Attachment 1 - Statement of Objectives (Amended).pdf

Attachment 1 Statement of Objectives

1) PURPOSE

The purpose of this Statement of Objectives (SOO) is to obtain commercial e-marketplace platforms operated by business entities with capabilities to achieve the requirements outlined in Section 846 of the 2018 National Defense Authorization Act, Pub. L. 115-91. This SOO outlines the Government’s requirements for commercial e-marketplace platforms that can process Government Purchase Card (GPC) orders of commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) items under the micro-purchase threshold.

2) INTRODUCTION

This is a combined synopsis/solicitation for commercial items prepared in accordance with the format in FAR subpart 12.6 Commercial Item. This announcement is seeking proposals to establish a no-cost contract(s) with commercial e-marketplace platform providers. The combined synopsis/solicitation is being issued as Amended Request for Proposals (RFP) number

47QSCC20R0001.

The U.S. General Services Administration (GSA), Federal Acquisition Service (FAS), Office of General Supplies and Services (GSS), Office of Acquisition Management Internal and Emergency Acquisition Division (IEAD) is seeking proposals from contractors who can provide commercial e-marketplace platforms.

3) SCOPE

This SOO describes the requirements and expected outcomes for the contractor(s) to provide Federal buyers access to, and facilitate sales through, a commercial e-marketplace platform that meets the requirements outlined in this SOO and other documents associated with this solicitation. After award, Government users will be able to access the commercial e-marketplace platforms to purchase COTS items currently generally available on the commercial e-marketplace platforms at competitive pricing and with warranties.

GSA and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) outlined three key decisions necessary to begin the implementation of purchasing through commercial e-commerce portals using an initial proof of concept1:

● Begin operational implementation of the program with an initial proof of concept to start small, to test, and to refine as lessons are learned;

● Limit purchases made through the initial proof of concept to the micro-purchase threshold to drive adoption and mitigate risk; and

1 Phase 2 Implementation Plan available here: https://interact.gsa.gov/document/gsa-and-omb-phase-2-deliverable-attached https://interact.gsa.gov/document/gsa-and-omb-phase-2-deliverable-attached

● Start with the e-marketplace platform model for this initial proof of concept while continuing to assess opportunities to leverage the benefits of the other commercial e-commerce portal models.

E-marketplace platform models that are eligible to participate in this contract connect buyers online to a virtual marketplace that sells either an e-marketplace provider’s products and third-party vendor products or only third-party vendor products. These online e-marketplace platforms feature multiple suppliers offering the same product and will allow buyers to decide which supplier / product combination meets their needs. Competition occurs at both the supplier and product levels in the e-marketplace platform model given the access to third-party suppliers’ products and potentially the e-marketplace platform provider’s products.

GSA seeks to award multiple contracts to providers of e-marketplace platforms that offer a wide range of general products and routine commercial items found on today’s commercial e-marketplace platforms. Successful offerors will operate marketplaces that are frequented by business consumers and typically fall under the consumer staples umbrella, where product demand patterns are more consistent and the purchases are less cyclical.2 These marketplaces should align with and support multiple categories of products as identified by the Category Management Leadership Council and OMB in the government-wide category structure and the matched Product Service Codes (PSCs). The 10 common spend categories as outlined represent those categories where a government-wide approach to spend management is beneficial, as opposed to agency or user-driven purchasing.

Excluded from this contract are “specialty marketplaces” where the product catalog on the platform primarily spans a single category from the government-wide structure. Specialty marketplaces typically target niche customer segments or buyers requiring specialized knowledge (e.g. healthcare, medical and/or IT components). PSC codes will be the primary criteria by which GSA assesses whether or not an e-marketplace provider is a specialty marketplace. Those companies who offer PSC codes that only align to a single government-wide category will be deemed a specialty marketplace and thus ineligible to participate. GSA intends to start with marketplaces offering a wide array of products across multiple categories (e.g. more than one), while continuing market research efforts to understand when Government buyers might need niche product offerings and the applicability of specialty marketplaces.

