Implementation of the FSIS Food Chemistry Check Sample Program

This serves as a sources sought notice and market survey to locate qualified small businesses capable of performing a variety of specialized studies for the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS). FSIS is responsible for the inspection of meat, poultry, and egg products to ensure that they are safe, wholesome, unadulterated, and properly labeled and packed. Laboratory analyses support FSIS inspection responsibilities and are conducted to determine the presence of food additives, environmental contaminants, veterinary drug residues, microbial toxins, pathogenic bacteria, and economic fraud. Under the Accredited Laboratory Program, FSIS accredits and provides administrative program management over participating private and State laboratories that test meat and poultry products for: moisture, protein, fat, and salt (MPFS); chlorinated hydrocarbons; polychlorinated biphenyls; arsenic; sulfonamides; and nitrosamines. Currently, there are approximately 75 total accreditations, with about 52 of these being for food chemistry analyses. In order to carry out the responsibility of accrediting laboratories, and to provide interlaboratory quality assurance checks for analytical capabilities, FSIS has a need for meat and poultry food chemistry check samples to be prepared, packaged, labeled, analyzed and stored, and for these check samples to be shipped to various laboratories. A successful offeror would provide the personnel, materials, supplies, services, supervision, etc., necessary to prepare, package, label, analyze, store and ship accreditation check samples and interlaboratory check samples. The successful offeror would be required to maintain quality assurance and quality control requirements, as stated in 9 CFR 318.21 and 381.153 and may be asked to provide documentation of meeting these requirements (certificates of analysis, etc.) Small businesses having the capabilities necessary to provide the described services are invited to submit appropriate documentation to demonstrate the ability to perform this service. This information will allow the Government to determine whether small business concerns can satisfy the Government's requirement and whether the procurement should be set-aside for small businesses. The applicable North American Classification System (NAICS) Code is 541380, Testing Laboratories, and the small business size standard is $12 million in average annual receipts. This is not a Request for Proposal (RFP) or an announcement of a solicitation and no solicitation package exists at this time. The Government is not requesting technical/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 synopsis 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 offeror's responsibility to monitor this site for the release of any corresponding synopsis or solicitation. Interested small businesses are requested to submit a package delineating qualification, capabilities, and experience for meeting the range of services described herein. Include information on your company's managerial and technical resources to be able to meet the requirements. Companies must sufficiently demonstrate the capability to perform this service and must provide detailed experience 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 e-mail to Crandall.Watson@fsis.usda.gov at USDA, FSIS, ASD, 5601 Sunnyside Ave., Maildrop 5230, Beltsville, MD 20705-5230; or by fax at (301) 504-4276. The information requested is due by 2:00 pm Eastern Standard Time on September 4, 2009.