Comprehensive Information, Medical & Security Assistance Support Services for International Travelers
JUSTIFICATION FOR OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION
Provision of Technical Assistance for Forestry Services
International Programs
The following Justification for Other Than Full and Open Competition (JOFOC) is prepared in accordance with FAR 6.302-1:
Identification of Agency:
The USDA Forest Service, Washington Office AQM-Operations Branch.
Nature and/or Description of Action Being Approved:
The U.S. Forest Service seeks support services for all its international travelers on assignment outside the United States. Those to be supported include short-term TDY travelers and a limited number of long-term assignees who are employees or affiliates carrying out the mission of the U.S. Forest Service on international assignments around the world. In addition to comprehensive medical and security emergency assistance, including medical and political evacuation services to supplement what may be provided by the U.S. Department of State or other US Government agencies, services should include consolidated and up-to-the-minute information resources and alerts available prior to and during a trip to support and promote sound choices leading to the greatest levels of health and safety for Agency travelers and assignees while traveling internationally.
Description of Supplies or Services Required to Meet Agency’s Need Including Estimated the Value:
The enrollment must be automated and the contractor must have a system that is compatible with the Government’s travel system (ETS2) and SalesForce. Trips will be entered by travelers and approved by supervisors, once approved the trip information should automatically feed into the contractor’s system and enrollment will be complete. For travel booked outside for the Government’s travel system, trip details will be entered into SalesForce and then pushed to the contractor’s system for enrollment to be complete. Automating this function will ensure that trip details are input correctly. Accurate data is critical when an emergency happens and having the travel information feed automatically to the contractor’s system will ensure that all flight numbers, departure times and changes to itineraries are recorded. The estimated total amount over the life of the contract is between $500,000 and $750,000.
The automated feed eliminates the need of a Foreign Travel Specialist (GS-13) to manually input the data, resulting in a savings of 50% of the salary each year.
Identification of Statutory Authority Permitting Other Than Full and Open Competition:
FAR 6.302-1, 41 U.S.C. 3304 (a)(1)
Demonstration That the Proposed Contractor’s Unique Qualifications or the Nature of the Acquisition Requires use of the Authority Cited:
International SOS currently holds a contract for these services. In 2017, GSA and the USDA approved the development of an automatic feed from ETS2 to TravelTracker (International SOS’s database). Through this automatic feed, all approved trip itineraries and travelers are automatically enrolled, eliminating manual data entry. Additionally, TravelTracker serves as a real-time database for all trip itineraries. In emergencies, International Programs can use this database to identify if any travelers are impacted. Changes made to trips automatically update in TravelTracker.
International SOS is unique in that it has already been approved by both GSA and the USDA to be connected to ETS2. Were this contract to be openly competed, other contractors would not have this approval and the Forest Service would lose its ability to track real-time travel information and automatically enroll all of its travelers. This would result in a huge expense to the government as the over 800 annual international trips would have to be entered in manually. This would put an undue burden on the government and could also result in incorrect data.
A Description of Efforts Made to Ensure that Offers are Solicited From as Many Potential Sources as is Practicable, Including Whether a Notice was or Will be Publicized as Required by Subpart 5.2 and, if not, Which Exception Under 5.202 Applies:
There are no other organizations that are approved to work with ETS2.
Determination by the Contracting Officer That the Anticipated Cost to the Government will be Fair and Reasonable:
This is a follow-on contract so all costs will be compared to the 5 years of historical data to determine their price reasonableness.
Description of Market Research Conducted:
Market research was conducted through GSA and it was determined that there were no vendors on schedule. An online search for these services was conducted and while there are vendors who provide similar services, none of them have been pre-approved by the USDA to have an automatic feed from ETS2 to the vendor’s system.
Any Other Facts Supporting the use of Other Than Full and Open Competition:
None.
A listing of the Sources, if any, That Expressed, in Writing, an Interest in the Acquisition:
Not applicable.
A Statement of the Actions, if any, the Agency may Take to Remove or Overcome any Barriers to Competition Before any Subsequent Acquisition for the Supplies or Services Required:
12318719R0005 Department of Agriculture Forest Service
4/20/20, 4:24 PM