REQUIREMENTS-26-2420 JOFOC For Redaction_Redacted FE.pdf

Version 5.1 June 2026

JUSTIFICATION FOR OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION

USING SIMPLIFIED PROCEDURES FOR THE ACQUISITION OF COMMERCIAL PRODUCTS

AND SERVICES EXCEEDING THE SIMPLIFIED ACQUISITION THRESHOLD

AUTHORITY: 41 U.S.C. 1901

Identification Number: REQUIREMENTS-26-2420

1. Identification of the agency and contracting activity.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Acquisition and Grants Office (AGO) Western Acquisition Division (WAD), proposes to enter into a contract on the basis of other than full and open competition using simplified procedures for the acquisition of commercial services in support of the NOAA Fisheries, Northeast Fisheries Science Center (NEFSC), Fishery Monitoring & Research Division (FMRD).

2. The nature and/or description of the action being approved.

NOAA intends to award a follow-on to contract 1305M325C0045, to JBT Marel Corporation (JBT Marel) for a sole source action. A firm-fixed price (FFP) contract is contemplated for award.

3. A description of the supplies or services required to meet the agency’s needs (including the estimated value).

The requirement is to provide a follow-on contract service plan agreement for the maintenance, calibration, upgrade, and repair of marine digital motion-compensating scales for up to 200 JBT Marel Marine scales, of which 140 are the JBT Marel M1100/PL2262 and 10 are the JBT Marel M1100/PL3260, with an option to service up to an additional 50 JBT Marel M1100/PL2262 scales.

The estimated 200 scale maintenance plan is based on the total number of active observers in the northeast region and the average number of scales serviced each month under current Contract 1305M325C0045. The government has a requirement for collection of data by the FMRD Observer Programs as required by the Northeast Region’s fishery management plans (FMPs) and as mandated by the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation Management Act and the Sustainable Fisheries Act. The FMP calculates quota monitoring and discard rates by using observer catch weight data to accomplish its mission of collecting accurate and precise catch weight data. Thus, the calibration, upgrades and repairs of marine digital motion-compensating scales are necessary to improve weight measurement-related objectives.

The total cost is estimated at with an ultimate period of performance (POP) of November 01, 2026 through October 31, 2031.

4. An identification of the statutory authority permitting other than full and open competition.

The statutory authority permitting this sole source acquisition is 41 U.S.C. 1901, using simplified procedures up to $9M, in accordance with Revolutionary Federal Acquisition Regulation Overhaul

(RFO) 12.201-1

5. A demonstration that the proposed contractor’s unique qualifications or the nature of the acquisition requires using the authority cited.

Only one source - Only one source is capable of providing the supplies or services required at the level of quality required because the supplies or services are unique or highly specialized.

FMRD’s Observer Program requires a service plan for marine digital motion-compensating scales for the maintenance, calibration, upgrade and repair for Marel brand M1100/PL2262 and M1100/PL3260 scales. Any parts damaged both inside and outside of normal wear and tear must be replaced. It is mission-critical that these scales be maintained, calibrated and aligned, testing the electronics, control head, communications (serial port and Bluetooth) and load cells because infrequent maintenance would risk collecting inaccurate and imprecise catch weight data.

JBT Marel previously had a partnership with Fusion Marine, doing business as (DBA) Network Innovations, who performed these services under contract 1305M219FNFFM0066 with a POP of November 01, 2018 through October 31, 2024, and contract 1305M323CNFFM0067 with a POP of November 01, 2024 through October 31, 2025. JBT Marel sent an email notice on July 31, 2025 that the partnership would be terminated at the conclusion of the option year. To date, JBT Marel does not have any other authorized contractors who can perform the required services and remain in warranty, and has provided these services directly to FMRD on a one-year contract, 1305M325C0045, for the period of November 01, 2025 through October 31, 2026.

JBT Marel is the only capable and authorized contractor to provide the required services at the necessary level of quality because the services are under warranty. Therefore, certified technicians are required for scale maintenance to maintain the warranty. All Marel Scale customers must abide by guidelines in order for the seller to incur the warranty obligation. The warranty (a copy is in the contract file) states, “the customer is liable for the costs if they 1) fail to observe Seller’s instructions concerning the use, cleaning, and/or maintenance of the equipment and/or Marel Software and this failure has caused the defect of the Equipment, 2) the customer modifies or repairs the Equipment and/or Marel Software, allows a third-party to do so or uses spare parts not approved by seller for maintenance without the Seller’s prior written permission and 3) the customer fails to notify Seller of any defect immediately upon customer’s discovery of the defect or in any event within seven (7) days after the discovery of the defect.” This is inclusive to scales beyond the warranty terms, as the probability increases for inspections, onsite emergency support, preventative maintenance visits, technical support and repairs are expected for the Observer Program. Due to the above, JBT Marel is the only capable source to provide maintenance services for the lifetime of the scale, which if properly serviced, can offer decades of use.

6. A description of efforts made to ensure that offers are solicited from as many potential sources as possible, including whether a notice was or will be publicized as required by FAR Part 5 and, if not, which exception under FAR Part 5 applies.

In accordance with RFO 5.101, a Notice of Intent to Sole Source has been posted by WAD to SAM.gov on June 24, 2026, and closed on July 9, 2026. No responses were received.

WAD will post a redacted Justification for Other Than Full and Open Competition upon contract award.

7. A determination by the contracting officer that the anticipated cost to the Government will be fair and reasonable.

The contracting officer determines that the anticipated price will be fair and reasonable based on historical contract pricing and comparison to the Independent Government Estimate (IGE). Prior to award of the proposed contract, fixed unit rate pricing information shall be obtained from the contractor and a price analysis will be performed and documented, by comparing the quoted price to the IGE, to sufficiently determine that the cost to the Government of the proposed acquisition will be fair and reasonable.

8. The market research conducted (see FAR Part 10) and the results or a statement of the reason market research was not conducted.

Market research was conducted by the NEFSC and the WAD to identify available sources and to evaluate the availability of the marketplace to meet the requirement of certified JBT Marel certified technicians.

The nature of the sole source environment has not changed since the current contract was put in place. Consistent and annual certification and calibration of these scales is an integral component of the Quality Assurance/Quality Control procedures maintained by the NEFSC FMRD Observer Programs. Maintaining data continuity and precision is mission-critical to the NEFSC FMRD Observer Programs. Use of a third-party vendor outside of this partnership would void all warranties.

Based on the results of market research, the government determined that there is only one source that can provide services, no other vendor possessed the capability to perform the maintenance services on the JTB Marel scales.

9. Any other facts supporting using other than full and open competition.

All facts have been documented herein. There are no additional facts to be reported in this section.

10. A listing of the sources, if any, that expressed an interest in the acquisition in writing.

No sources have indicated an interest as a result of the Notice of Intent to Sole Source posted to SAM.gov on June 24, 2026.

11. 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.

The Government will conduct market research annually to gauge any changes to the marketplace regarding capabilities for future requirements. This requirement is for ongoing services and is expected to be recompeted in five (5) years. Historically, there has only been one (1) vendor capable of performing this requirement at a time. In the event JBT Marel expands their services capabilities to authorized technicians, the contract will be reconsidered for more competition. Therefore, if additional sources become available during that time, the Government will seek competition for future acquisitions for these services.