25008 Sole Source Justification.pdf
PDF 194 KB Posted
- Solicitation number
- 25008
- Issued by
- King County, Yakima County, Kingston CDP, Yakima City, Washington
About this file
This is a Sole Source Contract Filing Justification from the Washington Hop Commission for Agreement #25008 with Bryant Christie Inc. The contract aims to address India's trade barrier that restricts imported hop pellets to medicinal use only, preventing U.S. producers from accessing India's growing beer market. The goal is to either remove this restriction or expand permitted uses to include brewing purposes, while also addressing Maximum Residue Limits (MRLs) in India. The sole source posting was made on December 11, 2024, and the response period has not yet expired.
Bryant Christie Inc. is identified as uniquely qualified due to their 30-year history working with hop industry trade issues and three years of specific experience with this trade barrier. The contract's cost is deemed reasonable, with rates comparable to similar technical expertise contracts and consistent with past agreements addressing this trade barrier. The potential market impact is significant, as U.S. hop exports to India, currently valued at $232,000 (2021), could grow to over $5 million in the next five years if the medicinal use barrier is removed. This growth potential is supported by India's expanding craft beer market, which saw a 78% increase in microbreweries between 2016 and 2018.
View the file
Other files
| File | Type | Posted |
|---|---|---|
| 25008 BCI India TASC Project Draft Agreement.pdf | ||
| 25008 BCI Webs Notice.pdf | ||
| 25008 BCI Webs Notice Corrected.pdf |
On GovTribe
Work with this file
- Download the original file
- Contacts named in this file
- Similar government files
- Ask GovTribe AI about this file
Text version
Sole Source Contract Filing Justification Washington Hop Commission Agreement # 25008
Specific Problem or Need
India currently mandates imported hop pellets must be used for medicinal use only. This trade barrier has impacted U.S. producers from the dynamic and growing Indian beer market. To effectively expand the export of U.S. hops to India, India’s medicinal end-use requirement must be addressed. This can be achieved through the removal of the restrictive medicinal end-use requirement currently in place or through an expansion of the permitted end uses to allow for brewing purposes. In addition to the medicinal use only barrier, the hop industry must also address missing Maximum Residue Limits (MRLs) in India.
Sole Source Criteria
Bryant Christie Inc. offers highly specialized services and unique qualifications to address international trade issues for the hop industry. Past performance by BCI on this project has been outstanding. In addition, activities conducted by BCI for the hop industry during the past 30 years eliminate any delay in implementation of this project, as no "learning curve" is necessary.
This fact substantially improves the cost-effectiveness of the project and increases anticipated results.
Through 30 years of involvement in this area of issue management the Washington Hop Commission has not identified any other firm in the US that offers this specific scope of expertise and services.
Bryant Christie Inc. is a small business.
With growth of hop acreage doubling over the last 10 years, it is critical that trade barriers such as these are addressed to ensure international markets are viable options for our producers.
The Washington Hop Commission is responsible for managing international harmonization of regulatory standards, for the benefit of Washington hop producers and to maintain export levels of this crop. This contract is critical to fulfilling the mission of our agency. Bryant Christie Inc.
has successfully represented the hop industry on this issue for 3 years and similar trade barriers for 30 years and has an excellent record of success. This issue has been addressed by Bryant Christie for more than one year, so it would be very difficult to shift to a different contractor, if one could even be found who could provide comparable services.
India is a growing market for the consumption and production of beer, particularly craft beer.
According to analysis by USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service, the number of microbreweries in India increased by 78% between 2016 and 2018. This number is expected to grow as middle-class incomes continue to rise across India. The United States is the leading supplier of hop varieties used in craft beers. Reflecting the market dynamics, demand in India for imported hops is anticipated to significantly increase over the next decade.
Despite the sizeable and growing demand, U.S. hop exports to India are low, valued at $232,000 in 2021. In light of the medicinal use restriction, this export figure may represent exports of hops in forms other than pellets or an inconsistent application of the medicinal use restriction. Regardless, hop merchants stress that the medicinal use restriction continues to severely limit market potential.
India’s medicinal use restriction is the key factor constraining the growth of U.S. hop exports to the Indian market. With the medicinal end-use barrier addressed, exports of U.S. hops to India would be expected to grow over $5 million over the next five years.
Sole Source Posting
- Sole source posting was posted to webs 12/11/2024.
Time has NOT expired for responding to posting and will notify DES when time expires.
Reasonableness of Cost
The rates are comparable with other contracts we administer for similar levels of technical expertise. The total amount is also consistent with past agreements related to this trade barrier.
File details come from the government source that posted it. Updated .