RFP_Amendment_2_-_Attachment_1.pdf

Attachment 1

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

Trade‐Related Assistance for Development (TRADE)

Question 1: Can offerors be provided with the flexibility of entering into Cost‐Plus‐Fixed‐Fee (CPFF) or Time and Materials (T&M) type subcontracts with local organization when organization’s accounting system is adequate for the type of subcontract?

Response 1: Yes, provided that the justification be explained in the budget narrative.

Question 2: Where Section L.8(g) specified minimum key personnel composition with Component assignments for the COP and DCOP, can the offeror propose a different task assignment for its key personnel?

Response 2: Yes, to provide offerors the leeway on task assignments to the key personnel.

Question 3: Can the offeror propose less than $1million for the Special Activity Cost and still be deemed fully responsive?

Response 3: No, the RFP specified the plug‐in figure for the annual estimate or a maximum of

$1million for 5 years.

Question 4: To what extent does the project funds for information technology related to Task 4?

Response 4: The TRADE Project is purely technical assistance to the government and that no substantial fund support for this task is envisioned. To wit, no IT procurement for Task 4 shall be covered under the ensuing contract.

Question 5: Where the Performance Management Plan and the Implementation Plan are required annexes to the technical proposal and not part of the 40 page limitation requirement, can the offeror include in the main text of the technical proposal discussion on the aforementioned annexes?

Response 5: Yes, for as long as the main text of the technical proposal does not exceed the page limitation, inclusion of summary discussions referring to the annexes are allowed.

Question 6: Is there an evaluation value for the Implementation Plan

Response 6: The Implementation Plan shall be evaluated as part of the technical approach to which an overall evaluation value was assigned with.

Question 7: Is the requirement for Section L.5(c)(2)(x) separate Project Implementation Plan from

Detailed First Year Plan?

Response 7: Yes.

Question 8: If the volume and file size of SF 294 report are too voluminous and/or file size‐heavy, can a selected number of recent contracts’ SF 294 be submitted instead?

Response 8: Offerors may opt to choose upto 10 recent and relevant contracts’ SF‐294.

Question 9: Under Section L.8(i)(1) of the RFP, can the requirement for 3 contacts be reduced to a minimum of 2?

Response 9: No.

Question 10: Under Section L.8(i)(1) of the RFP, can the threshold for subcontractors be increased from 10% of the proposal to 20%?

Response 10: The RFP is modified to increase the requirement of Section L.8(j)(1) from subcontractors cost exceeding 10% of the total proposed offer to 20% of the total proposed offer.

Question 11: Is there a plug‐in figure for Grants?

Response 11: No.

Question 12: Does the information in Section L.9(d)(1) supercede the clause in Section I.5?

Response 12: Both Section L.9(d)(1) and Section I.5 are intended to complement each other.

Question 13: Is the required certification that the “proposed personnel were not suggested or requested by USAID must be included in the cost proposal” for each personnel or can it be one certification for all personnel?

Response 13: One certification for all personnel will suffice.

Question 14: What entails a travel chart?

Response 14: There is no specific template/format to present the travel chart but offerors should present in detail the quantities per itinerary (origin‐destination), duration per personnel, distributed per year.

Question 15: Can USAID waive the requirement for US$ equivalent column for local subcontract budgets?

Response 15: No.

Question 16: When is the anticipated program start date?

Response 16: The anticipated program start date is January 2013.

Question 17: Is there no key personnel qualification?

Response 17: Offerors are required to provide for the qualification for the key personnel proposed.

Question 18: In light of Section I.5(f) specifying “one annual salary increase of not more than 5% may be granted after the employee’s completion of each twelve month period of satisfactory services under the contract”, does this supercede the contractor’s established policy of effective salary adjustments every January 1st of each year?

Response 18: Where the anticipated program start date to be in January 2013, the RFP clause will then coincide with the company policy. But should there be a difference (in cases where other offeror’s salary adjustment periods differ), then the pro‐rated rate adjustment should apply for the portion of the year consumed/considered for evaluation and adjustment application.

Question 19: Can USAID disclose salary ranges for FSN salary grades of the Philippine Mission Local

Compensation Plan?

