Glycosidic Nitrile Testing Services for Barley Malt Samples

USDA-Agricultural Research Service, Pacific West Area, has a requirement for Glycosidic Nitrile Testing Services for Barley Malt Samples for its Aberdeen, Idaho location. Requirement Description: The service includes but is not limited to: Glycosidic Nitrile Levels Testing. See Specifications document for the complete description of the requirement. USDA-ARS reserves the right to conduct preliminary testing to establish and calibrate offeror's method for application to our work if it feels such preliminary testing is in the best interest of the government. Solicitation #12020219S0002 is issued as a request for quotation (RFQ). The solicitation document, with the attached clauses and provisions, is issued in accordance with the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) and will be incorporated in the awarded firm-fixed price purchase order. Interested vendors should reference the solicitation documents for all terms and conditions. As authorized by FAR 5.102, solicitation is limited to electronic medium, and the USDA ARS will provide no hard copies. The solicitation, consisting of various documents and specifications, will only be available for download at no charge at the Federal Business Opportunities (FBO) website (http://www.fbo.gov). All interested offerors (prime contractors & subcontractors) should register at www.fedbizopps.gov so that others will know of your interest in participating in this procurement. A Bidder's List WILL NOT be prepared nor distributed by the Contracting Officer. All interested parties are responsible for monitoring this website to ensure they have the most current information (i.e. Amendments) for the solicitation. Contractor must be actively registered at SAM.gov (System for Award Management) at https://www.sam.gov/portal/public/SAM/ prior to offering a quote. NAICS: The associated North American Industrial Classification System (NAICS) code for this procurement is 541714 with a small business size standard of 500 employees. The project magnitude: zero up to 53 each barley samples, depending upon funding availability. Please submit your quote on a per each basis. Period of Performance: Offerors are asked to submit a proposed period of performance with their quote. Biobased Products: This procurement requires the use of Biobased products to the extent that such products are reasonably available, meet agency or relevant industry performance standards, and are reasonably priced. The products should first be acquired from the USDA designated products categories. All supplies and materials shall be of a type and quantity that conform to applicable Federal specifications and standards, and to the extent feasible and reasonable; include the exclusive use of biobased and recycled products. Please visit www.biopreferred.gov for more information on the USDA Biobased Program and to reference the catalog of mandatory biobased products. Quote Submission Instructions: 1. Read the solicitation in its entirety (including the Specifications document). Commercial Items Clauses are attached. 2. The quote should include offeror's proposed delivery schedule (in days after receipt of samples) as part of their quotation and detail the unit pricing and references for the proposed project. Past performance references are requested. 3. Quotes must be submitted by 5:00 PM Mountain Daylight Time, Wednesday, April 10, 2019. Send quote to: Rose Wride, Purchasing Agent, USDA-ARS, 1691 S 2700 W, Aberdeen, ID 83210, by email (preferred): Rose.Wride@ars.usda.gov, mail or FAX: 208-397-4165. 4. This is a "Best Value" Acquisition. Award of the contract resulting from this solicitation will be made to the responsible offeror whose proposal offers the "best value" to the Government, which may not necessarily be the quote offering the lowest price nor the highest technical advantage. In the event two or more offerors within the competitive range are considered essentially equal in terms of technical competence, the Government reserves the right to award to the offeror with the lowest realistic price. 5. The Government may elect to conduct discussions with offerors whose quotes are technically acceptable (or which may be expected to be made acceptable by moderate modification) and fall within the competitive price range. USDA-ARS reserves the right to conduct preliminary testing to establish and calibrate offeror's method for application to our work. The Government reserves the right, however, to award a contract based on initial offers without conducting discussions or preliminary testing. Therefore, each quote should be submitted in the most favorable terms from a price and technical standpoint. See FAR 9.104-1. 6. USDA-ARS is Tax Exempt. See attached Tax Exemption Certificate: 720564834F. 7. GSA discounts: The USDA is requesting that schedule contractors extend additional discounts to the USDA when making responses to this solicitation. GSA contract schedule holders may offer one-time discounts from established Schedule contracts. Schedule contractors can give one buying member a discount without passing the discount on to the entire federal government. This provision allows the contractor to offer and the government to avail itself of spot pricing in the commercial market. Subject to available funding: USDA-ARS reserves the right to not award or to order from zero to fifty-three barley malt samples based upon available funding. Please provide offers with pricing valid until September 30, 2019. Criteria for Evaluating Proposals: The Government will award a contract resulting from this solicitation to the responsible offeror whose offer conforming to the solicitation will be most advantageous to the Government, price and other factors considered. The following Best Value factors shall be used to evaluate offers. Technical and Past Performance, when combined, are significantly more important than price: 1. Technical: This factor will be evaluated based on how well the offeror demonstrates their ability to meet the requirements outlined in the Specifications document. 2. Price: All quotes must be FOB Destination. Please respond with a firm fixed price quote to Rose.Wride@ars.usda.gov. The Government will evaluate prices offered for reasonableness in accordance with FAR 13.106-3(a) - Basis for Award. 3. Past Performance: This factor will be evaluated based on the offeror's capability and capacity to meet the contract requirements, based on past contract performance. Past performance will be assessed based on references provided to the procurement office. If no references are provided and there is no known past performance with the procurement office, the vendor will be given a neutral rating.