Lastly, the Government will not allow offerors who only offer products in the Information Technology and Medical categories (even though this represents more than one government-wide category), given the heightened supply chain concerns.

The target market for the proof of concept is spend that is open market spend rather than strategic purchases. It is estimated open market spend purchased via GPCs represents an addressable market of approximately $6B. This figure includes purchases across many different product categories in both the online and brick and mortar space. GSA’s analysis of the GPC program found a significant and growing portion of Federal spend is taking place via commercial e-commerce portals when looking at a market basket of online-only portals, with spend of approximately $135M through such portals in FY14 growing to almost $260M by FY18.3

2 https://www.investopedia.com/terms/c/consumerstaples.asp 3 GPC Sales are from a representative ‘market basket’ sampling of online-only portals from FY14-FY18 purchased using the GSA SmartPay® card.

https://acquisition.gov/content/category-management https://acquisition.gov/PSC_Manual https://www.investopedia.com/terms/c/consumerstaples.asp

GSA intends to initially enter the commercial e-commerce space by inviting a subset of agencies and their GPC holders to participate as part of this offering. At the same time, GSA will not restrict other agencies’ GPC holders from accessing the proofs of concept. Growth in the outyears will be highly dependent on agency adoption.

Section 4 outlines the outcomes desired from the commercial e-marketplace platform providers.

Offerors eligible to participate in phase II of the procurement are requested to detail their existing commercial practices in each of the listed areas. If your commercial practice does not accommodate a listed objective, please state whether or how you may be able to approximate the desired outcome while keeping deviations from standard commercial practice to a minimum. For purposes of your proposal, the key focus areas called out in RFP section E.3.5.3 are more important than the rest of the areas set forth below. However, the items below are not subfactors and will not be individually rated, but will be evaluated as a whole to arrive at a single factor rating.

4) PROGRAM OUTCOMES AND OBJECTIVES

A. User Experience

The Government seeks a commercial e-marketplace platform that offers a modern electronic commerce (e-commerce) buying experience similar to those currently used in the commercial environment and has robust business-to-business (B2B) capabilities.

Important B2B features include:

● Workflow and approval tools

● Ability to designate preferred vendors

● Ability to designate preferred and restricted items

● Ability to block the sale of specific items

● Ability to conduct price comparisons at the product level

● Ability to identify small businesses

● Ability for buyer to document reasons for item selection

● Ability to migrate existing agency terms and conditions that agencies might already have with the platform providers

● Access to B2B reports and dashboards for management of the platform and insights into the spend.

● Ability to identify & remove vendors who are suspended or debarred from conducting business with the Federal Government.

The Government views user experience as a primary adoption driver for this initiative.

Please describe your ability to measure the effectiveness of the user experience through key performance indicators such as Customer Satisfaction and Effort Scores and/or other standard indicators.

(i) E-Marketplace Platforms The contractor(s) will offer a commercial e-marketplace platform where 3rd party suppliers make their product catalogs available to buyers and may include the platform provider as a 1st party seller. These online e-marketplace platforms feature multiple suppliers offering the same product and will allow buyers to decide which supplier / product combination meets their needs. The user interface will allow buyers to efficiently locate products and to complete the purchase via the platform’s checkout process in a manner that is reflective of today’s commercial B2B buying experience.

The e-marketplace platform model provides 3rd-party suppliers an opportunity to reach Government customers who may not already do so through other channels. It enables competition among suppliers on price and other factors important to Government buyers and taxpayers. The Section 846 statute allows agencies to count purchasers from small business suppliers toward socioeconomic contracting goals. Please describe how your platform can maximize opportunities for multiple 3rd-party suppliers at the product level and extend opportunities for 3rd-party small business involvement.

(ii) Account Management Please describe account management capabilities offered by your platform that can allow agencies to manage their users, onboard new users, restrict those from the platforms for those that are ineligible, manage approvals, set purchasing thresholds or levels as needed, manage account permissions, incorporate account hierarchies, and safeguard user data.

Please address your ability to migrate users to the platform provider’s B2B platform from the consumer platform or, for those agencies that have pre-existing agreement in place with your portal, your ability to migrate those B2B accounts under the GSA program at the request of the buying agency.

