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Attachment A
RFP SOL-111-12-000001, Amendment 1
TAX REFORM PROJECT
Request for Clarifications
| 1 |
| Page 73 (d) states the budget must be for the contract period of 24 months or 2 years. Please confirm the period of performance is 48 months or four years and the budget should be for the entire period of performance. |
| The period of performance is 48 months or 4 years and the detailed budget must be submitted for the entire period of performance. |
| 2 |
| Could USAID please confirm its instruction in L.15(i) that Section K need not be completed by non-major subcontractors? Only the offeror and major subcontractors are required to include Section K in the initial proposal. Is this a correct interpretation of L.15(i)? |
| Only major subcontractors whose total cost exceeds 15% of the offer’s bottom line total cost, including fixed fee, shall complete ORCA or Section K, "Representations, Certifications, and Other Statements of Offeror,” and sign and date on the last page in the space provided.” |
Also, past performance information from subcontractors whose proposed cost exceeds 15 percent of the total proposed budget shall be submitted.
| 3 |
| Page 75 of the RFP (h) indicates that for CCNs, the salary in blocks 6, 14 and 15 must be stated in US Dollars. Could USAID reconsider revising this line and allow offerors to submit EBDs for CCNs in local currency? |
| The offerors are free to submit Biographical Data Sheets for CCNs in US Dollars or Armenian Drams in blocks 6, 14 and 15. |
However, the budget tables must present the proposed compensation to CCNs in US dollars. Also, the budget notes shall indicate the exchange rate used for preparing the cost proposal.
| 4 |
| Page 74 of the RFP (Fringe Benefits) requests offerors to disclose the total cost of the non-productive workdays (direct or indirect billed). Can USAID please clarify the purpose of this request? Can offerors instead submit an LOE table in person-years for comparison purposes among different bidders total LOE? |
| The requested information will assist USAID in determining best value. Offerors may also submit LOE tables showing productive workdays. |
| 5 |
| Could USAID please provide to offerors the Final Report from TASTAR as an Annex to the RFP? It is not currently available on the Development Experience Clearinghouse. |
| The TASTAR’s final report and other relevant documents can be found at the following link: http://armenia.usaid.gov/en/node/48 |
| 6 |
| In Section F.7 Key Personnel, USAID names the Chief of Party and three Component Lead positions as Key. Later in Section L.13, USAID says that the Chief of Party can be considered for Component 1 Lead. Would USAID consider alternative staffing structures for Key Personnel, e.g. can the COP be considered for any of the three Component Lead positions? |
The only option USAID considers is combining of the COP and Component Lead 1 positions, given the importance of the Component 1 for successful achievement of the project results.
| 7 |
| In Section F.8 Authorized Work Week, it states that 6-day work weeks can be approved for short-term consultants with prior approval of the COTR. Would USAID offer a blanket 6 day work week approval for short-term consultants? |
| 6-day work week will be considered on a case-by-case basis. The contractor will have to demonstrate an overall cost savings to obtain approval. |
| 8 |
| Section L.13 on page 67 refers to the importance of transferring ownership to local organizations: "Central to this are details regarding local implementing partner roles and responsibilities and a phased plan for transfer of responsibilities from the international to the local partner." Would USAID clarify the degree of control it desires to be assumed by the local implementing partner? |
| USAID anticipates a full degree of control to be assumed by the local implementing partner through phased and gradual transfer of responsibilities from the international to the local partner. |
| 9 |
| As specified in the RFP, proposals will be evaluated on innovative approaches and activities, such as use of local partners, to achieve desired outcomes. Please confirm that USAID does not want or expect any local associations and non-governmental organizations to enter into exclusive commitments with a particular offeror. |
| USAID discourages entering into exclusive commitment with any local association and non-government organizations. By mandating this, USAID will ensure that the best local expertise will be available at any stage of project implementation. |
| 10 |
| Section C.1.A. (page 9) lists recent reform achievements of the Government of Armenia (GOAM). Among these achievements are 1) The Tax Administration Strategy and Action Plan to Reform SRC for 2009 – 2012; 2) GOAM order in 2009 for the establishment of an unified electronic tax administration system at SRC; and 3) Amendments to tax laws passed by the National Assembly to streamline tax payer reporting thereby reducing tax compliance costs. Can USAID provide these documents? |
| For all relevant strategic legislative documents and Government’s decisions please refer to www.taxservice.am Please note that the Tax Administration Strategy and Action Plan dates are 2008-2011. |
| 11 |
| Section F.7.B. (page 22) states, “No replacement of personnel shall be made by the Contractor without the written consent of the Contracting Officer.” Please confirm that this refers only to key personnel. |
| No replacement of key personnel shall be made by the Contractor without the written consent of the Contracting Officer as stated under F.7.E. Also, a rate approval request should be submitted to USAID for replacing personnel other than key personnel as well as for hiring personnel and consultants not identified initially in the proposal. |
| 12 |
| Section H.6 (page 33) specifies the Geo Code as 000 however Section H.9 (page 34) states 000 and 110 are the authorized Geo Code on this procurement. Please clarify. |
| The Authorized Geo Codes under this RFP are 000 and 110. |
| 13 |
| It is our understanding that Section I.5 Communications Product (OCT 1994) (page 42) clause expired in May 2006 and is no longer valid. Please confirm. |
| Disregard the Section I.5 Communications Product (OCT 1994). |
| 14 |
| Section L.7 of the RFP (pages 62-63) gives proposal submission delivery instructions. Please confirm that with an email submission that no hard copies are required. |
| USAID confirms that with an email submission no hard copies are required. |
| 15 |
| Section L.12.d. (page 65) states “The oral presentation is not intended to not change the offeror’s proposal as initially received.” Should this state “The oral presentation is not intended to change the offeror’s proposal as initially received”? Please clarify. |
USAID confirms that “The oral presentation is not intended to change the offeror’s proposal as initially received”.
