may qualify for treatment as unavailable domestically under the Buy American framework.
Coverage is item-specific
The list is narrow and exact. It includes particular forms of products, such as raw or green coffee beans, canned grapefruit sections, crude rubber and natural latex, and spare parts for foreign-manufactured equipment when domestic parts are not available.
Domestic preference exception support
The nonavailability list supports exceptions to domestic sourcing requirements, but it does not by itself override all procurement restrictions. The contracting officer still must apply the relevant FAR Part 25 rules, clause requirements, and any other applicable statutory or regulatory limits.
Periodic public review required
The list must be published in the Federal Register for public comment at least once every five years. This keeps the list current and allows the Government to reassess whether items remain unavailable domestically.
Deletion requests may be submitted anytime
Interested parties may submit unsolicited recommendations to remove items from the list at any time. Those submissions must include enough data and rationale to allow evaluation under FAR 1.502.
Responsibilities
Contracting Officer
Determine whether a required supply item falls within the nonavailable list and, if so, apply the appropriate domestic preference exception in accordance with FAR Part 25 and the solicitation/contract clauses. The contracting officer must also ensure the procurement record supports the determination and use the current version of the list.
Contractor
Review the solicitation and contract requirements to identify whether a listed nonavailable article is being acquired and, if relevant, document the basis for foreign sourcing or exception treatment. The contractor should not assume an item is exempt unless the applicable clause and contracting officer’s determination support that conclusion.
Agency
Maintain awareness of the current nonavailability list, participate in the periodic review process, and consider public comments or deletion recommendations. Agencies should ensure acquisition personnel use the updated list and apply it consistently across procurements.
Public/Interested Parties
Submit recommendations to delete items from the list when they have sufficient market data and rationale showing domestic availability. Comments should be detailed enough to support evaluation under FAR 1.502.
Practical Implications
This section is most important when a procurement involves specialty commodities or imported raw materials; it can determine whether a domestic preference restriction applies at all.
The biggest pitfall is assuming that an item is exempt just because it is similar to a listed article. The description must match the listed item closely, including form and condition.
For spare parts, the nonavailability rule is limited to foreign-manufactured equipment and only when domestic parts are not available, so documentation matters.
Because the list is periodically reviewed, users should verify they are relying on the current Federal Register-published version rather than an outdated copy.
Contracting officers should keep a clear file note or determination showing how the item matched the list and how the exception was applied, especially for audit or protest review.
Official Regulatory Text
(a) The following articles have been determined to be nonavailable in accordance with 25.103 (b)(1)(i): (1) Antimony, as metal or oxide. (2) Bamboo shoots. (3) Bananas. (4) Bismuth. (5) Books, trade, text, technical, or scientific; newspapers; pamphlets; magazines; periodicals; printed briefs and films; not printed in the United States and for which domestic editions are not available. (6) Brazil nuts, unroasted. (7) Capers. (8) Cashew nuts. (9) Chestnuts. (10) Chrome ore or chromite. (11) Cocoa beans. (12) Coconut and coconut meat, unsweetened, in shredded, desiccated, or similarly prepared form. (13) Coffee, raw or green bean. (14) Cork, wood or bark and waste. (15) Cover glass, microscope slide. (16) Fair linen, altar. (17) Fibers of the following types: abaca, abace, agave, coir, flax, jute, jute burlaps, palmyra, and sisal. (18) Grapefruit sections, canned. (19) Hemp yarn. (20) Hog bristles for brushes. (21) Hyoscine, bulk. (22) Modacrylic fiber. (23) Nitroguanidine (also known as picrite). (24) Oranges, mandarin, canned. (25) Pineapple, canned. (26) Quartz crystals. (27) Rubber, crude and latex (natural). (28) Rutile. (29) Silk, raw and unmanufactured. (30) Spare and replacement parts for equipment of foreign manufacture, and for which domestic parts are not available. (31) Spices and herbs, in bulk. (32) Swords and scabbards. (33) Tapioca flour and cassava. (34) Tartar, crude; tartaric acid and cream of tartar in bulk. (35) Tea in bulk. (36) Tin in bars, blocks, and pigs. (37) Vanilla beans. (38) Venom, cobra. (39) Water chestnuts. (b) This list will be published in the Federal Register for public comment no less frequently than once every five years. Unsolicited recommendations for deletions from this list may be submitted at any time and should provide sufficient data and rationale to permit evaluation (see 1.502 ).