We expect that agencies will use account management tools for a wide range of purposes.

Examples could include validating buyer compliance with policy, performance, or efficiency. Please address your ability to accommodate these purposes.

Note: GSA intends to partner with agencies that have expressed an interest in participating in the proof of concept. These agencies will likely have more defined account hierarchies. GSA does not intend to limit the e-marketplace platform to just these “proof of concept” agencies and will allow ‘ad-hoc’ Government buyers to purchase on the platform as long as they have a GPC.

(iii) Government Purchase Cards The contractor(s) shall ensure that GPCs are an accepted method of payment.

(iv) Search and Filtering Please describe the product search and filtering capabilities offered by your portal that allow users to efficiently locate needed products. An important Government objective in this area is to allow agencies to identify products as preferred or restricted for their buyers and to allow agencies and users to filter on small business, mandatory sources (e.g. AbilityOne) and other designations, as well as the ability to see those designations at the product level, when available.

(v) Product Categories In keeping with the requirements of Section 846 to follow commercial practices, the Government expects each commercial e-marketplace platform to make the same full range of common consumable products available (i.e. COTS items) on their platform as they do for their other business customers. However, individual agencies may require the ability to prevent the purchase of those items. The contractor shall identify their approach to preventing these purchases. Please see greater detail related to these restrictions under Section 4.B.ii.

(vi) Product Descriptions and Metadata The Government seeks platform solutions that provide a thorough product description for each product, which identifies, at a minimum: the manufacturer name; manufacturer part number; manufacturer's product description; item’s unit of issue: the supplier of that product; related warranty information; and the product’s country of origin and any environmental / sustainability attributes, if available from the vendor and normally provided to buyers in alignment with the contractor’s commercial practices. Agencies will use this data to make informed product buying decisions, and also to ensure compliance with micro-purchasing rules.

(vii) Ratings and Reviews The Government seeks an ability to display product reviews to be viewed from prior purchases. The reviews should be made available, when possible, at both the product level and the supplier level. E-marketplace platform providers shall outline how the reviews are vetted for accuracy and objectivity, as well as the process for flagging fraudulent or inauthentic reviews.

Note: As part of its ordering procedures, GSA will restrict agencies from posting reviews until GSA determines the appropriate policies. E-marketplace platforms are not expected to restrict the ability to post reviews from a technical standpoint.

(viii) Product Availability The Government seeks platform solutions that provide up-to-date product availability data, including, at a minimum, out-of-stock notifications, as applicable. Please describe your commercial practice for handling partial orders where insufficient inventory is available: for example, please indicate whether buyers will be given the option to receive a split shipment or to cancel the order outright.

(ix) Price Comparison The platform should foster competition at the product level by offering product price comparisons. This will enable agency buyers to conduct product price comparisons among the various 3rd party suppliers on that platform for a given product. This would also include comparison of the e-marketplace provider’s products, as applicable.

(x) Customer Service Please describe your standard customer service capabilities, including whether they allow customers to contact e-marketplace platform providers directly regarding purchase orders, returns, refunds, product information, and other customer issues and concerns.

The Government seeks to obtain the same customer service hours, means of access, and support as the provider offers on its B2B platform. Please describe how account holders and GSA program administrators can have access to customer support to assist with issues related to platform administration (e.g. account management, data extracts, etc.).

(xi) Order Management Please describe your commercial order management practices with regard to providing a detailed status on current orders to purchasers, including at minimum order processing times, shipping and tracking information as well as relevant information if an order cannot be fulfilled or is delayed. Contractors may limit ordering locations to align with their existing commercial practice.

(xii) Returns, Refunds, and Exchanges Please describe how returns, exchanges, and/or refunds for ordered products are processed, including whether the refund process includes the option of mail and in-store returns. The contractor is responsible for facilitating the returns process on behalf of the suppliers.

B. Compliance and Platform Management

The Government seeks commercial e-marketplace platform solutions that enable buyer compliance with the Federal procurement rules and regulations that apply to all purchases at or below the micro-purchase threshold, while also offering many of the benefits of today’s e-commerce experiences.

