FAR 6.302_SOLE SOURCE VERITE pdf.pdf

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FAR part 6.3

1' Identification of the agency and the contracting activity:

The Department of state office of Acquisition Management is conducting thisacquisition of other than tl! and open competition foi the maintenance andexpansion of the Responsibre Sourcing logl.org (RST) by verit. 0n beharf ofthe office to Monitor ond combai Traffiakino itt po,on-n /T,rt ^ra , ".-'rqfficking in persons (TIp Office1. V

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Nature and/or description of the action being approved.

The TIP office requests authority for a sole-source action for a new contractwith veritd for a base-year, prus i option periods. rhe contemprated contracttype is a new time and ,ut"iiul (T&M) contract.

A description of the suppries or services required to meet theDepartmentrs needs

RST is a comprehensive online resourc€ developed by veritd, through anearlier cooperative agreement and continued with a *1. ,our.e contract yi$ t. Stare Department's TIp oflce (that expir "i oztzoz2), ton"rp federal contractors, procurement officials, uro otrr.iprivate sector companies understand the risks of human trafficking in globar supply chains and develop effective, practical mechanisms and minagement systems to detect, prevent, and combat human trafficking. veritd Is a leading independentnon-profit civil society oryaniz{tion centered on labJr rights and supply chain management, with a mission to provide business with tools to eliminate labor abuses; empower workers to adiocate for their rights, especially work under safe, fair, and legal conditions; create public[r-shared resources that drive action; and contribute expertise to government labor and human rights policy. For well over two decades, Veritd has been a leader in assisting the U.s. government, private sector companies, and other global stakeholders mitigate the risks of forced labor witirin their supply ci'ains.

SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED

veritd has worked in over 70 countries with a global network of experts inAfrica, Asia, Europe, North and south Americi, uno arrt.aria. veritd haslong documented,Iabor trafficking in globar Gftains and developedplans that are scalabre-and adoptalle i'y any rir.,o.pany. veritd has arsoassisted corporations through iis reseaich, training, auditing, consurtancy, and advocacy work.

The current RST site includes veritd's extensive research on l l key sectors(i.e. agriculture, mining, electronics, fishing, etc.);;43 commodities atrisk for trafficking_ or trafficking-related ".i"iri.r.iiarso houses r0comprehensive risk-management tools as well as tailored due diligence toolsfor the seafood, food and b"u".ug., private security, and facilities management sectors. These tools cover areas that include the following:

criteria for screening and evaluating labor...*it..r, supprier and subcontractor self-assessments, migrant worker interviews, model suppry *^t, risk management processes, *a u compliance ptan template for theFAR' The resource is available to u.s. Government acquisitions personnel and federal contractors as well as any stakeholder that seeks to deploypromising practices in enhancing worker protections uno p..r"ntinjihe risksof forced labor in their supply ci-ains. RST consistently performs well abovethe Google Analytics benthmarks for the Suppry crrui, Management category in terms of sessions, average session-duration, and piges per session. Over its life cycle, RST has drawn visitors from at least 159 countries with visitors from le.ading multinationar companies, governments,NGos, and compliance organizatiJns. RST continues to grow, with increased attention from governments, international and regional organizations, the private sector, and NGos interested in ajdressing forcedlabor in public and private suppry chains, incrudin! irrrorgh greater transp arency, accountab i I ity,, and tai lored resourcei.

The new contract would bolster veritd's abirity to maintain and update theRST site with the latest supply chain resources, to reflect up-to-date research and data, to add new due diligence toors to reflect concems and trends, and to make the site more_user friendly based on data analytics and compary una contractor feedback. It will also allow Veritd to promlte the recent tooi, developed under the current contract for the private security and facilities management sector through relevant business joumals and jistservs, and at conferences, forums, and other meetings

^ *.tt as develop and conduct tailored webinars and trainings. The new contract will also permit Verit6 to encourage feedback and evaluation from contractors and companies with agoal of enhancing the site. such activities wil arso aenefit the other.*irtingtools and any future toors that are deveron.J, ny ,*larching, deveroping,and adding additionar due diligence toors, trris witt expand knowredgeamong the Department's contiactors and enhance its outreach to a diversegroup of industry experts in order to improv"irr. si"uar response tocombating human trafficking in suppry thuinr. d;;.* contracr wiil arsoallow the State Department to strengthen its ability to do greater riskprofiling.of its high profire, high risf, and/o.;Gi;;;ume contracts. suchefforts will also add to trre tnolwtedge base of Jther u.s. Gou.rnmentagencies which are seeking to do *i.. risk profilinglr,n"ir contracts.

