RFQ 12314425Q0193 Att 1 SOW.pdf

US Department of Agriculture (USDA)

Statement of Work for

Global MRL Database Access

Contents Project

General Information

1.0 Scope of Work

2.0 Background

Contractor Requirements

3.0 Technical Requirements / Tasks

4.0 Government Furnished

5.0 Deliverables / Schedule

6.0 Travel

7.0 Contractor’s Key Personnel

8.0 Security Requirements

9.0 Data Rights

10.0 Section 508 – Electronic and Information Technology Standards

11.0 Place of Performance

12.0 Period of Performance

Project Global MRL Database Access

General Information

1.0 Scope of Work

Through this contract, USDA will obtain on-demand access to up-to-date, comprehensive information as to maximum residue levels (MRLs) for agricultural products worldwide, with a particular emphasis on trade in specialty crops.

USDA emphasizes that the principal technical expertise required relates to knowledge and understanding of MRLs, as described in Section 3.2 below. Offerors must demonstrate that they readily possess this specialized knowledge to be competitive.

2.0 Background

Maximum Residue Levels (MRLs) represent the highest acceptable amount of residual pesticide or other production chemicals, that can remain present in an agricultural (food and feed) commodity, without representing a safety risk to the consumer. MRLs vary from product to product, particularly among specialty crops which are differentially absorptive of chemical and environmental contaminants.

The international Codex Alimentarius is an international initiative, jointly administered by the World Health Organization (WHO) and Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), which recommends science-based standards for MRLs on a commodity-by-commodity basis. These standards, however, are not binding; individual countries retain the right to set their own MRL limits. In general, commodities must meet MRL standards to be accepted in destination markets, and knowing these MRL standards is a key component of that. Increasingly, countries that formerly deferred to the Codex Alimentarius standards are establishing and enforcing different national standards. This can result in discrepant or discordant MRLs or, in many cases, the absence of clearly established MRL thresholds needed for trade in key agricultural commodities.

World Trade Organization (WTO) protocols and Good Regulatory Practices (GRPs) generally encourage countries to timely and publicly promulgate their MRL policies and the scientific basis behind those policies. However, in practice, this is done inconsistently around the world, and these standards can change regularly. Increasingly different national standards, greater enforcement of maximum residue levels, and frequency with which standards change, creates challenges for the international agricultural marketplace: Neither producers, exporters, nor USDA analysts, can assume that an ingredient registered for use in the United States, and/or for which Codex Alimentarius has established an MRL, will be acceptable to any particular trading partner.

Uncertainty can inhibit trade, due to the risk of products being rejected by inspectors in the destination market. Such rejections can negatively affect the entire agricultural sector by way of adverse publicity, increased testing requirements, and reluctance of shippers to take on agricultural products, in addition to consequent negative impacts on food supply in the destination market.

The USDA Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) represents U.S. Agriculture abroad and is often called upon to resolve disputes related to MRLs or comparable matters. If a USDA official has a question about how another country determined their MRL or whether and to what extent the U.S. tolerance should be harmonized, the USDA official can attempt to resolve these issues and/or determine what their impact might be. This, in turn, facilitates developing U.S.

government policy, responding to constituent inquiries developing official comments on foreign proposed standards, and identifying which foreign standards are inconsistent with international norms and could possibly form a non-tariff trade barrier.

Contractor Requirements

3.0 Technical Requirements / Tasks

3.1 Database

The contractor shall maintain a database for purposes of making MRL data available to USDA. The database shall be accessible at all times using a web-based portal; and the portal and the underlying information shall be available to

USDA personnel worldwide. The portal shall be available for access from any web connection, although the contractor may temporarily block connectivity from specific connections (i.e., specific IPs) representing known or demonstrated security hazards.

The database shall include provisions for all data elements specified in Section 3.2, and the contractor should ensure that the underlying database framework is expandable for potential future extension to related subjects that may become salient issues in the future.

The contractor shall ensure the portal is intuitive and easy to navigate, and that USDA users are able to find the information needed without requiring any specialized knowledge of database management, data structure, or code.