(i) Documentation of Competitive Review An important Government objective is to obtain the means to document a price competitiveness review, by allowing the buyer to capture documentation related to that product comparison. This may include the use of a text box, drop down menu or other means and shall be made available for later reference by the buyer, agency account manager, and other oversight officials.

Note: Ordering officials are required to review similar items and their prices and price related terms and conditions such as delivery and warranty terms from at least two suppliers. Through this review, the ordering official has determined the price of an item selected is reasonable and results in the best value.

(ii) Supply Chain Risk Management and 3rd Party Supplier Management Please describe your commercial practices for managing all 3rd party suppliers that operate and sell products on your marketplace. The platform provider is responsible for all supplier vetting, onboarding and order fulfillment.

The proposal should describe the processes in place to vet 3rd party suppliers prior to those suppliers joining the commercial e-marketplace platform, taking competition and supply chain risks into account. This vetting process should be published in a transparent manner on the e-marketplace platform provider’s site and publicly disclose all supplier fees associated with selling on the platform. This site will be used as a reference point by the Government to direct prospective suppliers seeking information about the onboarding process. E-marketplace platform providers reserve the right to manage the rules governing the on-boarding of new suppliers in accordance with their commercial practices.

In addition, please describe your ability to accommodate Government requests (whether GSA or the buying agency) to prevent the sale of products or services to Government buyers that have been excluded by the Government and to prevent the sale of products or services to Government buyers by prohibited vendors on the platform. This includes, but may not be limited to, any vendors covered under the following directives:

● Hardware, software, or services developed or provided by Kaspersky Labs or other covered entities per FAR Subpart 4.20;

● Covered telecommunications and video surveillance services or equipment per Section 889 of the 2019 National Defense Authorization Act, include, but are not limited to:

○ Dahua Technology Company

○ Hangzhou Hikvision Digital Technology Company

○ Huawei Technologies Company

○ Hytera Communications Corporation

○ ZTE Corporation

● Excluded entities listed on SAM.gov

This list will be continually updated and will be provided to contractors at the time of award, and on a regular basis thereafter as more products or vendors are added.

Note: GSA maintains a listing of parties (individuals and companies) excluded from Federal procurement and is made publicly available on SAM.gov.

The Government seeks platform solutions that employ effective supply chain risk management processes and controls to ensure the integrity, security, quality and resilience of the supply chain and its products offered on the platform. Risks may include tampering, unauthorized production, insertion of black market, gray market and counterfeit items, products that pose cyber risks, and more.

(iii) Small Business Identification The contractor(s) shall outline their capabilities related to identifying the various U.S.

Small Business Administration defined socioeconomic groups, to include whether products can be filtered on certain designations.

Note: GSA’s System for Award Management (SAM) manages the Federal Government's database of vendors, including the small business designation and other socioeconomic statuses. Suppliers interested in doing business with the Government are encouraged to register in SAM. Section 846 allows for purchases made through the commercial e-https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2018/06/15/2018-12847/federal-acquisition-regulation-use-of-products-and-services-of-kaspersky-lab https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/house-bill/5515/text#toc-H4350A53097BD46409287451A50C4F397 commerce portals to receive credit towards agency small business goals (as required by Small Business Act (15 U.S.C 644 (g)).

(iv) AbilityOne and ‘Essentially the Same’ (ETS) Items The AbilityOne product list is maintained by the AbilityOne Commission and will be provided to the commercial e-marketplace platform providers. Please describe your capabilities to appropriately mark AbilityOne items and to promote them to GPC holders.

Agencies are directed to not buy items that are essentially the same as AbilityOne products unless the products required are not available through the AbilityOne Program.

An important Government objective is an ability to mark or provide notification of restricted ETS items, as well as to prevent the sale of ETS items to Government buyers and to promote the purchase of the AbilityOne item instead. Additionally, the contractor shall outline their capabilities to remove listings from vendors attempting to sell AbilityOne products but who are not an authorized AbilityOne distributor. GSA will be tracking the sale of AbilityOne items as a key metric for the program.