| 16 |
| Section L.13 (3) (page 69-70) outlines education requirements for key personnel. Can years of experience substitute for a Master’s Degree? And if so, how many? |
| USAID requires Master’s Degree as the education requirement and experience as specified in the RFP. |
| 17 |
| Section L.13 (3) (page 69) regarding Key Personnel, states, “Employment information should include supervisory contact details.” It also states “Offerors shall also submit a minimum of three (3) references of professional contacts within the last three years.” Please confirm that the “supervisory contact details” refer to the required three professional references only, and not for all prior employments. |
| USAID confirms that the “supervisory contact details” refer to the required minimum of three references of professional contacts with the last three years. |
| 18 |
| Section L.13 (3) (page 69) states that letters of commitment for key personnel indicate his/her “availability to serve in the state position in terms of days after award”. It also states that LOCs should confirm key personnel’s “present intention to serve in the state position immediately upon award” (page 70). Please clarify the maximum number of days which qualifies as being “immediately upon award”. |
| USAID anticipates the availability of all key personnel to start the mobilization and complete is within a month period. |
| 19 |
| Section L.13 (3) (page 70) states that the Component 3 Team Leader, “should have 10 years of professional experience fostering the discourse on tax policy and administration matters among the government, civil society and private sector representatives”. Is the Component 3 Team Leader required to have 10 full years of experience specifically spent fostering discourse in all of these areas, or should the Component 3 Team Leader have 10 years of experience which includes experience in these areas? |
| USAID requires 10 years of relevant experience as specified in RFP. |
| 20 |
| Are key personnel required to be resident in Armenia for the full-term of the project? |
| Key personnel are not required to be resident for the full term of the project. The potential implementation partner must ensure a gradual transfer of roles and responsibilities to local staff members. |
| 21 |
| Please specify the anticipated start date of this project that an interested contractor should use for budgeting purposes. |
| The anticipated start of the contract is April - May 2012. |
| 22 |
| May we use 8 or 9 point font in charts such as management structure organizational charts? |
| Offerors shall ensure that charts such as management structure organizational charts not included in the 25 page limitation for the technical proposal are readable. Thus, we encourage the use of bigger size fonts. |
| 23 |
| May we use 8 or 9 point font in tables such as the work plan and PMP? |
| Offerors shall use only letter or A4 size pages with fonts no smaller than 10 for work plan and PMP. |
| 24 |
| RFP Section L.2.(d) page 59, L.6.(e).(1), L.6. (g) page 62 and L.15 (a) part 1 page 73 |
The RFP lists that the offeror shall submit the cover page “Section A” of this solicitation “Standard form (SF)33” with blocks 13-18 completed. However, the SF33 was not included in the RFP or attachments. Please kindly provide the SF33 form.
SF 33 is available at: http://www.gsa.gov/portal/forms/download/884DE4C90A9F054C85256A1F005ABDB1
| 25 |
| Section L.13 on page 69 of the RFP instructs offerors to provide signed letters of commitment for each key personnel candidate. Would USAID kindly confirm that it does not require or prefer exclusive commitments from local key and non-key staff, with the exception of the chief of party? |
| USAID requires that all key personnel sign exclusive commitment letter |
| 26 |
| Section L.13 on page 71 instructs offerors to provide the most recent SF 294 “Subcontracting Report for Individual Contracts” for each contract against which they were required to report for the past three years. Given USAID’s preference for electronic submission and the fact that our SF 294s for the past three years total more than 500 pages and consist of more than 10 electronic files of at least 2 MB each, we respectfully request the option of selecting 10 relevant SF 294 forms for USAID’s review. |
| All relevant SF 294 “Subcontracting Report for Individual Contracts” for the past three years shall be submitted. |
| 27 |
| Please confirm each of the taxes and duties that are in scope for this RFP? |
| The scope refers to a mix of direct and indirect taxes both in terms of policy development and tax administration point of view. |
