What Is The TAA?

The Trade Agreement Act was passed on the twenty-sixth of July, 1979. It was a congressional act whose purpose primarily pertained to negotiations made between the United States and foreign powers as regards trade agreements. Specifically, the trade act of 1979 governs agreements which were made between the US and other countries during the Trade Act of 1974. The purposes of this act are mainly implementation of 1974 agreements, but the act still has effect today. This is because it was also designed to help open up the trading system of the world with expanded commerce opportunities conducted under improved international trade regulation and enforcement. While written with open language, this language can have a restrictive nature when it comes to the acquisition of goods or services that will be used in federal contracts. This happens when those managing a project decide to run it through a TAA compliance check. Generally, products remain compliant so long as they’re manufactured in either the US or one of a list of designated countries that are allowed. The complete list of countries can be obtained from the Federal Acquistion Regulation (FAR) 52.225-5.

• Canada
• Mexico
• Singapore
• Australia
• Countries in the WTO GPA (World Trade Organization Government Procurement Agreement)
• Afghanistan
• Bangladesh
• Laos
• Ethiopia
• The Caribbean Basin (Aruba, Haiti, Costa Rica)

How Does The TAA Pertain To Surgical Trays?

So long as surgical trays you’ve purchased are produced in any of these countries, they should, by default, be TAA compliant. The difficulty comes with the implements that are contained in those trays. Sometimes medical breakthroughs come in the form of a new surgical tool that just hasn’t made its way into mainstream. In order to be sure that all equipment on your custom medical trays passes a TAA compliance check, you need to know that the vendors of the tools you’re purchasing have updated part numbers for their products in the DAPA Management System. Information to be included in the update pertains to the country from which a given product has been sourced.

Maintaining Health Requires Direct Attention

The health of your community could depend on whether or not you’ve received the proper order of custom surgical trays. Such trays are usually sterilized beforehand, and are already configured in ways surgeons can immediately utilize. Streamlined surgical tray procedures can facilitate quicker operation, leading to faster recovery and better health over time