JandA.Francophone.TO.pdf

JUSTIFICATION AND APPROVAL (J&A)

TO: M/OAA/GHSC - Eduardo Elia, Division Chief

CC: M/OAA - Deborah Broderick, Agency Competition Advocate

FROM: Glenn Milano, Sr. Advisor for Demand Planning and COR, GH/PRH/CSL

DATE: March 2, 2021

RE: Contract Modification: Global Health Supply Chain - Technical Assistance (GHSC-TA), IDIQ Contract (AID-OAA-I-15-00030), Francophone Task Order (FTO) (AID-OAA-TO-17-00006)

SUBJECT: Justification for Other than Full and Open Competition under the Expedited Procurement Procedures for Prevention, Care and Treatment of

HIV

We request approval of this justification for use of other than full and open competition pursuant to the authorities under the EPP “Expedited Acquisition and Assistance Procedures for Expedited Procurement Procedures for Prevention, Care and Treatment of HIV” (HIV EPP), approved on December 31, 2019, to increase the task order ceiling and extend the period of performance of the Francophone Task Order (FTO), which is being performed by Chemonics.

Your approval of this J&A constitutes the justification for other than full and open competition as required by Tab 1 (D&F for the Authorization of Less than Full and Open Competitive Procedures in the Modification or Award of Contracts) of the EPP.

The technical assistance and warehouse and distribution activities that will be procured with this ceiling increase fall under the HIV EPP because more than 50% of the estimated cost of the extension will be for HIV/AIDs activities. The increased ceiling is necessary to store and distribute a higher-than-expected volume of health commodities, including antiretrovirals (ARVs) and rapid HIV test kits (RTKs). The proposed ceiling increase will also cover the costs of extending the period of performance, which is required to ensure that USAID Missions can maintain continuity of vitally needed supply chain technical assistance during the transition period to the new Next Generation (“NextGen”) Global Health Supply Chain Comprehensive Technical Assistance (Comprehensive TA) award. Given the complexity of the program and long lead times related to pharmaceuticals, commodities, and associated assistance, and based on prior experience, the Global Health Supply Chain programs need at least a 12-month overlap between the current and new contracts to ensure the new projects can be stood up properly and gradually assume full responsibility.

It is important to note that as soon as all transition activities are completed and all performance responsibilities have been successfully handed over to the new contractor(s), USAID does not anticipate continuing its use of this task order contract.

The GHSC-TA FTO contract, a task order under the GHSC-TA, multiple-award IDIQ contract (AID-OAA-I-15-00030), is part of the multi-billion dollar Global Health Supply Chain (GHSC) Program. The IDIQ effective period expired on February 27, 2020.

The ordering period for this contract expired on February 26, 2020. The FTO was issued on February 8, 2017 and originally had an end date of February 8, 2022. The FTO provides supply chain and health systems technical assistance for USAID Missions to the Ministries of Health in Senegal, Democratic Republic of Congo, Benin, and West African Regional Countries (WARO). Under this contract, Chemonics has been instrumental in ensuring the availability of and timely access to essential health products and services in support of the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), the President’s Malaria Initiative (PMI), and USAID’s family planning and reproductive health (FP/RH) and maternal, newborn and child health (MNCH) programs.

a) Nature and/or description of the action being approved.

Modification of the contract to increase the contract ceiling by $75,000,000 from $91,419,644 to $166,419,644 and extend the period of performance from February 8, 2022 to November 28, 2023. For the Agency to continue to meet the numerical targets set forth by PEPFAR, the Agency must acquire higher volumes of antiretrovirals (ARVs) and rapid HIV test kits (RTKs), in addition to long-lasting insecticide nets (LLINs), contraceptives and other life saving commodities. These commodities must, in turn, be supported by increased warehouse and distribution funding. This task order is the only existing mechanism available to provide these warehouse and distribution activities. The proposed ceiling increase is to account for the increased volume of commodities as well as cover the costs of extending the period of performance.

