Agricultural Sample Analysis Amendment 1 Responding to questions, Revised SOW.

The U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Laboratories and Scientific Services division is seeking a small business contractor to provide light stable isotope analysis services for determining the geographic origin of cotton products. The primary objective is to develop a technical approach for isotope ratio mass spectrometry (IRMS) analysis that can compare CBP-produced analytical data against a global reference library and identify the consistent geographic origin of cotton samples. Proposals are due by February 10, 2025, at 10:00 AM ET, with oral presentations scheduled to begin on February 12, 2025. The evaluation will be conducted in two phases, with technical approach and prior experience weighted approximately equally and considered significantly more important than price. Key contractor qualifications include expertise in isotope ratio mass spectrometry, statistical modeling capabilities, and maintenance of a comprehensive cotton reference library covering major cotton-producing countries.

This is a total small business set-aside contract with a base period of 12 months from February 17, 2025, through February 16, 2026, and an additional six-month option period through July 16, 2027. The contract will be fixed-price and performed at the contractor's facilities, with no government-furnished equipment provided. CBP expects to process between 500-1500 cotton samples annually, requiring the contractor to provide statistical analysis, a secure web portal for data submission, technical support, and up to 10 days of annual training at rotating CBP locations including Newark, NJ, Long Beach, CA, and Savannah, GA. The primary focus of the analysis is to address forced labor concerns, particularly related to cotton production in the Xinjiang region of China. Contractors must be capable of providing analytical results within three calendar days of data submission and maintain a robust quality control and proficiency testing program.