Note: FAR Subpart 8.7 provides implementing guidance for the Javits-Wagner-O’Day Act (41 U.S.C. 8501-8506). FAR 8.704, Purchase priorities, states that the Javits- Wagner-O’Day Act requires the Government to purchase supplies or services on the Procurement List, at prices established by the U.S. AbilityOne Commission, from AbilityOne participating nonprofit agencies if they are available within the period required. The Procurement List can be found at:

https://www.abilityone.gov/procurement_list/ . The authorized distributor’s list is available at: https://www.abilityone.gov/distributors/independent.html.

(v) Environmentally-Friendly Products The contractor(s) shall outline their capabilities related to identifying environmentally sustainable (i.e., “green”) products on the platform.

Note: Federal agencies are required to purchase sustainable products and services to the maximum extent practicable in accordance with FAR Part 23. GSA seeks a solution that makes it easy for buyers to identify and purchase sustainable products required by law and executive order. Refer to the GSA Green Procurement Compilation for a comprehensive list of sustainable product requirements and sustainable products encouraged by executive order.

(vi) Cybersecurity Capabilities Commercial e-marketplace platforms contemplated under this Statement of Objectives shall be compliant with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) 3.2 (or latest version). Offerors are advised to be compliant with other widely accepted control frameworks including Service Organization Control (SOC) 1, 2, and 3; and, International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) ISO/IEC 27001:2013, 27017:2015, 27018:2014, and ISO/IEC 9001:2015, as applicable.

https://www.abilityone.gov/procurement_list/ https://www.abilityone.gov/distributors/independent.html https://www.acquisition.gov/content/part-23-environment-energy-and-water-efficiency-renewable-energy-technologies-occupational https://sftool.gov/greenprocurement/

Offerors providing any customized value added services (e.g., applications, tools, dashboards, etc.) that are not already widely available to the public, shall first notify the GSA Contracting Officer (CO) and Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR). If approved by the CO, the value added services that are developed uniquely for this contract are subject to Federal Security requirements as defined in GSA IT Security Procedural Guide, CIO-IT Security 09-48, Security and Privacy Requirements for IT Acquisition Efforts [Rev. 4] 01/25/2018 (and any future update of the guide), BEFORE they can be used. The specific set of information security requirements will depend on the value added services in question, the FIPS 199 impact level of the data, and the service/application delivery model (i.e., cloud or on-prem).

(vii) Quality Assurance and Warranties The Government expects to be offered at least the same express warranty terms, including offers of extended warranties, as offered to the contractor’s other business customers in customary commercial practice. If a 3rd party supplier is fulfilling the order, the contractor will display any applicable warranties. Any express warranties must be clearly described as part of the product description or otherwise readily accessible to the buyer on the platform.

(viii) Order-level Requirements Each individual order placed by an agency through the platform will create a contract between the agency and the vendor of the ordered product(s), separate from the commercial e-marketplace contract resulting from the RFP. Section 846 of the 2018 NDAA, subsections (f)(1) and (4), provides that all laws not specifically excluded apply to the program this RFP implements, including without limitation the Anti-Deficiency Act, 13 USC 1341 (ADA). The Government has determined that certain provisions commonly occurring in commercial contracts and orders may violate the ADA when agreed to by a Government entity, and that such violation occurs upon contract formation rather than when enforcement of the illegal provision is sought.

To prevent such violation, the Government seeks the platform provider’s help to add certain minimal terms and conditions to each individual order. One acceptable solution is to include the text of Attachment 4 in the platform screen immediately preceding the conclusion of a purchase through a “click-accept” or “pop-up” or another appropriate mechanism requiring an affirmative response; however, the Government will consider other solutions that achieve the same objective. All proposed solutions should ensure that such text is included in the audit trail for each purchase.

