Questions_Courier_Contract.pdf

1 PRICING

a) The contract pricing for optional years is to take into account inflation; will there be any clause in the contract to protect against exchange rate fluctuations?

There is no exchange rate provision in the contract. You will need to set up your proposal accordingly.

b) What will be the currency to be used when quoting?

You will need to quote in Malawian kwacha.

c) How can we quote in Malawi kwacha considering the fluctuation of the kwacha?

You will need to take the kwacha into account when you are considering your proposal.

2 EVALUATION FACTORS

How will the Embassy determine the technically acceptable bid?

The Embassy will evaluate based on the criteria in Section 3.

3 BID SUBMISSION

When submitting the bids, what is the required number of bids (Copies) to be submitted?

We need three copies of the bids.

4 TIME SENSITIVENESS

Is time sensitiveness related to our service levels since we provide more than two services?

Time sensitiveness will be related to service levels if time sensitive expectations are not met.

5 DISCOUNTING

Taking into consideration the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) on discounting, is this acceptable by the Embassy?

Your rates should reflect any discounts. We don’t anticipate receiving additional discounts.

6 SCOPE OF WORK

It seems this contract is mostly for outbound packages, does it any way include in bound packages as well?

The Embassy receives diplomatic pouches twice a week via South African Airways and currently retrieves the pouches from Air Cargo at LLW, paying approximately 15,000 kwacha for the handling of each shipment. The Embassy may exercise the incoming package option in the new courier contract and ask that the contractor retrieve twenty to forty pouches per week with each shipment typically weighing 200 to 300 kilograms. Shipments are heavier near the holidays with fifty to sixty pouches per week weighing

300 to 500 kilograms per shipment.

7 CONTRACT ITEMS

What are the specific items to be involved in this contract since other items are prohibited?

The United States Department of State has a diplomatic pouch facility near Dulles airport, Washington

DC, where every item to be sent by pouch is x-rayed and scanned with state-of-the-art equipment. We do not include dangerous items within our pouches, cannot declare the actual contents under the Vienna conventions, and do not prepare customs forms since the pouches are duty free, tax free, and must not be inspected invasively, x-rayed, or opened in accordance with international agreements. We expect outbound pouches to also be treated as inviolable and never x-rayed.

8. WAREHOUSING

In terms of storage/ warehousing of the items involved, will there be a need to outsource the warehouse to the service providers or the service will still be provided by the in-house staff?

Except for occasional weekend or overnight storage of diplomatic pouches (70 square meters maximum), we do not anticipate warehousing of bulky items.

9. BIDDING RESULTS

When should we expect the results of this bidding process to be communicated to all bidders?

The Embassy hopes to complete the bidding process within three weeks of receiving proposals. However, that is not a hard commitment.

10. Pre-Paid or Freight Collect

Can you tell me if these shipments will be pre-paid out of Malawi, or if they will billed Freight Collect or

Third Parry to the US?

No – they are post-paid out of Malawi. We pay for our shipments monthly.

11. Incumbent

I was wondering if this is a new requirement or if there is an incumbent contract for the effort. If there is an incumbent, could you please provide the Contractor’s name and the Contract ID?

There is an incumbent. The incumbent is Fedex Malawi. The contract ID is SMI60014C0001.