under this contracl the requested suppries/services require that quarifiedpersonner wourd: (i) maintain and upolut. RST over it. ,.*t 4 years; (ii)promote awareness.arou,nd 3ng-.u:ug" of RST by federal ,oroulto.., ,t Jprivate security sector, the faciliti.Jr*ug.ment sector, and the greatercontracting and corporare communiry, inJuding;;ii and medium_sizedcompanies; (iii) anaryze and evaluati th. *uy, irrui.oiouctors, companies,and other stakeholders are using the site, r,igl,righi irr-i-pu.rr, and thenenhangl its usage

.un9.r:.?uilitf; (iv) arsisltrelup offrce in efforts to buildout a risk profile for high Jevel, high risk, uruo, tiigh rrorum" stateDepartment contracts;:nd (v) r.of. out current resources and needs, and/ordevelop tailored tools for additional sectors, such as the green or renewable energy, shipping, construction, hospitality, and/or transportation and warehousing sector(s). In additionio tt.r" ,.*i."r, oiher associated costs are included for fees, venues, travel and lodging to support promotion and dissemination of RST to key stakeholderr, iic6vtDirotocols permit.

4. An identification of the statutory authority permitting other than full and open competition. This acquisition is conducted under the authority of 4l u.s.c. 3304, as implemented by FAR 6.3 and substantiated by the following:

8 FAR 6.302-l - only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements.

A demonstration that the proposed contractor's unique qualifications or the nature of the action require use of the authority cited.

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veritd is uniquely qualified to provide these services to the TIp office based upon the following:

a. veritd has unique knowledge, experience, and speciar capabilities; and is in possession of a proprietary product. From the inception of the initiative, veritd has used its intellectual capital to support the initial cooperative agreement and contract to provide the research and develop the due diligence and risk management tools. prior to this initiative, the State Department did not have a resource site such as RST. The TIp office and verit6 worked together closely to deverop, evolve, and promote this site over many years. veritd,s successful history with RST also provides the TIP office with a level of trust that has been built over time and experience.

b' For well over two decades, veritd has been a leader in assisting private sector companies and other stakeholders around the globe to mitigate the risk of forced labor within their supply chains. veritd has a long history of documenting labor trafficking in global supply chains and developing plans that are scarable and adoptable by any size company.

The organizationhas worked closely with large and small corporations through its research, training, auditing, .orrultur.y, and advocacy work, assisting companies in understanding their exposure to human trafficking at alr revers of their supply chain. It has also used innovative and emerging technologies to assist companies in tracking and tracing commodities and product suppry chains. veritd also recently developed a free E-learning course on due diligence to prevent and address forced labor in grobar supply chains.

c. Even before developing RST for the Department, veritd had done foundational and innovative work in developing speciarized toorkits for business. For example, veritd developed a Fair Hiring Toolkit to provide multinational companies and factory and farm managers information about risks of exproitative labor recruitment and human trafficking in their supply chains. The toolkit included numerous policy frameworks, practical implementation guidelines, recommended templates, management procedures, and quality and control checklists to minimize those risks. veritd also launched a

SENSITIVE BUT TINCLASSIFIED

Framework for Ethicar cross-Border Labor Recruitment for multinationar corporations and supprier factories and farms, and it has numerous resources for strengxhening responsible recruitment. In addition to deveroping these toors, verit.ls expert guidance is repeatedly sought after by leading corporations.

d. Beyond its work with the private sector, veritd has conducted extensive research for the u.S. government, especiaily the Departments of Labor and state, on forced rabor abroad in globar supply chains, and deveroped policy recommendations that have been consistently relied upon by the federal government. over the rast several years on behalf of this project, veritd performed extensive stakeholder outreach, including with corporations, usc procurement officials, federal contractors, NGo experts, and trafficking survivors, to inform the development of current tools in Rsr. Insights were also gleaned from forums specifically designed to gain the expertise and'ground truth' of readers in the seafood, food and beverage, and private security sectors.

e' veritd over time has also invested a significant amount of time in the mechanics of maintaining and keeping the site current with new supply chain and compliance materials, the various TIp Report country narratives, and commodity information from the Department of Labor's List of Goods produced by child Labor or Forced Labor.

Since it maintains the site, veritd has been providing and will continue to gather data analytics to analyze and evaluate the site,s usage, and to improve upon any areas of the site as a result of such evaluations and other monitoring and evaluation efforts.

f' The research on the 11 sectors and the 43 commodities as well as other lengthy investigations and reports on industries continue to provide a solid foundation for the site. New visitors are drawn to the site as veritd and the TIp office have sought to build out and develop more tools as sector-specific needs are identified.

g. The subject matter expert, was the RST project director for the entire lifecycle of the project. He is an expert in the field, and has designed and implemented supply chain management programs, conducted extensive training worldwide on corporate social responsibility, and

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overseen comprehensive research on forced labor in grobar supprychains. He has frequentry been sought as a subject matter expert andtestified at numerous international and domestic forums and atcongressionar hearings rerated to forced labor. The subject matter expert and veritd have also dedicated time to developing and fostering relationships with the anti-trafficking community. The tools have benefited from the considerabre expertise of senior veritd staff.h. overall, veritd has the necessary knowredge, experience, systems, andcontrols in prace to continue to maintain and build up RST which isvital to the State Department at a time when so many internar and external stakeholders are focused on suppry chains and procurement.

