SSJ - FAR 13.5_SSJ_Certain Commercial Items Including Brand Name.pdf

OFFICE OF ACQUISITION MANAGEMENT

ICE Acquisition Manual 3006.301-90

SOLE SOURCE JUSTIFICATION: SIMPLIFIED PROCEDURES FOR CERTAIN

COMMERCIAL ITEMS EXCEEDING SAT, INCLUDING BRAND NAME

5. Demonstration that the proposed contractor’s unique qualifications or the nature of the acquisition requires use of the authority cited.

ARC is owned and operated by eight U.S. major airlines and is the sole entity facilitating financial transactions between the airline industry and U.S. based travel agencies. ARC is uniquely positioned within the airline industry as the central hub for financial settlement and data exchange between airlines and travel agencies, ensuring secure and efficient transactions. With its comprehensive industry data, ARC provides unmatched insights and analytics, supporting airline revenue management, fraud prevention, and operational efficiencies. Its primary role is to accredit travel agencies and manage financial settlements, generating an extensive, real-time database of airline tickets sold.

Daily, travel agencies must submit ticket sales and funds for over 240 airlines worldwide to ARC. This process enables ARC’s TIP, an essential intelligence tool integrated into HSI INTEL’s investigative mission. TIP allows authorized law enforcement and national security personnel to search ARC’s air ticketing database to track and analyze travel patterns of persons of interest. Users can conduct searches using key identifiers such as passenger name, itinerary, fare details, and payment methods.

ARC offers three TIP services—TIP Online, TIP Monitoring, and TIP Search delivering real-time data on the previous day’s ticket sales. This system provides unique access to “ticket face” information, including full flight itineraries, passenger name records, and financial details, which are otherwise difficult or impossible to obtain. The TIP database holds over one billion records, spanning 39 months of past and future travel data—an unparalleled intelligence resource.

Through TIP licenses, INTEL analysts gain unrestricted access to all sold ticket databases, enabling targeted searches by name or credit card number. This capability is critical for identifying and disrupting illicit activities, including:

• Child exploitation, human trafficking and identifying traffickers and victims by analyzing ticket purchases, routes, and payment methods.

• Terrorism, national security threats and detecting suspicious travel linked to known or suspected terrorist entities.

• Financial crimes, money laundering and uncovering illicit financial transactions tied to ticket purchases.

• Illegal movement of contraband weapons, sensitive technology and tracking smuggling networks using flight data to expose trafficking routes and methods.

• Identifying and analyzing domestic and cross-border movements of illicit cash.

• Identifying clandestine bulk cash smuggling networks operating within the U.S.

• Identifying and analyzing domestic and cross-border movements of narcotics.

ARC’s TIP is an indispensable tool for HSI INTEL’s investigative and intelligence-gathering efforts. It provides real-time access to extensive air travel data, allowing law enforcement

SOLE SOURCE JUSTIFICATION: SIMPLIFIED PROCEDURES FOR CERTAIN

COMMERCIAL ITEMS EXCEEDING SAT, INCLUDING BRAND NAME

departure, name of lifting carrier, flight number, origination airport, destination airport, name of the planting carrier, form of payment, ARC travel agency number, and/or an indication of a “voided” ticket.

10. A listing of the sources, if any that expressed, in writing, an interest in the acquisition.

Non-Available

11. A statement of the actions, if any, the agency may take to remove or overcome any barriers to competition before any subsequent acquisition for supplies or services required.

For the current requirement, full market research was conducted by HSI INTEL. HSI INTEL will continue to conduct market research effort to determine if any other vendors have developed comparable databases that would allow for competition in any subsequent acquisition in the future.

12. DHS intends to post the requirement pursuant to FAR 13.501(a)(1)(iii) and 6.305(a) or for brand name FAR 13.501(a)(1)(iv) and 5.102(a)(6).

OAQ intends to post this justification pursuant FAR 6.305(a), within 14 days after award.

13. Technical/Requirements Personnel Certification.

I certify this requirement meets the Government’s minimum need and that the supporting data, which forms a basis for this justification, is complete and accurate.

Technical Representative/COR

14. Contracting Officer’s Certification.

I certify that the data supporting the recommended use of other than full and open competition is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

Contracting Officer Date

15. Approval.

Competition Advocate Date

SOLE SOURCE JUSTIFICATION: SIMPLIFIED PROCEDURES FOR CERTAIN

COMMERCIAL ITEMS EXCEEDING SAT, INCLUDING BRAND NAME