INSTRUCTIONS_TO_INTERESTED_PARTIES.docx

INSTRUCTIONS TO VENDORS

Quote Submission Instructions: This RFQ contains the following documents:

1) INSTRUCTIONS TO INTERESTED PARTIES

2) SF1449 – Solicitation/Contract/Order for Commercial Items (Note: This is not a contract)

3) FAR (Federal Acquisition Regulations) Clauses and Provisions

4) Statement of Work (SOW)

5) Attachment A – Schedule of Food Items

6) Past Performance Survey SUBMISSION DEADLINE: Quotes are due by September 28, 2018 at 10:00 AM Central Standard Time. There will be no extensions or exceptions to the time and date on which responses are due, unless determined otherwise by the Government.

Quotes shall be valid for a minimum of 30 days after the due date.

Your response, including all attachments, shall be forwarded electronically to the Contract Specialist, Susan Gonzalez via email to: susan.gonzalez@dhs.gov, no later than the date and time identified above (9/28/2018 at 10:00 AM CST). When responding, please include the Solicitation Number: “70B03C18Q00000256 – BPA - CBP FOOD/DELIVERY" in the subject line. To verify receipt of your response, please contact POC by e-mail. Only responses received via e-mail with all required attachments will accepted, all other responses will be determined to be non-responsive. F Important note regarding email attachments: CBP's email system limits incoming email attachments to 10 MB per email. Contractors should NOT submit .zip files as these may be stripped by CBP's email system. PDF file format is preferred. All incoming files are scanned for viruses so there may be a delay between the time the file is submitted and the time it is received. Therefore, Contractors must ensure they submit quote responses with sufficient time to reach the required destination no later than the response due date identified above. Contractors are strongly encouraged to verify receipt of their response (via email) as noted above.

VENDOR QUESTIONS CUTOFF: The date for technical questions related to this request for this solicitation of quotes is September 27, 2018 at 5:00 PM Central Standard Time (CST). Questions received after this cutoff date may not be answered. All questions will be compiled with answers and posted as an attachment so all interested vendors can view the document.

EVALUATION OF QUOTES/BIDS:

Customs and Border Protection (CBP) will conduct a streamlined evaluation of offers using Best Value Trade-off. CBP reserves the right to award a Blanket Purchase Agreement (BPA) without further communication and exchange; therefore, each response to this request should contain the vendors best pricing, terms, and conditions.

CBP will make an award to contractor offering the best value, and whose quote/bid is determined to be technically acceptable and offering a delivery schedule meeting the requirements of the Statement of Work.

Technical Evaluation - Technical acceptability will be determined on a pass/fail basis. The offeror's technical response will be evaluated to determine if it meets the requirements of the Statement of Work. Past performance will be evaluated to determine that each offeror has experience similar to that described in the SOW and has performed in a satisfactory manner.

Price Evaluation - The price evaluation will be based on the Contractor's overall pricing for base and option period. The Government will evaluate pricing for each year, adding these together to get the total cost for each of the base and option year. These yearly prices will then be added together to determine the total price for the entire period of performance. The total price for the entire period of performance will be used as the offeror's lowest price.

Please read and comply with all requirements before submitting a quote response. Failure to comply with all instructions contained within this request for quote could result in the quote being ineligible for award. It is the Offeror's responsibility to ensure its quote meets all the requirements identified herein.

QUOTE/BID RESPONSE REQUIREMENTS: VENDORS MUST SUBMIT THE FOLLOWING:

1. STANDARD FORM 1449 - COMPLETE BLOCKS 30A-30C

2. TECHNICAL APPROACH/CAPABILITY (5 page limit) Offerors shall submit a technical response to demonstrate the offeror's technical approach for satisfying the requirements in the SOW that demonstrates a clear understanding of the work to be performed, including competent and thorough knowledge of the requirement(s) and demonstrated technical expertise.

As part of their technical response, offerors are asked to provide requested information shown in Attachment 5, Past Performance Information. See Attachment 5 for complete information and instructions. Past Performance information must be submitted as part of each offeror's technical response and will not count toward the 10 page limit.

3. PRICING: SUBMIT PRICING ONTO ATTACHMENT A – FOOD ITEMS SCHEDULE SPREADSHEET (Note: Excel spreadsheet has two (2) pages for each year: Base Year and Option Year 1) Each offeror shall submit their pricing on Attachment A (Excel spreadsheet) of this RFQ.