68 -- Screen Test Plates for Antimicrobial Residues in Animal Tissues

This serves as a sources sought notice and market survey to locate qualified businesses capable of providing screening test plates for the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS). The Fast Antimicrobial Screen Test (FAST) and the Swab Test on Premises (STOP) are biological screening tests for the detection of antimicrobial residues in animal tissues. In these tests, cotton swabs saturated with tissue fluid from a suspected carcass are placed on a culture plate whose surface has been seeded with spores of a harmless organism (Bacillus megaterium spores for the FAST test and Bacillus subtilis spores for STOP). The potential contractor must provide the FAST and STOP agar plates, Bacillus megaterium and Bacillus subtilis spores, and quality control for both on an as needed basis by the USDA mostly in large volumes (up to 35,000 plates and 4,000 vials of spores per order). Business concerns having the capability to provide the described supplies are invited to submit appropriate documentation demonstrating past experience manufacturing this type of supply. This information will allow the Government to determine what sources are available and interested. The applicable North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) Code is 325413, In-Vitro Diagnostic Substance Manufacturing, and the small business size standard is 500 employees. Potential sources should indicate in their response their business status (i.e., small business, 8(a), HUBZone, etc.) This information will be used to determine whether the procurement can be set-aside for small business concerns. This is not a Request for Proposal (RFP) or an announcement of a solicitation. The Government is not requesting technical or management proposals and no contract will be awarded as a result of this sources sought notice. Your responses will be used solely for market research purposes of the Government. The Government will not pay for any materials provided in response to this notice and submittals will not be returned to the sender. If a solicitation is later released it will be synopsized in FedBizOpps. It is the potential offerors responsibility to monitor this site for the release of any synopsis or solicitation. Interested qualified businesses are requested to submit a package delineating qualifications, capabilities, and experience for providing the supplies described herein. Include information on your company?s managerial and technical resources to be able to meet the requirements. Companies must sufficiently demonstrate that they have actual experience in providing screening test plates, the capability to provide this supply, and qualifications in all previous work pertinent to this effort. Responses should also include the following: name and address of firm; size of business; number of years in business; and list of customers covering the past five years (highlight relevant work performed, contract numbers, contract type, dollar value of each procurement, and point of contact with address and phone number). Oral communications are not acceptable in response to this notice. Responses may be submitted by email to Julian.McElveen@fsis.usda.gov; or by mail to Julian McElveen at USDA, FSIS, ASD, 5601 Sunnyside Avenue, Maildrop 5230, Beltsville, MD 20705-5230; or by fax at 301-504-4276. The information requested is due by 4:00 p.m. ET on July 9, 2007.