MINUTES_SPL90015R0001.docx

MINUTES OF THE PRE-PROPOSAL CONFERENCE, March 11th, 2015, 11:00 a.m.

RFP No. SPL900R15R0001

Solicitation Number S-PL90015R0001- Life Insurance Services for Locally Employed Staff of the U.S. Mission in Poland.

INTRODUCTION

The Contracting Officer, Christina Lim, welcomed all attendees and introduced the following Embassy representatives to the pre-proposal conference:

Marek Wojcik - Human Resources Office/COR Malgorzata Rosinska – GSO Procurement Bogumila Labinska – GSO Procurement

The Contracting Officer, Christina Lim, informed attendees that statements made at the conference do NOT change the solicitation. If any changes to the solicitation are needed they will be made by issuance of a written amendment to the solicitation.

The following sections of the solicitation were highlighted:

In order for a proposal to be considered, an offeror must complete and submit the following:

· SF-33

· Section B, Pricing Schedule

· Section B, Retention Amounts in B.7.

· Section K, Representations and Certifications

· Additional information as required in Section L.

· Offers due date/local time: March 31st, 2015, 4 p.m.

· Electronic submissions will not be accepted

· Offers must be submitted to the:

American Embassy Warsaw, General Services Office, ul. Piekna 14A, 00-539 Warszawa

Section B – Pricing Schedule

· Section B, Pricing Schedule; Base year plus four (4) one-year option years. The rates for option years must be in the offer and are not subject to renegotiation after the contract is signed. The Government is not obligated to exercise all options.

· Value added tax: the Contractor shall include VAT as a separate charge line item in Section B.

· Payments for premiums will be paid in the same currency that is used to award the contract. All benefits shall be paid in local currency (Polish Zloty).

Human Resources Office – Contracting Officer Representative, Marek Wojcik, explained the insurance coverage and benefits’ plan and stressed that offerors must quote only those benefits which are defined in Section B and C of the solicitation document. The proposals, which contain more benefits (even if there is no increase in cost) or fewer benefits than those stated in the solicitation, may be deemed technically unacceptable.

The Contracting Officer, Christina Lim, referenced FAR 52.222-50 COMBATING TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS and stressed its importance. She also explained, that clause 52.217-9, Option to Extend the Term of the Contract, gives the government the unilateral right to exercise the option years.

Special attention was given to the Section K - REPRESENTATIONS, CERTIFICATIONS, AND OTHER STATEMENTS OF OFFERORS. The Contracting Officer stressed that offerors should fill out only those that are applicable.

Additionally, it was said that before signing the contract, Offerors are required to obtain a DATA UNIVERSAL NUMBERING SYSTEM (DUNS) number and register in the System for Award Management (SAM) database, as instructed in Section K.5., 52.204-8 Annual Representations and Certifications (NOV 2014). The source reference was provided at http://www.statebuy.state.gov/pd/Pages/AdditionalVendorReg.aspx The Contracting Officer explained that the U.S. Government intends to award a contract to the responsible company submitting an acceptable offer at the lowest price. The contract may be awarded based on initial proposals, without holding discussions, although the Contracting Officer may hold discussions with companies in the competitive range if there is a need to do so.

Questions:

The attached questions were asked during the conference or prior to the conference.

CONCLUSION:

The offers, which do not meet the deadline, shall not be considered. The offers must be provided in English. All prospective offerors receive the same information; and no offeror has access to information that other offerors lack. This memo and Q&As are hereby posted on FedBizOpps.

The discussion concluded and attendees were thanked for their presence and expression of interests in serving the U.S. Government. The meeting was adjourned.

Sincerely, /s/ Christina Lim Contracting Officer Attachment: Q&As