FAR 13 Limited Source Justification under SAT_Redact_Redacted.pdf

United States Department of Agriculture Limited Source/Brand Name Justification

FAR 13.106-1(b)(1) – Simplified Acquisitions Control No. (if applicable) ______________________

1. Identification of the agency and the contracting activity.

USDA APHIS PPQ

2150 CENTRE AVE

Fort Collins CO 80526

USDA APHIS Contracting

250 MARQUETTE AVE

SUITE410

MINNEAPOLIS MN

2. Description of supply or service required to meet the agency’s needs.

The Thomas Reuters CLEAR S2S integration via API provides live comprehensive investigative data tools, allowing users to obtain important information on individuals and US-based companies. It allows users to obtain information on persons, assets, identities, businesses and business affiliations, and adverse information. This includes access to credit header data, vehicle registration data, and phone data-including cell phones, and most current address available. The Public Record Data Sets allows searches to be bundled into broad search types for person, businesses, asset, phone, license, and court records.

Open source publicly available data, as well as LexisNexis, and other commercially available data is used as supplemental and confirmatory information to support data obtained during physical inspections/surveys. Open source and commercially available data is also utilized for background information and analysis. Information is leveraged to identify potential violators, affiliations, or associations with known violators.

This purchase will cover the time period 01/01/2025 – 12/31/2025.

3. The rationale or circumstances for limiting competition.

There are three reasons the contracted purchase is capable only by Thomas Reuters CLEAR S2S integration via API. The first is due to the MRP license/software permanent exception approved in 2019. While the approval process has changed since 2019, any new license/software would need to go through the current process, and a contract cannot be awarded until the approval is received. This is something that only Thomas Reuters CLEAR already has and cannot be duplicated.

The second reason is the advantages Thomas Reuters CLEAR S2S integration has over other similar vendors to accomplish data triangulation to gain a more comprehensive understanding for background information and pathway analysis to identify movement of regulated agricultural products into and throughout the continental U.S. and island states and territories.

Information is leveraged to identify potential violators, affiliations, or associations with known violators. The following either do not exist with other options, are not the most current information, or a significantly improved with Thomas Reuters CLEAR:

Spouse/close associates for individuals Property Information Criminal history and court case information Business information Cell phone Information

The third reason is the cost benefit and technical advantages Thomas Reuters CLEAR has over other similar vendors. Two groups within the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) have already selected their new intelligence analysis platform for data analysis and investigations. This Enterprise-class software platform for data analysis enables organizations to generate better intelligence analysis products and accelerate investigations. Furthermore, the platform enables data-intensive organizations to blend all desired data from various internal and external sources into a unified view, such that they can instantly search, visualize, and collaboratively analyze all of their data through a comprehensive set of simple visual tools.

Thomson Reuters CLEAR offers an integration called S2S that allows access to Thomson Reuters CLEAR functionality via API. Here are some key features of Thomson Reuters CLEAR System-to-System:

Data Integration: Integrate CLEAR data seamlessly into your existing workflow. You can access premium content, Real-Time Incarceration and Arrest Records (RTIA), and more.

Enhanced Security: CLEAR ensures data security with SSL 256-bit encryption and requires behind-the-scenes credentials for system authentication.

Efficiency: System integration speeds up workflow processes, saving time and money.

No need to manually transfer data between applications.

Platform Independence: CLEAR S2S works with virtually any customer system, regardless of the implementation technology.

The Thomson Reuters CLEAR S2S integration via API free trial was used during the design and development of the new intelligence analysis platform and has enhanced investigations. This free trial was possible due to long established connection through the use the traditional web-based subscription for numerous years. A significant amount of work has already been accomplished to incorporate commercially available data through the API connection to the new intelligence analysis platform. For example, multiple simultaneous calls out to 3rd-party services. The successful integration via API allows users to use Thomas Reuters CLEAR, and other commercially available data at the same time. The following are some ramifications that have been noted if Thomson Reuters CLEAR S2S integration via API was removed from the new intelligence analysis platform:

Potential impact on the efforts already invested Duplication of effort or overlapping of work Current inability to replace the Thomson Reuters CLEAR S2S integration via API with other commercially available data Significant investment to re-structure the intelligence analysis platform