7200AA21R00049 Q and A.pdf

7200AA21R00049 Q&A AMENDMENT 2

1. Section L.7 Instructions for Preparation of the Technical Proposal on page 55 states that “ISO certifications and licenses” are excluded from the 15-page technical proposal limitation.

• Can USAID please clarify what it is referring to on page 55 for “ISO certifications and licenses” for submission with the technical proposal?

A. ISO Certifications refer to certifications issued by the International Organization of

Standardization. Licenses refer to any official permit issued by a proper authority relevant to the Scope of Work such as freight forwarding licenses.

2. Section L.8 Instructions for the Preparation of the Business Proposal on page 57 states: “The offeror (including all partners of a joint venture) must provide performance information for itself and each major subcontractor (one whose proposed cost or level of effort exceeds 51% of the offeror’s total proposed cost or level of effort).

• Will USAID please revise the major subcontractor threshold from 51% to 20%? This will allow offerors to include relevant past performance information for itself and key partners.

A: No. This is a standard requirement and is found under Section L7.

3. Section D Packaging and Marking on page 13 and Section H.1 page 31 references of Chief of

Party, however there is no Chief of Party listed in the solicitation.

• Can USAID please amend or remove the language referring to a Chief of Party?

A: No. This is a standard, required clause and cannot be altered.

4. Will USAID allow offerors to include a one-page executive summary excluded from the 15-page limit?

A: The cover letter should be adequate for this purpose.

5. Section L.7 Instructions for Preparation of the Technical Proposal. Will USAID please allow offerors to use 8 point font size for text boxes and tables as well?

A: Yes.

6. Will USAID please provide the form for offerors to use for the Contractor Performance

Information?

A: No.

7. What is the percentage of palletized cargo versus non-palletized cargo?

A: Without guarantee, approximately 20% is palletized.

8. What is the breakdown of bulk vs containerized cargo?

A: Without guarantee, approximately 50/50

9. Will USAID make the Section J Attachment Pricing Spreadsheets available prior to answering the questions?

A: See Amendment 1, issued May 14, 2021.

10. Page 41 Item (f) says: “(f) Contract award. (1) The Government intends to award a contract or contracts resulting from this solicitation to the responsible offeror(s) whose proposal(s) represents the best value after evaluation in accordance with the factors and subfactors in the solicitation.” Does USAID anticipate awarding more than one contract for this procurement?

A: USAID anticipates making one award; however, USAID reserves the right to make more than one award if it is in the Government’s best interest to do so.

11. Will there be a phase-in period to transition with the incumbent? Does the incumbent have inventory to transfer to the new contractor?

A: Both are possible.

12. What is the monthly in and out and flow of commodities?

A: Experience indicates that inbound vs outbound is roughly equal.

13. Is there a forecast for volume over the next three years?

A: Without guarantee, the Program anticipates volumes roughly equal to the numbers cited in Section C for FY 20.

14. Typically, how much procurement of and storage of bags, pallets, boxes, ties etc. takes place?

A: Procurement is fairly rare. Storage of empty bags, cartons and pallets (USAID branded pallets only) are standard and are normally supplied by USAID.

15. If there is an incumbent, what is the current contract number?

A: AID-OAA-C-15-00142.

16. If there is an incumbent, what is the current base year cost?

A: This question is unclear. The period of performance began in Fiscal Year 2016.

17. Please provide examples and expectations for the requested transfer & packaging services.

A: This question is unclear. Please refer to Section C.

18. Will there be a requirement to maintain “pre-configured loads” or reconfiguration of stocked items into established configurations from arriving bulk / prepackaged items?

A: Cargo that arrives palletized must remain palletized. Cargo that arrives in ocean containers or trucks must be stacked as described in Section C.

19. Given “no-notice” inspections, is there a requirement for 3rd Party (USAID contracted) personnel to have “un accompanied” access? What is the contractor requirement for coordination, notification, access, and payment?

A: No. The warehouse contractor is required to allow access as stated in Section C and coordinate with USAID’s Third Party Inspector.

