Minutes_of_Shipping_Pre-Proposal_Conf_Vienna-1.docx

Minutes of the Pre-quotation Conference for Shipping and Packing Services on January 11, 2013, 10:00 hrs at the Embassy of the United States of America

Solicitation Number: SAU900-13-R-0001

U.S. Government participants:

Hunter B. Chen/Contracting Officer Christine Baumgartner-Lemberger/Contracting Specialist Alfred Liebisch/Shipment Supervisor

Introduction:

The pre-proposal conference was conducted to provide prospective offerors the opportunity to understand post’s work requirements and provide clarifications regarding the solicitation.

The Contracting Officer welcomed all attendees and introduced all U.S. Government participants. The Contracting Officer’s Representative was present during the meeting to hear the questions asked and to provide answers to technical matters.

However, it was stressed that answers given during this conference are not legally binding. A copy of the minutes of the pre-proposal conference along with the questions and answers will be made available to all prospective offerors that have requested or received a copy of this solicitation whether they attended or not. The minutes will be posted on the FedBizOpps homepage: http://www.fbo.gov. Moreover, the deadline for additional questions is January 15, 2013. All questions should be received by then in order to receive answers.

Discussion of the Solicitation Package:

The Contracting Specialist, Christine Baumgartner-Lemberger, reiterated the most important provisions of this solicitation:

· Proposal submission due date and time will be on January 21, 2013, 4 p.m. local time as indicated in the solicitation cover page and SF1449 , block 8 to the address stated in block 9.

· Offerors should complete the proposal by following the instructions as listed in Section 3. Offerers are reminded that their proposal includes both price for the base year and all option years as well as technical documents.

· The basis for this contract is the U.S. Acquisition Law and jurisdiction for this contract is in Washington D.C. in lieu of Vienna.

· A precondition for receiving an award is that the offeror must prove that he is able to provide the services cited in the scope of work.

Section I:

· Type of Contract:

This is an indefinite delivery-indefinite quantity contract meaning that all quantities cited in the solicitation/contract are estimates only and do not bind the Government to order these quantities. However, the quantities provided are an average of the past 4 contract years.

There is a peak season every year during the summer months – especially in June and July when the majority of the diplomats move.

Offerors should consider that this contract is a firm-fixed price contract without economic adjustments. Only services outlined in the pricing section will be compensated for unless there is a written modification signed by the Contracting Officer. In urgent cases the Contracting Officer is authorized to place orders orally. However, any such oral order has to be followed by a written order within 48 hours.

· Contract duration: 1 base year plus 4 option years to be unilaterally determined by the U.S.Government.

· Delivery Schedule: especially important is that biographic information of employees be provided for security purposes.

· Offerors have to proof that they are properly insured as outlined in the solicitation.

· Project Manager: is required to be fluent in English

Attachment I:

Contains the statement of work. The contract contains all incoming and outgoing shipments within the geographical area of Vienna.

Section II:

Contains standardized contract clauses. Most of them are cited by reference. Full text of these contract clauses can be found on the webpage cited in this section.

Availability of funds for the next fiscal year. Funds are provided only till the end of each fiscal year, i.e. September 30 of each year. It could happen that payments might be delayed if there is no agreement on the budget.

We also need to stress the importance of the contracting clause 52.222-50 – Combating in Trafficking in Persons. The Contractor needs to be knowledgeable about local (Austrian) labor laws and is required to obey it.

Section III:

Solicitation Provisions:

Offerors shall fill out the blanks in the cover page prices and in the Representations & Certifications.

Offerors shall demonstrate their ability to perform work by providing the information cited in Section 3.

It is especially important for us that offerors are able to provide evidence of their ISO certification.

Section IV:

The award of the contract is based on the lowest priced, technically acceptable offeror who is a responsible contractor.

The selection criteria are listed in Section 4.

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS:

Q1) In Mr Chen’s cover letter he mentions that the following docs should be completed:

SF-1449

Section 1, Block 23 Do they refer to two separate documents or the same?

A1) It should actually read: SF-1449 and the continuation to 1449 – Section 1, Block 20 (instead of 23)

Q2) On SF-1449, Block 23: What is „Unit price”? Total price for the year? (On the pricing sheet „Unit price” refers to price per 100kgs or cbm).

A2) Please see A1 above, block 23 was an error it should read block 20.

Q3) Unpacking Services (incl. possible customs clearance and removal/collection of debris after the completion of the delivery/unpacking) How many customs clearance would you say there are?

A3) Approx. 25

Q4) Delivery of privately Owned Vehicle: Delivery means to The Embassy/GSO or to the residence of the owner? In case of packout: POV pick up is from residence or from The Embassy/GSO?