A description of efforts to ensure that offers were soricited from as manypotential sources as is practicable, including whether a notice was or willbe publicized as required by FAR subpart 5.2 and, if not, which exceptionunder FAR 5,202 applies.

The J&A will be publicized on beta.sam.gov are required by FAR 5.203 atleast 15 days before issuance of a solicitation that the govemment intends to solicit and negotiate with only one source under authority 6.302.

A determination by_the^ordering activity contracting oflicer that theanticipated cost to the Governmint is fair and reasonabre.

Before contract award the contracting officer will ensure that the pricing is fair and reasonable.. By.signing the justification the contracting officer makes a determinalign that the cost/price to the Government are expected to be fair and reasonable.

A description of the market sutrey conducted (see Part l0) and the results or a statement of the reasons a market survey was not conducted.

The market was surveyed prior to the development of the responsible sourcing tool online resource. No other vendor could provide the unique qualifications (as stated above in #5) or expertise required to develop ihe site. In addition, verit6 has developed the site and is the owner of the RST website, owns the intellectual property, and the code. There are no other

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vendors because Veritd is the creator of the extensive research and comprehensive risk-management and tailored tools in RST.

Any other facts supporting the use of this justification.

RST, with its risk management and due diligence tools, including a sample Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR): Combating Trafficking in Persons

Rule compliance plan, is key to assisting U.S. Government agencies, including the State Department, fulfill and implement the FAR which is an ongoing process. RST is also germane to assisting key government agencies in implementing the 2021National Action Plan on Human Trafficking requirement to develop initiatives for engaging with various industries on the issue of forced labor in product and service supply chains. A new contract to enhance RST will also permit the addition of resources to further the goals of the National Action Plan on Responsible Business Conduct, a current, high-level priority of the Administration. Finally, as the Administration works to develop a long-term strategy for strengthening supply chain resilience to accomplish the goals of the 2021F.O.14017, "America's Supply Chains," such resources and tools may serye to incentive better business practices abroad that further sustainability, drive superior standards, and invest in and protect workers.

A listing of any sources that expressed a written interest in the acquisition.

None.

A statement of the actions, if any, the agency may take to remove or overcome any barriers to competition before any subsequent acquisition for the supplies or services required.

Veritd is the only company that can fulfill the requirement. It has unique knowledge, experience, and special capabilities; and is in possession of a proprietary product.

CERTIFICATIONS

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TECHNICAL AND REQUIREMENTS CERTIFICATION (FAR 6.303-2(b))I certify that this justification is accurate and contains compLte data necessary to support the recommendation for other than fuil and opencompetition.

7 /79/2022 Dat€

Title: Depufy Senior Coordinator, IGA

Requiring Office: DOS TIp Office

LEGAL SUFFICIENCY REvIEw; AQM QA PIan This J&A is hereby determined to be regail/sufficient.

SIGNATURE:

Kadz/arr" D'Waab,q, 07t20t22

Name Title

Date office of the Legal Adviser, Buildings and Acquisitions (LiBA)

CERTIFICATIONS (Continued)

CONTRACTING oFFrcER CERTIFTCATTON (FAR 6.303-2(axr2))I certify that this submission is accurate to the best of my t no,oi"ige, and thatit contains complete information necessary to enable other oflicials to make aninformed recommendation for approval or disapproval

SIGNATURE:

AdBu/t*w Contracting Officer

07t19t2022

Date

NATURE:

Name: Anira Fraser

SENSITIVE BT]T UNCLASSIFIED

(NjPE/AQMAP4NL)

SIGNATURE: APPROVALS

7t20/2022 -i---*-

Date Name Branch Chief //oPE/AQr\{/rPANL

SIGNATURE:

REAVER L litl"Jll,i,i'i*.yREAVER CLEMENTS o,,..iori.or.zr18:r5:ro

{4'00, Name DateDivision Director

A/OPE/AQiwrP

PROCURING ACTI'IT' coMp,TrrroN ADvocATE _ (Ref: FAR 6.s0r)

SIGNATURE: SHARON D DrsitaUysignedbysHARoND

JAMES Date:2o22.07.2510:03:0r

Name Competition Advocate

A/OPE

Date