Information shall be presented in an intuitive format, allowing users the ability to ‘export’ needed information to other formats, i.e., MS Excel, without undue limitations on file size. To facilitate this, the contractor shall provide system user guides and technical support, both of which shall be reasonably straightforward to users to locate and identify. Technical support may be offered by email, webform, and/or telephone contact, and the contractor should respond to inquiries within 3 business days.

Insofar as the contractor requires the use of login credentials, i.e., username and/or password, to access the system, the contractor shall ensure that credentials collected are stored securely to prevent unauthorized access. The contractor is encouraged, to the extent technically feasible, to develop links to the USDA eAuthentication Single Sign On (SSO) platform, to facilitate security and streamline access for USDA personnel, and reduce the risk of login credentials being compromised.

3.2 Data Contents

The contractor shall enter, monitor, and maintain the MRLs, disaggregated by commodity, compound/substance, and country or market of destination. The data shall be inclusive of food/feed commodity MRL standards established by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and foreign market MRL tolerances for those same compounds, or their analogues.

The data shall include a minimum of:

• One thousand (1,000) chemical products

• Seven hundred fifty (750) agricultural commodities, representing, in aggregate, not less than 99% by value of

U.S. exports of agricultural food products

• One hundred fifty (150) destination markets, representing, in aggregate, not less than 95% bey value of U.S.

exports of agricultural food products The above encompasses crop and veterinary maximum residue levels. Where applicable, deferral pathways, i.e.

circumstances in which a country ‘defers’ to another MRL source, which may be contextually contingent, shall be described.

Whereas MRLs change regularly, the contractor shall ensure that not less than 90% of changes are reflected not more than 14 days after they are promulgated by cognizant national authorities, recognizing that major regulatory overhauls may require additional time to understand, translate, and validate. Each entry should be validated not less than semi-annually, to ensure that no unannounced changes have occurred. The contractor shall include an annotation indicating the date of last verification.

Offerors should be cognizant that there is not a single source of information for these data; individual markets may not necessarily communicate changes in a clear and transparent manner. As such, offerors must demonstrate the ability to compile information from a variety of sources, both official and unofficial, and to determine the currency and validity of that information in a variety of markets.

A full complement of data points must be available no later than August 13, 2025.

3.3 Quarterly Reporting

For each quarter ending March 31, June 30, September 30, and December 31, the contractor shall submit a brief usage report to USDA not more than 30 calendar days following the end of the quarter. The report shall contain the following information, in any reasonable format:

• Number of unique USDA user accounts accessing the system during that quarter

• Aggregate number of queries by all USDA users during that quarter

• Number of MRL entries (i.e., commodity-market-chemical) stored in the database

• Number of MRL entries updated during that quarter

• Number of MRL entries reconfirmed during that quarter (i.e., the MRL did not change, but specific action was taken to reconfirm the standard)

Including supplemental information in quarterly reports, which demonstrates to USDA the value and application of MRL information, is allowable, but not required.

3.4 Meetings and Discussions

Up to four times per year, USDA requires the contractor to participate in meetings or discussions pertinent to the work performed under this contract. USDA will communicate these meeting requests to the contractor not less than 30 days in advance and shall make reasonable efforts to schedule such meetings at a mutually agreeable time. Meetings will be held virtually or at the Contractor’s facility, unless the contractor requests an in-person meeting at a location to be agreed upon, which may include the USDA Headquarters in Washington, DC; the Contractor’s facility; or another location in the Washington-Baltimore Metropolitan Area. If a location cannot be agreed upon, or if circumstances otherwise warrant, meetings will be held by web conference arranged by USDA, which may use any common web meeting platform, such as Microsoft Teams, Zoom, Google Meets, etc.

Meetings with USDA personnel may include representatives from the U.S. agriculture industry; and may include a component of formal presentation, i.e., to a group of USDA employees, agriculture industry representatives, foreign government representatives, etc. If representatives from organizations outside the U.S. Government are expected, this will be made known to the contractor not less than 14 days in advance of the meeting.