A4) 95% of the POVs need to be delivered/picked up to/from the Chancery, the remaining 5 % to/from the residence.

Q5) Freight Handling/Transportation of General Effects/Cargo: loading/unloading included?

A5) Yes

Q6) Transportation of Safes/Filing cabinets: 1.loading/unloading included? 2. If yes, up to what floor usually? 3. If elevator is not to be used, would this be an extra handling?

A6) Q1) Yes Q2) usually safes/filing cabinets need to be moved two floors Q3) no

Q7) Inter-European relocations: Packing at origin: Lift van is to be used for this?

A7) No. The preferred type of transport container is a swap body container, loaded in front of employees residence at origin and unloaded in front of employee’s residence at destination.

Q8) Do we need to register for „Data Universal Numbering System”? Or is this valid for US origin companies? Also CCR and SAM? (Subpart 4.11 mentions that „Awards made to foreign vendors for work performed outside the United States” So based on this are we right to say that none of this is required?

A8) (b) (1) The Contractor shall be registered in the SAM database prior to

Q9) Do we need to fill out an OMB Standard Form LLL, Disclosure of Lobbying Activities?

A9) This only applies if lobbying contact was made with respect to this contract.

Q10) Section 5 /52.212-3: do we need to fill out paragraphs (c) through (o)? If yes what is to be written to (i)(1)?

A10)Yes. (i) 1 is not applicable. (as this is a services contract and no child labor is involved.)

Q11) Furthermore, the Contracting Officer has not checked any of (k)(1) or (k)(2). Does this mean that neither of this applies?

A11) k (2) was now checked by the Contracting Officer. Offerors need to check the items in k (2) as applicable.

Q12) Is the amount of 25 shipments cited in (Q 3) above an average for import and export?

A12) Yes, this is an average number for import and export.

Q13) Are the FAIM and ISO certifications still required? Is this only a local requirement or Government- wide requirement?

A 13) Yes, both certifications are still required. This is a local requirement.

Q14) When will a decision regarding this contract be made?

A14) We anticipate that it will be made before February 1.

Q15) Is it possible to see the actual ranking of our bid?

A15) No. We do not reveal the actual standing of the bids.

Q16) In earlier solicitations you included a ratio between price and technical part of 60:40. Is this still like that?

A16) No, like stated in the solicitation in Section 4 – the Government intends to award a contract resulting from this solicitation to the lowest priced, technically acceptable offeror.

Q17) When can we expect the answers of the questions?

A17)Deadline for submitting questions will be Tuesday, January 15th. Please submit your questions to the following e-mail address: BaumgartnerCX@state.gov .We plan to have the answers till Thursday, January 17th.

Q18) By what means will we receive the questions and answers?

A18) The document will be posted on the Federal Business Opportunities homepage: www.fbo.gov and can be found by entering the solicitation number. Besides that all offerors who were invited to the solicitation by e-mail will also receive an e-mail.

Q19) If I remember correct in Hungary the US Embassy shipping tender is valid for 2 years. Is this a special case that in Austria the tender is for 5 years?

A19) It is up to each Mission to choose a contract duration suitable to the locality. Tri-Missions Austria has selected one year plus four options years.

****FAR CLAUSE PROVIDED IN FULL TEXT:

52.204-99 SYSTEM FOR AWARD MANAGEMENT REGISTRATION (AUGUST 2012) (DEVIATION)

(a) Definitions. As used in this clause- "Central Contractor Registration (CCR) database" means the retired primary Government repository for Contractor information required for the conduct of business with the Government.

"Commercial and Government Entity (CAGE) code" means-

(1) A code assigned by the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) Logistics Information Service to identify a commercial or Government entity; or

(2) A code assigned by a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization that DLA records and maintains in the CAGE master file. This type of code is known as an "NCAGE code."

"Data Universal Numbering System (DUNS) number" means the 9-digit number assigned by Dun and Bradstreet, Inc. (D&B) to identify unique business entities.

"Data Universal Numbering System+4 (DUNS+4) number" means the DUNS number assigned by D&B plus a 4-character suffix that may be assigned by a business concern. (D&B has no affiliation with this 4-character suffix.) This 4-character suffix may be assigned at the discretion of the business concern to establish additional SAM records for identifying alternative Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) accounts (see the FAR at Subpart 32.11) for the same concern.

