65 -- Animal feed and bedding

THIS IS A NOTICE OF INTENT, NOT A REQUEST FOR A PROPOSAL. A SOLICITATION DOCUMENT WILL NOT BE ISSUED AND PROPOSALS WILL NOT BE REQUESTED.The National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) Office of Acquisitions (OA), intends to negotiate and award a purchase order on a noncompetitive sole source basis to: Harlan Teklad, Po Box 44220, 2826 Latham Drive, Madison WI 53713. The item?s to be purchase are: Item (1) sani chip bedding qty of 5,422 bags; Item (2) bed o cob qty of 1,140 bags; Item (3) rodent chow 14,175 bags; Item (4) rat and mouse chow qty of 76 bags; Item (5) guinea pig feed qty of 524 bags; Item (6) diamond soft bedding qty of 594 bags; Item (7) high fat feed qty of 185 bags; Item (7) guinea pig chow qty of 228 bags; Item (8) rodent diet sterilizable qty of 3,800 bags; Item (9) corn cob bedding qty of 114; & Item (10) tek fresh qty of 76 bags. The sole source determination is based on: All diets must be manufactured using FIXED Formulations (All Harlan Teklad diets are manufactured using fixed formulas just like the NIH open formula diets? eliminates PMI diets since they use constant nutrition). Due to the sensitive nature of research, modifications or changes to diet formulas (even minor) can have serious impacts on research results and as well as breeding and therefore are not allowed. Rodent diets shall be completely vegetarian to eliminate the presence of nitrosamines (found in animal and fish by-products) which have been shown to be potential cancer causing compounds. Fish meal can contain mercury. Fish meal, meat and bone meal, animal fat, poultry meal and porcine meal cannot be contained in our rodent diets. (2018SX is completely vegetarian (as is the entire Global diet line) ? some of the NIH open formula diets and most of the PMI diets all contain some or all of the above listed ingredients) Rodent diets shall be formulated with no alfalfa meal and low or no soybean meal to minimize the presence of naturally occurring phytoestrogens (endogenous hormones found in soy and alfalfa that have been shown to affect a wide variety of research). (2018SX has no alfalfa meal and low soy content). All bedding items must be screened semi-annually for contaminants (pesticides and heavy metals) and the results of these tests must be available upon request thereafter. All standard diet and bedding products must be stored in a climate controlled warehouse not to exceed 70F year round and humidity maintained at or below 55%. Records of temp/humidity must be maintained on a 24 hour basis and made available upon request. (The Harlan warehouse, in Frederick MD where all of the requested diets/bedding comes from meets these specifications. Single use, disposable pallets shall be used for delivery of products to help reduce/eliminate any bio-security issues that could be involved with re-usable ones. (Harlan delivers on the Inca pallets) Delivery vehicles used to deliver all diet and bedding products shall not have any surfaces inside the truck which cannot be properly sanitized - for example, wood floors are not acceptable (most competitor?s trucks have wood floors) and all trucks used to make deliveries shall be sanitized daily. The acquisition is being conducted under simplified acquisition, procedures, and is exempt from the requirements of FAR Part 6. The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) is 424990 and the Standard Size is 500. This notice of intent is not a request for competitive proposals. Interested parties may identify their interest and capabilities in response to this requirement. Responses to this announcement, referencing synopsis number NOI7043 may be submitted to the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Office Acquisitions, 10401 Fernwood Rd Suite 2NE70F, Bethesda, MD 20892-7902, Attention: Iris Johnson.