C. Data Capabilities A key intended benefit of this program is to gain better insight into what is being purchased under the micro-purchase threshold. To enable this benefit, GSA seeks purchasing and spend data from the commercial e-marketplace platform providers, both at the account level (for buyer’s use) as well as at the platform level (for GSA’s collection and dissemination out to agencies). This data will be used to help agencies make informed buying decisions as well as to get a better understanding of what is being introduced into their supply chain. All data is owned by the Government and will be transferred at the end of the contract period.

(i) Spend Data and Analytics The contractor(s) shall describe their ability to provide Government buyers with spend data and historic spend information, to help drive buying decisions for that user. Spend data includes information for agency approvers as well as purchase and invoice history for individual buyers. This data should also be made available to agency administrators that manage multiple buyers.

(ii) Data Extracts The contractor(s) shall provide their approach to sending GSA the following data on a monthly basis. As the program matures, GSA intends to make this more of a dynamic feed for real-time ingestion and will work with the platforms to ensure it aligns with their commercial practice.

These data elements shall be remitted to GSA by the e-marketplace platforms providers:

Data Element Type Data Element

Purchase Data

Order Date Ship Date Delivery Date Shipping costs Quantity of item(s) sold Sell Price (per unit) Total Price Department Name Department ID Agency Name Agency ID Delivery address Buyer ID / Buyer Account Name

Product Data

SKU / Manufacturer Part Number Description of item Product Unit of Measure Product Service Code / Product Category

Vendor Data OEM Name (Original Equipment Manufacturer)

Vendor Name Vendor Unique Entity Identifier Vendor socioeconomic status

While the above data elements are an initial starting point, the contractor shall also recommend other data elements that they might supply to their B2B customers.

(iii) Data Analytics E-marketplace platform providers shall provide data analytics and dashboard capabilities similar in nature to those offered to other B2B customers. Please describe your ability to format the data and analytics in such a way that allows for it to be broken out by customer groups, such as by agency. Dashboards will be used as an information management tool to visually track and analyze performance and may include the following information, to the extent it is currently commercially available:

Agency Level Reports:

(1) Spend Data - How much is an agency spending across their various bureaus and organizations?

(2) Types of items purchased - What categories of items are purchased by agency?

(3) Frequency of purchases - How often were the same items purchased by an agency?

(4) Cost Savings - What savings were achieved versus prices offered on your consumer platform?

(5) Orders placed - How many orders placed as well as the average order sizes?

(6) Shipping and Delivery data - How long are orders taking to ship? What are the delivery timeframes and related shipping costs?

GSA seeks Commercial Platforms Program reports as they are available and align with the current commercial practice:

(1) [All Agency Level Reports]

(2) Number of buyers, by agency

(3) Use of Mandatory Sources

(4) Customer satisfaction metrics

(5) Helpdesk metrics

(6) Customer / Supplier effort scores and task completion reports

(iv) Catalog Data Access and Analytics The contractor(s) shall provide real-time product catalog information to GSA to enable surveillance of prohibited items, mitigation of supply chain risks, and price monitoring.

(v) Data Security and Protections - Restrictions on Contractor’s Use of Data Performance of this contract may require the Contractor to access and use data and information proprietary to a Government agency or Government contractor which is of such a nature that its dissemination or use, other than in performance of this effort, would be adverse to the interests of the Government and/or others. Contractor and/or contractor personnel shall not divulge or release data or information developed or obtained in performance of this effort, until made public by the Government, except to authorized Government personnel or upon written approval by the GSA Contracting Officer. The contractor shall not use, disclose, or reproduce proprietary data that was developed or obtained under this e-marketplace platform contract and/or bears a restrictive legend, other than as required in the performance of this effort.

Per Section 838 of FY19 NDAA the e-marketplace platform providers shall not use Government spend data for pricing, marketing, competitive, or other purposes, any information, including any Government-owned data, such as purchasing trends or spending habits, related to a product from a third-party supplier featured on the platform provided through this contract or the transaction of such product, except as necessary to comply with the requirements of this contract. The contractor shall provide a plan detailing their approach to complying with this statute.

