NOTICE TO THE TRADE
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS ON RFTOP
1. The Request for Proposal (RFP) quotes, "REFERENCE: Total Small Business Set-aside" and "USAID estimates that one contract will be awarded to a small business concern as a result of this solicitation." Will proposals be accepted from large businesses?
Answer: Per the RFP, this procurement is a Total Small Business set-aside. Proposal received from other than small businesses will be found non-responsive and will not be evaluated.
2. The RFP was issued on New Year's Eve with a proposal deadline of January 31, 2008, barely one full month at a very busy time on the calendar for most companies. The previous RFP for this contract (M/OP/02-165), issued at a historically less busy time of year (March) provided two full months for proposals to be submitted. Why was the response time cut in half for this RFP?
Answer: The Government has determined that 30 days is sufficient time to prepare and submit a proposal in response to the RFP. In accordance with the Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR), a synopsis (pre-solicitation notice) was posted on FedbizOpps on November 16, 2007.
3. How can an extension to this deadline be requested?
Answer: At this time an extension to the deadline for proposal submission is not anticipated. Offers are due no later than 11:00 a.m. Eastern Standard Time on January 31, 2008.
4. The RFP has a deadline only ten days after issuance for any questions to be submitted and does not include any provision for follow-up questions that could arise. How can clarifications be sought if an answer to an initial question is not understood?
Answer: The deadline for any questions was January 10, 2008 by 11:00 a.m. Eastern Standard Time. No further questions are being addressed after that date and time.
5. A cut-off date for asking questions that is only ten days after issuance of the RFP (including a National holiday and a weekend), but a full three weeks before the proposal deadline is exactly the reverse of what would be expected, and does not provide a reasonable amount of time for all questions to be identified. Why is the cut-off for questions so soon after issuance of the RFP?
Answer: (In accordance with the Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR), a synopsis (pre-solicitation notice) was posted on FedbizOpps on November 16, 2007. The government has determined that 10 days after the issuance of the RFP is sufficient time to prepare and submit questions in response to the RFP.
5. How will the evaluations be conducted, by whom, and how long will this take?
Answer: The evaluation of proposals will be conducted in accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulations and the evaluation factors stated in Section M of the solicitation. Proposal evaluations will be conducted under the supervision of the agency contracting officer by a panel of technical experts. The government anticipates proposal evaluations will be completed approximately one month after the receipt of proposals.
6. When is an award decision expected?
Answer: The government anticipates an award decision will be made approximately two months after the receipt of proposals. The award decision will be posted on FedbizOpps.
7. How long after an award is made will the new contract take effect (assuming it is not awarded to the current contractor)?
Answer: The government anticipates that a new contractor will be ready to perform the contract services within one month of award notification.
8. Will all respondents be advised of the evaluation of their proposal?
Answer: In accordance with the Federal Acquisition Regulations, if an offeror submits a timely request, the offeror will be given a debriefing.
9. The RFP mandates that key personnel be based in the Washington, DC metropolitan area, whereas shipping arrangements for the majority of food aid cargoes are managed by forwarding agents who are not in the same metropolitan area as the Cooperating Sponsors they represent. In fact, many are hundreds of miles away or even on a different continent. Considering the very small number of companies with the requisite experience in handling this type of program, this requirement effectively eliminates up to half of the qualified forwarding agents from consideration unless they sub-contract with a Washington-area partner, relocate their operation, or perhaps establish operational redundancies. In today's business world of instantaneous electronic communications, why is it considered necessary for the Contractor for this program to be located within such a limited geographic area? (Section C, Scope of Work sub-heading M.)
Answer: The government has determined through long experience that such a requirement is necessary for these contract services. Specifically, the rapid exchange of communications required due to the urgent nature of the shipments and the necessity for short notice meetings between the parties all contribute to the decision to make this a requirement for this service contract.
10. Section D covers Packaging and Marking, which does not appear to be relevant to the contract in question. Is it necessary to address this section in a proposal?
Answer: This solicitation requirement was made part of the document in an effort to emphasize the importance of meeting USAID marking requirements, especially for ocean shipment of food aid. The agency brand is important to our national efforts to make known the efforts and largess of the American people.
11. Will it count against a respondent if their proposal does not address Section D?
Answer: Section D does not require a respondent to address this section in their proposal. It is one of the terms and conditions of any resultant contract award.
12. Section F.4 specifies that the Cargo Booking & Freight Forwarding Manager be "stationed at the Contractor's Washington, D.C. Metropolitan area office". The description of the Charter Manager does not include this stipulation and indicates that this person "shall be responsible for ensuring" that chartering activities are properly conducted. Does this mean the Charter Manager does not need to be located in the WDC office as long as he/she supervises the charter activities?
Answer: The solicitation requirement is for the Cargo Booking and Freight Forwarding Manager to be stationed at the contractor's Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Area office.
13. Section H.5 prohibits the Contractor or any subcontractor from "representing any foreign government during the period of this contract". Does this include prohibition against acting as shipping agent on food donation programs?
Answer: The prohibition regarding representation of any foreign governments during the period of this contract does not prohibit the contractor from acting as a shipping agent for cooperating sponsors under US government food donation programs.
14. May we see a synopsis by month of the commissions paid to the forwarder by the various lines for the past 5 years?
Answer: The maximum commission payable is 2 and one-half percent. See the Price Schedule in section B of the RFP for commission splits between Contractor and owner's broker/agent). The annual tonnage shipped under the contract for the last five years is as follows:
2003: 876,348 nmt
2004: 101,943 nmt
2005: 195,924 nmt
2006: 209,241 nmt
2007: 178,227 nmt
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