The contractor may request a meeting or discussion with USDA/FAS, which USDA/FAS will make reasonable efforts to meet. The contractor may also, at its option and consistent with its contractual obligations under other instruments, accept requests from entities other than USDA for meetings, discussions, or presentations, to which USDA may be invited or otherwise participate. These shall not be construed as included under the four (4) required.

4.0 Government Furnished

The USDA Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR) will identify members of its staff for whom access to the database is required and ensure that access is terminated for staff members who have departed, been reassigned, or otherwise no longer require access. USDA will review quarterly amalgamated reports showing system use and may request meetings up to four times per year as discussed in section 3.3.

5.0 Deliverables / Schedule

Item No.

Deliverable / Item Title

Description Frequency Reference Delivery Format

Due By

1 Database access Database is available and accessible

Ongoing Section 3.1 Via web portal

Continuous

2 Data currency Data are current and validated

Ongoing Section 3.2 Via web portal

Continuous

3 Quarterly Report Quarterly report of system use

Once per quarter

Section 3.3 Via email to COR and POCs

30 days after the end of each quarter

4 Meetings or Discussions

Meetings or discussions up to four times per year

4x/year Section 3.4 Presence Scheduled date

1. The contractor shall ensure the MRL database is operational and accessible to authorized USDA users worldwide, at least 98% of the time, excluding planned outages for upgrades announced 30 days in advance, each not exceeding 36 hours in any 28-day period, and not exceeding 144 hours cumulatively per year. The contractor shall ensure that industry standard security is maintained to prevent unauthorized access to user data and maintain/update the security infrastructure as needed. The contractor shall ensure that the portal is compliant with Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, to the greatest extent technically practical.

2. The contractor shall ensure that the MRL data found in the database is current, and that at least 90% of updates to MRL policies are reflected within 14 days of promulgation.

3. For each quarter ending March 31, June 30, September 30, and December 31, the contractor shall provide to USDA a usage report not more than 30 days following the end of the quarter. The information to be included is described in Section 3.2.

4. When requested by USDA, the contractor shall be present (virtually or in-person, as agreed) at meetings or discussions, up to four times per year. This is described in Section 3.3.

6.0 Travel

USDA does not anticipate contractor travel pursuant to this contract. Travel costs are not reimbursable.

7.0 Contractor’s Key Personnel

USDA does not identify any key personnel for this contract. Offerors are expected to demonstrate that they have the ability to recruit and retain qualified personnel, who have specialized expertise in understanding and interpreting MRLs, with a sufficient level of effort to support this scope.

8.0 Security Requirements

All work under this contract is Unclassified. No specific security requirements are applicable to this contract, beyond the industry standard requirements that would ordinarily apply to any such contractor-owned, contractor-operated system.

The contractor shall ensure that usernames and passwords are stored securely to prevent unauthorized access to the credentials. Inasmuch as the USDA eAuthentication SSOs are used for access, the contractor shall ensure that any applicable security requirements are met.

9.0 Data Rights

The contractor retains rights to data developed under this contract. The government retains a perpetual, irrevocable, royalty-free right to such data for official (i.e., non-commercial) use. The government may, in the ordinary course of business, make direct references to individual data points stored in the database.

10.0 Section 508 – Electronic and Information Technology Standards Pursuant to Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the contractor shall ensure, to the greatest extent technically practical, that the system is accessible to persons with disabilities, including but not limited to persons who require the use of screen readers to navigate websites, and persons who are unable to use a mouse for navigation. More information about Section 508, including current standards, can be found at https://www.section508.gov/develop/web-content/

11.0 Place of Performance

All work shall be performed consistent with the offeror’s normal business practices and policies; work at government facilities will not be authorized, except as may occasionally occur pursuant to Section 3.4.

12.0 Anticipated Period of Performance

Base Period: 08/13/2025 – 08/12/2026 Option Year 1: 08/13/2026 – 08/12/2027 Option Year 2: 08/13/2027 – 08/12/2028 Option Year 3: 08/13/2028 – 08/12/2029 Option Year 4: 08/13/2029 – 08/12/2030 https://www.section508.gov/develop/web-content/ https://www.section508.gov/develop/web-content/