JOFOC Redacted.pdf

Version 11/01/21

BEP OCPOFORM FY22 01

Source Selection Information - See FAR 2.101 and 3.104

4. AUTHORITY CITED:

41 U.S.C. 3304(a)(1) as implemented by FAR 6.302-1(a)(2)(ii)(A) and (B), "Only One Responsible Source and No Other Supplies or Services Will Satisfy Agency Requirements."

5. APPLICABILITY OF AUTHORITY CITED:

As provided by 41 U.S.C. 3304 (a)(1), and as implemented by FAR 6.302-1(a)(2)(ii)(A) and (B), the proposed Contractor is the �Only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy the agency requirements.� This requirement can only be met by SICPA.

This is a logical sole source follow-on contract to five (5) previous sole source contracts.

Background Information:

During the Technology Development phase completed by theOffice of Product Development, BEP completed an evaluation of STA Technologies Inc. unique and innovative covert security feature.

STA Technologies Inc. was established after a SICPA acquisition. The initial technology was introduced by Cabot Corporation in 2008, which was acquired by SICPA in 2014. Hereafter SICPA Securink Corp. and STA Technologies Inc. will be referred to as SICPA.

The previous technology program that led to the development and industrialization of ink was called . It has been determined that the developed under will be used on the next design of U.S. currency. The previous contracts supporting project are listed in the follow table.

Contract Number Contractor Awarded Contract Price TEP-08-0023 Cabot Corporation 2008 $100,000 TEPS10-00116 Cabot Corporation 2010 $350,000 TEPS12-02211 Cabot Corporation 2012 $4,350,000

TEPS15-02331 STA 2015 $8,060,000

2031ZA19D00014 STA 2019 $31,000,000

SICPA owns the unique and proprietary system (materials, sensing, detection and authentication) and therefore possesses the technical expertise, inherent knowledge and capabilities (with respect to proprietary manufacturing processes, facilities, equipment and resources) necessary to produce the materials, design, develop, test, and evaluate the proprietary sensing, detection and authentication system for the new security feature in order to meet the specific performance requirements and objectives of the BEP and USCP for this new counterfeit deterrent central bank security feature.

The use of any alternate vendor is not a viable option in this case since SICPA owns the intellectual property associated with the complete system (materials/ sensing/ detection/ authentication);. SICPA developed the unique material compositions with specific proprietary material manufacturing processes and material signal response. SICPA has a complete understanding of the performance of the developed materials and the know-how associated with the development of the sensing, detection and authentication system for their unique and proprietary materials. The release of this information to another vendor to develop the materials or the sensing, detection and/or authentication system

Source Selection Information - See FAR 2.101 and 3.104 would violate SICPA�s intellectual property protection as well as the Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) signed by both parties, SICPA and the BEP.

Overall, SICPA is the only responsible and qualified source that owns the intellectual property of the materials as well as has the specialized technical expertise, knowledge and capability to manufacture, supply, deliver this unique technology as the selected covert high speed authentication security feature for incorporation into U.S. currency. There are no other known sources that have the capability and the unique material/sensing/detection/authentication technologies to manufacture this covert high speed authentication feature that meets the required physical characteristics and functionality which SICPA has demonstrated.

BEP/USCP has selected this developed feature for use in the next design of U.S. currency. Further, SICPA has agreed to reserve this specific system (developed under the previous five contracts) exclusively for the BEP/USCP.

6. EFFORTS TO OBTAIN COMPETITION:

The BEP maintains continuous sources sought announcements on the SAM.gov website. These announcements are revisited annually and specifically request industry to submit their unique technologies for consideration as a potential US currency security feature. These RFIs specifically seek to identify information and sources for technologies and/or materials with potential application as a covert machine-readable security feature on future generations of U.S. currency. Competing parties are encouraged to respond to these notices with information for technologies that are distinctive counterfeit deterrents applied to banknotes. The BEP selects promising responses to award development contracts to develop new security features for use on currency and other security documents. An effective covert machine-readable feature must be (1) difficult to discover on a banknote even by subject matter experts, (2) difficult to elucidate the functionality or detection mechanism of the feature, (3) readable by a highly discriminating standalone detection system, and (4) resistant to simulation or duplication, both in terms of material and response. The primary value and usefulness of such a feature lies in its uniqueness and inability to be replicated; commercial availability of a covert feature greatly diminishes its usefulness. The BEP will continue to review and evaluate responses received from the RFI to determine as warranted the possibility of establishing a competitive R&D procurement with the intent to evaluate security features in U.S. currency. The most recent RFI was issued in fiscal year 2023, under 2031ZA23N00002. No viable source was identified having a similar technology currently offered in this solicitation.

7. FAIR AND REASONABLE COSTS:

The BEP Contracting Officer will determine the price to be fair and reasonable in accordance with FAR 15.404-1, Proposal analysis techniques by conducting cost analysis. The CO will review and evaluate separate cost elements and profit or fee in the proposal to determine a fair and reasonable price

Source Selection Information - See FAR 2.101 and 3.104

8. MARKET RESEARCH:

The use of any alternate vendor is not a viable option in this case since SICPA owns the intellectual property associated with the complete system (materials/ sensing/ detection/ authentication). . SICPA developed the unique material compositions with specific proprietary material manufacturing processes and material signal response. SICPA has a complete understanding of the performance of the developed materials and now has the know-how associated with the development of the sensing, detection, and authentication system for their unique and proprietary materials. The release of this information to another vendor to develop the materials or the sensing, detection and/or authentication system would violate SICPA�s intellectual property protection as well as the Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) signed by both parties, SICPA and the BEP.

Please see above under Section 6. �EFFORTS TO OBTAIN COMPETITION� and refer to the SF1010 Market Research Summary Report for specific details.

9. OTHER FACTS:

The BEP and other members of the USCP have a strategic goal of developing security features for future generations of U.S. currency. In order to achieve that goal, BEP must continuously identify, evaluate and source new technologies to stay ahead of counterfeiting and to maintain the trust and confidence that the world has in the U.S. currency. In identifying sources, BEP often looks for sources that have technologies that are inherently unique or exclusive to maintain a limited distribution to only BEP for use only on U.S. currency.

The objective of the BEP is to obtain production quantities of containing this new security feature for U.S. currency application. To get to this point, the BEP received and evaluated relevant technologies and sources for potential contracts using various market research techniques. A technical recommendation, combined with the expertise of BEP management, determined that the BEP will use this proprietary feature in . The efforts of the Office of Product Development at the BEP has demonstrated that will meet all of our anti-counterfeiting requirements.

10. INTERESTED SOURCES:

SICPA Securink Corp. is the only known source available and qualified in fulfilling this Government�s requirement.

11. STEPS TO FOSTER COMPETITION:

Source Selection Information - See FAR 2.101 and 3.104