Textile Bag Mills

This request is for information only. No contracts will be awarded solely on the bases of the responses to this synopsis. All commodities must be 100% domestic origin. The USDA, Farm Service Agency, Kansas City Commodity Office (KCCO) procures domestic origin food commodities for use in various foreign food assistance programs administered by the Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) and U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). Kansas City Commodity Office - International Procurement Division intends to issue solicitations for procurement under sealed bid contracts. The solicitations will be distributed solely through the FSA Home/Commodity Operations/Procurement and Sales/Export Operations website at: http://www.fsa.usda.gov/FSA/webapp?area=home&subject=coop&topic=pas-ex-si All future information concerning these acquisitions, including solicitation amendments and commodity requirements will be distributed and accessed solely through the aforementioned website. Interested parties are responsible for monitoring this site to ensure you have the most up-to-date information about these acquisitions. The solicitations may have a partial set-aside for small business concerns, 8(a) concerns, SDVO, and/or SDB concerns. Small businesses are encouraged to participate. Additionally, interested parties may subscribe to the Commodity Operations Newsletter to receive Solicitations, Amendments to Solicitations, Contract Award Notices, Purchase and Sales Reports by going to the following link: http://www.fsa.usda.gov/FSA/subscriptions?area=newsroom&subject=landing&topic=subscriptions All contractors doing business with the Federal Government shall be registered in the Central Contractor Registration (CCR) database. The website for registration is www.ccr.gov. In addition, all bidders must comply with KCCO vendor qualification requirements, as required by the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Part 9.202(f). The qualification requirements are available at: http://www.fsa.usda.gov/FSA/webapp?area=home&subject=coop&topic=pas-vr The following commodities are classified under the NAICS code referenced above and are purchased by the International Procurement Division, KCCO. Technical staff contact information for each product can be found at: http://www.fsa.usda.gov/Internet/FSA_File/eodstaff.pdf SOURCES ARE SOUGHT FOR THE FOLLOWING: BAGS (KCP BAGS): 50 Kilogram woven polypropylene fabric bags. The manufacturer and fabric construction shall be authorized for use, in writing by the Government.The color of the fabric shall be white, unless otherwise specified in the invitation. Colored identifying marker yarn(s) shall be woven into the fabric by the manufacturer. The color(s) of the marker yarn(s) shall be approved, in writing, by the Government. The polymer in the fabric shall be 100 percent virgin polypropylene. All containers and packaging materials shall be manufactured and assembled in the United States. The components that make up the fabricating materials of the container and packaging materials must be of U.S. origin to the extent that they are commercially available. The fabric in an unstressed state shall permit a minimum air flow of 3 cubic feet per minute per square food and a maximum of 30 cubic feet per minute per square foot, when tested in accordance with ASTM Test Method D737, as amended. The fabric shall be finished by coating or other suitable method to prevent slippage. Individual test results shall be 27 degrees or greater, when tested in accordance with TAPPI Test Method T-503-OM-84. The fabric shall accept and retain printing ink that will not rub or flake off to a degree where legibility is impaired. The fabric shall be capable of resisting ultraviolet deterioration for a minimum of 200 hours of exposure in a weatherometer, when tested in accordance with Test Method 5804-Federal Standard 191, as amended. The fabric shall retain 70 percent of its original minimum tensile strength in each direction, after 200 hours exposure, when tested in accordance with Test Method ASTM D 5034 (Grab Test), as amended. Bags may be gusseted. Technical contact is Julie Stephen at 816-926-6524.