20. Given the preference for Djibouti Free Trade Zone as the warehousing location, what has been the past weather that impacted previous storage?

A: Generally, heat and humidity.

21. What are the foreseeable air and sea ports for the contracted region(s)

A: The port of Djibouti is the only port used for import and export. The Djibouti

International Airport would be used for air lift.

22. What are the foreseeable transport modes in the contracted region(s), for example: air, sea, road, rail, and aerial delivery?

A: Ocean export and overland intermodal trucking are the primary modes of transportation.

23. What is the donation services process & requirements for damaged commodities?

A: Donation of damaged commodities must be authorized by USAID and local officials in

Djibouti and sometimes the local Embassy.

24. What are the disposal services required from damaged commodities?

A: Please refer to United States Code, Title 22 Code of Federal Regulations Part

211.8 (b) as noted in the solicitation. Contractors are expected to follow local rules and regulations and coordinate with local authorities and USAID Third Party

Inspectors.

25. What contractual and traditional insurance types and amounts have been used by USAID contracted Food For Peace services?

A: USAID does not have visibility into this information.

26. As USAID has a significant preference for contractors with ISO Certifications in safe handling practices for food, logistics and freight forwarding, and/or Business Continuity

Plans, what are named certifications from past awards? How are those preferences weighted in this award?

A: Examples are ISO 22000. ISO 22301. As stated in the solicitation, USAID has a significant preference for contractors with ISO Certifications in safe handling practices for food, logistics, and freight forwarding, and/or Business Continuity

Plans.

27. What is the current Warehouse Management System in use by USAID contracted Food

For Peace services?

A: The system acronym is HIMS which stands for Humanitarian Information

Management System. It is, however, not currently in use, though expected to be implemented.

28. On the rate card, USAID is mentioning break bulk. What are packaging of this break bulk? And what are the weight of each packaging?

A: Break-bulk refers to the fact that packaged cargo can move on a break-bulk vessel and is not containerized – therefore, loaded loose. The weights remain the same as described in the SOW.

29. USAID is requiring control temperature. What is the temperature required?

A: Ambient.

30. How many different SKU’s are concerned by this tender?

A: USAID currently does not use SKU’s. Please refer to the commodity descriptions in Section C.

31. As per the Proposal Instructions in Section L, flow charts are required which highlight the export process. Could USAID please confirm whether these are included or excluded from the technical proposal page limit?

A: Yes, those flow charts can be excluded from the 15 page limit.

32. Could additional supporting documents such as photographs, sample reports, etc. be included in attachment/annex and not count towards the 15 page limit?

A: Photographs and sample reports may be included as an annex to the Technical proposal if necessary and not count toward the 15 page limit; however, USAID requests that they be kept to a reasonable minimum. Offerors are reminded of the megabyte limitation (28 mb).

33. For NFIs, it is assumed that CLIN 4 applies for 'bales on pallets' and 'cartons on pallets,' and that

CLIN 8 applies for 'UTVs.' Could USAID please confirm this assumption?

A: Confirm.

34. For NFIs, could USAID please confirm whether CLIN 4 or CLIN 8 applies for 'loose crates that can be stored on pallets'?

A: CLIN 4

35. Would USAID consider adding a CLIN for drayage per TEU and FEU in case non-bagged commodity drayage is required? Otherwise, please explain how pricing for drayage should be completed for these non-bagged commodities?

A: No. Commodity type should not make a difference. NFI’s are normally drayed by

OFDA’s appointed freight forwarder under a separate transport contract, so this issue is moot.

36. Can USAID provide pictures of NFI’s?

A: See this link. https://www.usaid.gov/sites/default/files/documents/USAID-

BHA_Commodity_Catalog-NFIs.pdf

Note further NFI’s are currently stored in other USAID warehouses; however, there may be a need in the future for NFI storage.

https://www.usaid.gov/sites/default/files/documents/USAID-BHA_Commodity_Catalog-NFIs.pdf https://www.usaid.gov/sites/default/files/documents/USAID-BHA_Commodity_Catalog-NFIs.pdf