D. Business-to-Business Pricing and Related Terms

(i) Business-to-Business Pricing E-marketplace platform product pricing shall reflect the e-marketplace platform provider’s B2B pricing and any related discounts. Prices on the platform shall be updated dynamically (e.g. in real time); be reflective of all included items (including shipping costs), warranties or other benefits, and; shall not contain hidden costs or fees.

(ii) Tiered Pricing / Bulk Discounts The contractor(s) shall detail how the platform may permit or display opportunities for discounts on pricing, such as, but not limited to, ensuring that tiered pricing and any applicable bulk discounts are clearly identified in the ordering process.

(iii) Tax Exemption Federal agencies shall not be charged a sales tax for purchases on the e-marketplace platforms. E-marketplace platform providers shall provide detail on how they will meet this requirement as it aligns with their commercial practice.

(iv) Fee Remittance The contractor(s) shall submit to GSA a remittance of no more than .75% on the value of each order placed on the e-marketplace platform. The fee shall be included in the price of the item and not listed as a separate line item. GSA reserves the right to change the percentage at any time, but not more than once per year.

The process for fee remittance is as follows:

● The contractor will submit their sales to the FAS Sales Reporting Portal as part of the data extract process

● GSA will calculate the fee that is owed (.75% multiplied by the total volume of sales, minus returns and / or cancellations) and invoice the contractor accordingly

● The contractor shall remit the fee in U.S. dollars within 30 calendar days after invoicing

(v) Other Business-to-Business Terms The contractor shall provide GSA with all services associated with their B2B platform in accordance with their commercial practice. This includes any benefits related to expedited shipping and handling, product warranties, and other purchasing benefits. The Government (including GSA and purchasing agencies) does not expect to pay any membership fees or premiums for access to these benefits.

5) CONTRACT ADMINISTRATION

1. CONTRACT ADMINISTRATION POINTS OF CONTACT

Contracting Officer Dominic Lackey General Services Administration 1800 F. Street Washington, DC 20405 Email: dominic.lackey@gsa.gov Phone: 202-501-2272

Contract Specialist Sarah Duncan General Services Administration 1800 F. Street Washington, DC 20405 Email: sarah.duncan@gsa.gov Phone: 202-501-1565

Contracting Officer’s Representative

(COR)

To Be Determined (TBD)

2. CONTRACTING OFFICER’S AUTHORITY

The Contracting Officer (CO) assigned to this contract has the responsibility of ensuring the performance of all necessary actions for effective contracting, ensuring compliance with the terms of the contract, and safeguarding the interests of the United States in its contractual relationships. In this regard, the CO is the only individual who has the authority to enter into, administer, or terminate this agreement. In addition, the Contracting Officer is the only person authorized to approve changes to any of the requirements under this agreement, and notwithstanding any provision contained elsewhere in this agreement, the said authority remains solely with the CO.

The contractor must immediately request clarification from the CO when a question arises regarding the authority of any person to act for the CO under the agreement or when the contractor receives direction that appears outside the scope of the agreement.

3. AUTHORITY OF CONTRACTING OFFICER’S REPRESENTATIVE (COR)

Only those Government representatives (e.g. COR), as designated in writing by the CO, may provide technical or other interpretations in the performance of this contract.

Technical interpretation will be provided only within the limits specified in this paragraph, as delineated in a letter of authority from the CO, or contained in Section G or elsewhere of this agreement.

As used herein, “technical interpretation” is defined as providing technical clarification, confirming the results of meetings, completing details in the form of work orders, pursuing certain lines of inquiry, or otherwise serving to accomplish the contract requirements. Technical directions may be issued either verbally or in writing. Such technical direction must include or comply with the following:

1. Be consistent with the general scope of work and terms and conditions contained in the contract.

2. Does not constitute assignment of new work or change the terms, conditions, or specifications of the contract.

3. Does not constitute a basis, either directly or indirectly, that could result in a change in the pricing, quantity, quality, or period of performance as established in this contract.

Technical direction that exceeds the authority listed above or the limits of specific letters of authority is invalid and will not be enforceable against the Government. Any costs incurred by the contractor in violation of this clause will be considered unallowable costs and will not be reimbursed by the Government.