"Registered in the SAM database" means that-

(1) The Contractor has entered all mandatory information, including the DUNS number or the DUNS+4 number, into the SAM database;

(2) The Contractor's CAGE code is in the SAM database; and

(3) The Government has validated all mandatory data fields, to include validation of the Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN) with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), and has marked the record "Active". The Contractor will be required to provide consent for TIN Attachment, Page 1 of 4 validation to the Government as a part of the SAM registration process.

"System for Award Management (SAM)" means the primary Government repository for prospective federal awardee information and the centralized Government system for certain contracting, grants, and other assistance related processes. It includes-

(1) Data collected from prospective federal awardees required for the conduct of business with the Government;

(2) Prospective contractor submitted annual representations and certifications in accordance with FAR Subpart 4.12; and

(3) The list of all parties suspended, proposed for debarment, debarred, declared ineligible, or excluded or disqualified under the nonprocurement common rule by agencies, Government corporations , or by the Government Accountability Office.

(b) (1) The Contractor shall be registered in the SAM database prior to submitting an invoice and through final payment of any contract, basic agreement, basic ordering agreement, or blanket purchasing agreement resulting from this solicitation.

(2) The SAM registration shall be for the same name and address identified on the contract, with its associated CAGE code and DUNS or DUNS+4.

(3) If indicated by the Government during performance, registration in an alternate system may be required in lieu of SAM.

(c) If the Contractor does not have a DUNS number, it should contact Dun and Bradstreet directly to obtain one.

(1) A contractor may obtain a DUNS number-

(i) Via the internet at http://fedgov.dnb.com/webform or if the contractor does not have internet access, it may call Dun and Bradstreet at 1-866-705-5711 if located within the United States; or

(ii) If located outside the United States, by contacting the local Dun and Bradstreet office. The contractor should indicate that it is a contractor for a U.S. Government contract when contacting the local Dun and Bradstreet office.

(2) The Contractor should be prepared to provide the following information:

(i) Company legal business name.

(ii) Trade style, doing business, or other name by which your entity is commonly recognized.

(iii) Company physical street address, city, state and Zip Code.

(iv) Company mailing address, city, state and Zip Code (if separate from physical).

(v) Company telephone number.

(vi) Date the company was started.

(vii) Number of employees at your location.

(viii) Chief executive officer/key manager.

(ix) Line of business (industry).

(x) Company Headquarters name and address (reporting relationship within your entity).

(d) Reserved.

(e) Processing time for registration in SAM, which normally takes five business days, should be taken into consideration when registering. Contractors who are not already registered should consider applying for registration at least two weeks prior to invoicing.

(f) The Contractor is responsible for the accuracy and completeness of the data within the SAM database, and for any liability resulting from the Government's reliance on inaccurate or incomplete data. To remain registered in the SAM database after the initial registration, the Contractor is required to review and update on an annual basis from the date of initial registration or subsequent updates its information in the SAM database to ensure it is current, accurate and complete. Updating information in the SAM does not alter the terms and conditions of this contract and is not a substitute for a properly executed contractual document.

(g) (1)(i) If a Contractor has legally changed its business name, "doing business as" name, or division name (whichever is shown on the contract), or has transferred the assets used in performing the contract, but has not completed the necessary requirements regarding novation and change-of-name agreements in Subpart 42.12, the Contractor shall provide the responsible Contracting Officer sufficient documentation to support the legally changed name with a minimum of one business day's written notification of its intention to-

(A) Change the name in the SAM database;

(B) Comply with the requirements of subpart 42.12 of the FAR; and

(C) Agree in writing to the timeline and procedures specified by the responsible Contracting Officer.

(ii) If the Contractor fails to comply with the requirements of paragraph (g) (1) (i) of this clause, or fails to perform the agreement at paragraph (g) (1) (i) (C) of this clause, and, in the absence of a properly executed novation or change-of-name agreement, the SAM information that shows the Contractor to be other than the Contractor indicated in the contract will be considered to be incorrect information within the meaning of the "Suspension of Payment" paragraph of the electronic funds transfer (EFT) clause of this contract.

(2) The Contractor shall not change the name or address for EFT payments or manual payments, as appropriate, in the SAM record to reflect an assignee for the purpose of assignment of claims (see FAR Subpart 32.8, Assignment of Claims). Assignees shall be separately registered in the SAM database. Information provided to the Contractor's SAM record that indicates payments, including those made by EFT, to an ultimate recipient other than that Contractor will be considered to be incorrect information within the meaning of the "Suspension of payment" paragraph of the EFT clause of this contract.

(h) Contractors may obtain information on registration and annual confirmation requirements via the SAM accessed through https://www.acquisition.gov or by calling 866-606-8220, or 334-206-7828 for international calls.