Given the current task order end date of February 8, 2022, there is significant risk that the FTO will expire prior to the full transition to the follow-on contract(s). It is imperative that the follow-on contractor(s) be able to seamlessly assume 100% responsibility for the supply chain technical assistance and receipt, warehousing and delivery of PEPFAR, PMI, PRH and MNCH commodities including antiretrovirals, rapid test kits, long lasting insecticidal nets, contraceptives and medical devices before the FTO ends. Currently, the expectation is that the new TA contract mechanism, Comprehensive TA, will not be operational until mid-2022 (past the FTO’s current end date), however, experience has taught us that, based on the complexity of the program, there should be a transition and overlap period of at least 12 months for the new contractor(s) to assume full responsibility for meeting USAID supply chain TA requirements.

USAID could not have reasonably anticipated the need to extend the FTO to November 2023 at an earlier date. The Agency discussed project extensions in early 2019 for several GHSC awards, including for all task orders under the GHSC-TA IDIQ. These discussions were premised on assumptions about the timing of awards for the Next Generation Global Health Supply Chain Suite of Programs, particularly relating to technical assistance. Specifically, standard Agency procurement timeframes suggested that the new TA award would be in place and available to FTO countries within 2021.

However, since then, there have been numerous delays in the design of the NextGen contracts and NextGen’s timeline is no longer aligned with the current end date of the FTO. Current estimates are now that the award of the Comprehensive TA task orders will be no earlier than March 2022, i.e., at least a month after the current end date of the FTO. Further, the FTO would need to phase down technical activities approximately three months before its end date in order to allow for close-out, and the Comprehensive TA task orders will also need several months to start-up and reach the scale of field activities that Missions and country beneficiaries need. Thus, without the proposed extension and no practicable alternatives, USAID Missions utilizing the FTO and country beneficiaries will experience at least an eight-month significant diminution if not complete gap in vital technical assistance.

b) A description of the supplies or services required to meet USAID’s needs (including the estimated value).

Supply chain technical assistance, warehousing, distribution and management fees associated with the procurement and delivery of lifesaving drugs, test kits, contraceptives and essential medicines in the amount of $75,000,000 and period of performance extension of over 21 months, through November 28, 2023.

c) Identification of statutory authority permitting other than full and open competition.

AIDAR 706.302-70(b)(3)(ii) and 40 U.S.C. §113(e)(2); See Action Memorandum entitled "Expedited Procurement Procedures for Prevention, Care, and Treatment of HIV", (December 31, 2019).

d) A discussion of the proposed contractor’s unique qualifications or the nature of the acquisition that requires use of the authority cited.

The reason for the contract extension and ceiling increase is to ensure that there are no disruptions in providing ARVs and RTKs, LLINs, contraceptives and other essential medicines for PEPFAR, PMI, FP/RH, and MCHN programs in USAID-supported countries. Due to increased demand for all commodities and technical assistance associated with these programs, the costs of warehousing, distribution and handling fees throughout the life of the contract this award is greater than anticipated, which is one of the reasons the ceiling increase is needed.

USAID issued this task order under the GHSC-TA IDIQ, to provide technical supply chain assistance, which includes commodity clearance, handling, warehousing and distribution services for U.S. Government-donated commodities. These technical assistance, warehousing and distribution services are required for PEPFAR, PMI, PRH, and MCHN programs to effectively provide commodity assistance.

Recompeting these requirements at this stage now would endanger program continuity and integrity, particularly given that substantial overlap is required between new and incumbent contractors, and the Comprehensive TA contract will already require substantial work to ensure a smooth transition between contracts in 2022 and 2023.

Our timeline analysis, based on prior experience, indicates that a prudent expectation - one that is a proactive risk management rather than reactive - for the start date of the Comprehensive TA task orders is May 1, 2023. Thus, a bridge for the continuity of FTO activities is needed to November 1, 2023 to ensure the continuous flow of health commodities and technical assistance in the DRC, Senegal, Benin, and West African Regional Mission countries of Burkina Faso, Cote d’Ivoire, Niger and Togo. The November 28, 2023 end date also coincides with the current end dates for the GHSC Procurement and Supply Management (PSM) task orders, which will allow for a more coordinated transition of program requirements.