Response 19: The following annual salary ranges of a 40‐hour workweek for FSN levels 1 to 13 is provided as guide to Offerors. In addition, refer to Section I.5(b)(3) for guidance on the requirements for salaries above FSN 13.

Notes:

(a) The above rates are basic and do not include fringe benefits. Fringe benefits amount to

P18,130.00 per employee.

(b) The FSN‐13 grade is an exception grade. This position requires substantially greater knowledge, skills and abilities than that normally required by the FSN‐12 position. The responsibilities assigned to a position and the knowledge, skills and abilities required for their satisfactory performance clearly and substantially exceed the FSN position classification criteria, guidelines, and published standards for the FSN‐12 level. Positions which meet this exceptional circumstance may be classified to the FSN‐13 level.

Question 20: Are offerors required to seek CO approval for compensation plan if personnel are compensated on individual salary history or current company labor rates?

Response 20: Yes, the purpose of the compensation plan is to delineate the respective salary range limits for each position/specialization and grades. Approval of such would give the contractor the leeway to mobilize non‐key personnel, instead of seeking salary approval for all personnel prior to mobilization.

Question 21: There seems to be a conflict between Section H.5 Confidentiality & Ownership of

Intellectual Property with FAR clause 52.217‐14 Rights in Data.

Response 21: There is no conflict, both clauses complement each other.

Question 22: Can the offeror present the budget in an alternate format consistent with company accounting policy and procedures as against the defined budget breakdown information in Section L.9(e)?

Grade Low High

FSN‐13* 1,276,524 1,978,610

FSN‐12 1,090,935 1,690,952

FSN‐11 932,329 1,445,105

FSN‐10 689,981 1,069,470

FSN‐09 539,399 836,069

FSN‐08 433,055 671,238

FSN‐07 363,904 564,049

FSN‐06 322,148 499,336

FSN‐05 289,543 448,801

FSN‐04 261,563 405,421

FSN‐03 223,358 346,206

FSN‐02 201,347 312,095

FSN‐01 134,244 208,087

Annual Basic Salary Ranges

(in Philippine Pesos)

Response 22: No. The purpose of directing a breakdown template is for USAID to make a facilitated evaluation of costs and easily compare these among offers, thus the requirement.

Question 23: Are offerors required to submit detailed budget (using template in Section L.9(e)) per component?

Response 23: At a minimum, the annual budget breakdown will suffice. But in light of the requirement to roll‐up the budget in a summary using the development focused budget template, then it is anticipated that offerors will make component‐specific budget breakdowns to easily roll it up to the DFB summary. Offerors can opt to submit component specific budget breakdown or not for as long as it follows the template in Section L.9(e).

Question 24: What information are required under the compensation plan for submission?

Response 24: Compensation plan usually includes salary rate ranges for different levels of staffing

(i.e., area of responsibilities) and the accompanying description for each level.

Question 25: Are the letters of commitment required for both long‐term and short‐term personnel?

Response 25: Letters of commitment are required for key personnel and other long‐term technical personnel.

Question 26: Can USAID provide access to the final reports of relevant projects and others that would serve as background reading for this Project?

Response 26: Final reports of relevant project references can be found in USAID Knowledge Services

Center which houses the Development Experience Clearinghouse (https://dec.usaid.gov/dec/home/Default.aspx). The documents under this site are the only documents that are publicly available for reference.

Question 27: Is there a uniform exchange rate (PhP to US$) for budgeting purposes.

Response 27: For uniform budgeting base, offerors are required to use the exchange rate of

PhP41=US$1

Question 28: What’s the difference between “Participant Training” from “Other Training and

Conferences for other than Participant Training”?

Response 28: ADS 253 provides extensive description for Participant Training. You can download the specific guidance in http://transition.usaid.gov/policy/ads/200/253.pdf. Any type of training activity not covered under the description shall then be classified under the “Other Training and Conferences for other than Participant Training”.

Question 29: Are local organizations budgeted as direct costs?

Response 29: Section L.9(e) presents the required budget breakdown for which subcontracts are listed among the direct cost items. Furthermore, subcontractor budgets would have to follow the same budget breakdown from which the total subcontractor amount will be reflected in the subcontractor budget of the prime contractor/offeror.