PE 222: Trade Agreement Monitoring and Implementation

(i) This is a combined synopsis/solicitation for commercial items prepared in accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Part 12, Acquisition of Commercial Items and FAR Part 13, Simplified Acquisition Procedures. This announcement constitutes only solicitation; proposals are being requested and a separate synopsis will not be issued. (ii) This solicitation document is issued as a Request for Quote (RFQ). When submitting quotes to this solicitation, offerors will need to use reference number 19FS1A18A4000. (iii) The U.S. Department of State, Foreign Service Institute (FSI), Office of Acquisitions, intends to establish a single Blanket Purchase Agreement (BPA) for a period of five (5) years for Course PE 222 Trade Agreement Monitoring and Implementation in accordance the attached Statement of Work (SOW) and BPA Terms and Conditions. (iv) This RFQ is set aside 100% for "Small Business Concerns". The North American Industry Classification Code for this procurement is 611430. The size standard as described by the U.S. Small Business Administration for this procurement is $11M. Small Business determination and tax identification numbers shall be submitted with quotes. (v) Offerors must be registered in the System for Award Management (SAM) to be considered for; or prior to establishment of BPA. Offerors may register at www.sam.gov. A Dun and Bradstreet number is required in order to register. (vi) Questions regarding this RFQ should be sent via email to: harrisal2@state.gov. Questions are due no later than March 22, 2018 at 11:00 a.m. Eastern Time. Any questions that are received in conjunction with this solicitation and the corresponding responses by the government will be posted as an amendment to Federal Business Opportunities, website: www.fbo.gov. (vii) Quotes for this RFQ shall be received only by email to the contracting officer at: harrisal2@state.gov. All submitted quotes will include any discounted pricing. Quotes are due April 5, 2018 at 11:00 a.m. Eastern Time and are required to be valid for a minimum of 90 days. Late quotes will not be accepted. (viii) NOTE: Successful Offeror is required to complete and submit FAR 52.212-3 - "Offeror Representations and Certifications - Commercial Items" through the SAM database; if this information is already entered into the SAM database, please indicate so. (ix) The Contract Line Items (CLINs) and pricing structure can be found in Attachment C. Schedule of Prices for the detailed CLINs structure. Unit pricing is all-inclusive. Please thoroughly review the attached Statement of Work, for a full description of services required prior to providing pricing. (x) The performance period will include five (5) one-year base year periods. (viii) The provision at 52.212-1, Instructions to Offerors - Commercial Items (Jan 2017). (ix) 52.212-2, Evaluation - Commercial Items. (OCT 2014) (a) 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 factors shall be used to evaluate offers: (i) Technical Approach; (ii) Staffing Approach; (iii) Past Performance; and (iv) Price. All technical factors other than price, when combined, are more important than price. See the attached Evaluation Factors for details. (b) Not applicable. (c) A written notice of award or acceptance of an offer, mailed or otherwise furnished to the successful offeror within the time for acceptance specified in the offer, shall result in a binding contract without further action by either party. Before the offer's specified expiration time, the Government may accept an offer (or part of an offer), whether or not there are negotiations after its receipt, unless a written notice of withdrawal is received before award. (x) Offerors shall include a completed copy of the provision at 52.212-3, Offeror Representations and Certifications -- Commercial Items, with its offer. (xi) FAR 52.212-4 Contract Terms and Conditions - Commercial Items (Jan 2017) (xii) 52.212-5 Contract Terms and Conditions Required To Implement Statutes or Executive Orders-Commercial Items. (JAN 2018) (a) The Contractor shall comply with the following Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) clauses, which are incorporated in this contract by reference, to implement provisions of law or Executive orders applicable to acquisitions of commercial items: (1) 52.203-19, Prohibition on Requiring Certain Internal Confidentiality Agreements or Statements (JAN 2017) (section 743 of Division E, Title VII, of the Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2015 (Pub. L. 113-235) and its successor provisions in subsequent appropriations acts (and as extended in continuing resolutions)). (2) 52.209-10, Prohibition on Contracting with Inverted Domestic Corporations (Nov 2015). (3) 52.233-3, Protest After Award (AUG 1996) (31 U.S.C. 3553). (4) 52.233-4, Applicable Law for Breach of Contract Claim (OCT 2004)(Public Laws 108-77 and 108-78 (19 U.S.C. 3805 note)). (b) The Contractor shall comply with the FAR clauses in this paragraph (b) that the Contracting Officer has indicated as being incorporated in this contract by reference to implement provisions of law or Executive orders applicable to acquisitions of commercial items: (2) 52.203-13, Contractor Code of Business Ethics and Conduct (Oct 2015) (41 U.S.C. 3509)). (3) 52.203-15, Whistleblower Protections under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (June 2010) (Section 1553 of Pub. L. 111-5). (Applies to contracts funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.) (9) 52.209-9, Updates of Publicly Available Information Regarding Responsibility Matters (Jul 2013) (41 U.S.C. 2313). (14)(i) 52.219-6, Notice of Total Small Business Set-Aside (Nov 2011) (15 U.S.C. 644). (16) 52.219-8, Utilization of Small Business Concerns (Nov 2016) (15 U.S.C. 637(d)(2) and (3)). (26) 52.222-19, Child Labor-Cooperation with Authorities and Remedies (Jan 2018) (E.O. 13126). (27) 52.222-21, Prohibition of Segregated Facilities (Apr 2015). (28) 52.222-26, Equal Opportunity (Sept 2016) (E.O. 11246). (29) 52.222-35, Equal Opportunity for Veterans (Oct 2015)(38 U.S.C. 4212). (30) 52.222-36, Equal Opportunity for Workers with Disabilities (Jul 2014) (29 U.S.C. 793). (31) 52.222-37, Employment Reports on Veterans (FEB 2016) (38 U.S.C. 4212). (32) 52.222-40, Notification of Employee Rights Under the National Labor Relations Act (Dec 2010) (E.O. 13496). (33)(i) 52.222-50, Combating Trafficking in Persons (Mar 2015) (22 U.S.C. chapter 78 and E.O. 13627). (34) 52.222-54, Employment Eligibility Verification (OCT 2015). (Executive Order 12989). (Not applicable to the acquisition of commercially available off-the-shelf items or certain other types of commercial items as prescribed in 22.1803.) (42) 52.223-18, Encouraging Contractor Policies to Ban Text Messaging While Driving (AUG 2011) (E.O. 13513). (55) 52.232-33, Payment by Electronic Funds Transfer-System for Award Management (Jul 2013) (31 U.S.C. 3332). (58) 52.239-1, Privacy or Security Safeguards (Aug 1996) (5 U.S.C. 552a). (c) The Contractor shall comply with the FAR clauses in this paragraph (c), applicable to commercial services, that the Contracting Officer has indicated as being incorporated in this contract by reference to implement provisions of law or Executive orders applicable to acquisitions of commercial items: (2) 52.222-41, Service Contract Labor Standards (May 2014) (41 U.S.C. chapter 67). (8) 52.222-55, Minimum Wages Under Executive Order 13658 (Dec 2015). (9) 52.222-62, Paid Sick Leave Under Executive Order 13706 (JAN 2017) (E.O. 13706). (d) Not applicable. (e) Not applicable.