Vendor_Questions_and_Answers__2_HSSCCG-15-R-00012.pdf

HSSCCG-15-R-00012

Vendor Questions & Answers #2

1. What ANSI/INCITS or other industry standard tests will be run to qualify the sample cards for acceptance?

Offerors shall determine the proper tests to be run and recommend those tests as part of their proposal submission. The recommendation may be based on previous experiences with similar card design contracts/tasks supported, or recommendations received from various independent laboratories used in the past.

2. RFP Statement: “The minimum requirements which must be met by the contractor’s integrated card solution are as follows: … 17. …OVD clear and metallic holographic image stamped under the surface to make it more secure;” (Emphasis added). Request: The term “OVD clear and metallic holographic image” describes a proprietary technology of Kurz (manufactured in Germany). An industry standard, transparent, high refractive index non-metallic hologram like the one used for the existing PRC and EAD cards can be embedded within the card body and provide a link between the laser marked photo, laser marked text and card body. We assume that the language “and metallic” is not intended as part of minimum requirements under Section 5.1.1. Please confirm.

References to the term “OVD” shall be changed to “optically variable image”. Offerors should determine their approach to meeting the solicitation requirements and recommend card design solution options, solutions to overcome proprietary technology constraints or HW/SW requirements, and teaming arrangements as part of their best secure document design concept/approach that can be easily authenticated, and prevent from altering or counterfeiting.

The reference to metallic holographic images is a minimum requirement.

3. ICE Homeland Security Investigations – Forensic Laboratory quality standards assessments and final quality acceptance document. The documents in not provided as other are part of the package.

The quality standards shall be provided post award to the winning offeror.

4. Request: Would the Government please confirm that “FY 2015 Percentage of Total Overall Contract Dollars” should read “FY 2015 Percentage of Total Subcontracted Dollars” consistent with the requirements stipulated in FAR 52.219-9(d) which reads: “(d) The offeror’s subcontracting plan shall include the following:

(1) Goals, expressed in terms of percentages of total planned subcontracting dollars, for the use of small business, veteran-owned small business, service-disabled veteran-owned small business, HUBZone small business, small disadvantaged business, and women-owned small business concerns as subcontractors.” Expressing subcontracting goals as a percentage of subcontracting dollars is also consistent with the ISR and SSR reporting requirements in esrs.gov.

The table shall be edited to reflect that the small business percentages listed are to be calculated as a percentage of subcontracted dollars.

5. Currently there are no companies producing security printed banknotes within the United States. Any supplier seeking to provide the highest possible standard of card design and security printing of the background artwork design and security features on the security printed layer of the requested

HSSCCG-15-R-00012

Vendor Questions & Answers #2 polycarbonate laser engraveable card would need to subcontract the design and printing of this layer to a foreign based supplier.

As currently drafted, the Solicitation requires that “. . . each employee working on this contract will have a Social Security Card . . .”

In consideration of the fact that Canada and the United States have concluded a Memorandum of Understanding establishing an agreement whereby each country recognizes the security clearances conveyed by the other as part of their National Industrial Security Programs, would the procurement authority please consider revising the Solicitation to incorporate the following exception to this requirement:

“…except with respect to employees of foreign Canadian-based subcontractors where the foreign subcontractor is retained solely to perform work related to card design and/or security printing, and:

1. the foreign subcontractor holds a facility security clearance and document safeguarding clearance recognized by the United States National Industrial Security Program as equivalent to a United States “Secret” clearance or above, and

2. the foreign subcontractor’s employees working on the subcontract hold a personnel security clearance recognized by the United States National Industrial Security Program as equivalent to a United States “Secret” clearance or above and any visa necessary to enable them to legally perform any part of the subcontracted work that can only be performed in the United States of America.

Final card manufacture, i.e. full sheet lamination, cutting to single card size, card serialization and secure vault storage, must be conducted in a secure facility in the United States by the contractor’s employees working on this contract who must have a Social Security Card.”

Attachment 2 shall not be revised. The references to the National Industrial Security Program and Memorandums of Agreement with the US are superseded by the USCIS Personnel Security Division directives on contractor employee eligibility. As such, the requirement for social security numbers issued by the US Social Security Administration shall remain unchanged.

6. “The Contractor must agree that each employee working on this contract will have a Social Security Card issued by the Social Security Administration.”

Q. Can USCIS please confirm that the requirement for an SSN does not extend to employees of subcontractors and suppliers located outside the United States?

In accordance with 6.1 of the SOW, offerors shall identify those employees, regardless of status (e.g. prime employee, sub-contractor, or supplier employee), that have access to sensitive card stock and related consumables. For those employees, a proper USCIS clearance (IAW Attachment 2) shall be performed. As part of this determination, verification of social security number shall be made.