There are two options for procuring the work contained under this FTO: extend the current FTO from 2/8/2022 to 11/1/2023 or award a new contract on the basis of full and open competition to end 11/1/2023.1 Conducting a competition for these requirements is not practicable or in the U.S. Government’s best interests because it would involve an additional transition between contracts and provide little or no added value to USAID. Our timeline analysis indicates that the earliest a new contract could be designed, competed, and awarded using full and open competition is 1/2/2022 - i.e., one month before FTO will end, which would allow for minimal overlap for transition. In other words, FTO would still need to be extended under this option. That said, a new contract’s period of performance would be 2/1/2022 to 11/1/2023 -- 15 months, inclusive of start-up and close-out. In other words, the

1 A third option would be to award a separate “bridge” contract to Chemonics to provide these services until there is a full transition to Comprehensive TA. USAID would need to justify the noncompetitive award of this contract, presumably on similar grounds as this J&A, and that contract would be largely identical to the FTO. For these reasons, a bridge contract is not being considered at this time.

Agency would incur two costly and risky transitions (from FTO to the new contract and from the new contract to Comprehensive TA) for a contract that will operate at scale for only about nine months. While USAID may be able to obtain additional value or better contractual terms by recompeting these requirements, these advantages would be temporary and are likely to be offset by the cost of multiple transitions between contracts over a short period of time.

Further, the significant time and resources would be required to write, compete and award another contract, particularly at a time where human and financial resources are maximally strained due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the procurement and management of the NextGen awards, including Comprehensive TA. The Missions that rely on the Francophone Task Order do not have the resources to fund startup and closeout costs for another contract, only to be required to fund startup of the Comprehensive TA contract when it is available.2

e) A description of efforts made to ensure that offers are solicited from as many potential sources as is practicable.

This is a contract extension and ceiling increase for an existing task order, which triggers competition requirements. Consistent with ADS 302.3.4.5(d)(2), COs must prepare a J&A using either a FAR Part 6 or AIDAR Part 706 exception to full and open competition to issue or modify a task order outside the material terms and conditions of the IDIQ award. The ADS specifically requires a J&A for task order modifications that (a) are issued after the ordering period has expired that will increase the total dollar value of a task order (or Total Estimated Cost in the case of a cost-reimbursement type task order); and (b) that extend the period of performance of an existing task order beyond the basic IDIQ contract’s stated period of performance. Id. The AIDAR Part 706 exception in this case relies upon the EPP (see ADS 302.34.5(b)). Note that this task order ceiling increase falls within the current IDIQ ceiling.

f) A determination by the Contracting Officer that the anticipated cost to the Government will be fair and reasonable.

Based on an Independent Government Cost Estimate (IGCE) prepared by the COR and the costs incurred under the current contract, the Contracting Officer, in approving this J&A, has determined that the anticipated cost to the government will be fair and reasonable. There is no change in the scope of work. All previously-incurred costs have been determined to be fair and reasonable. No other types of costs are anticipated.

2 Based on COR discussions with USAID Washington country backstops and Mission Activity Managers, March 2021

g) A description of the market research conducted (see FAR Part 10) and the results or a statement of the reason(s) market research was not conducted.

New market research was not conducted because, as discussed above, the extension is intended to provide continuity of services and a seamless transition to the NextGen technical assistance contract(s). Substantial market research, particularly on small business opportunities, was conducted in awarding the initial IDIQ contracts.

h) A listing of the sources, if any, that expressed, in writing, an interest in the acquisition.

None.

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

USAID will compete any new contract(s) for the same or similar services as part of the Next Generation Global Health Supply Chain Suite of Programs, expected to be awarded in 2022.

RECOMMENDATION

It is recommended that you approve this justification for use of other than full and open competition pursuant to the Action Memorandum “Expedited Procurement Procedures for Prevention, Care and Treatment of HIV” (HIV EPP)”, approved on December 31, 2019. Your approval of this J&A constitutes the justification for other than full and open competition as required by Tab 1 (D&F - Authorization for use of other than Full and Open Competition in the Award or Modification of Contracts Funded under the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief ) of the EPP.

04/01/2021