Nitrile Butadiene Rubber and Nitrile Gloves

SUBJECT:  Nitrile Gloves

                   nitrile butadiene rubber (NBR)

ADDITIONAL CLASSIFICATION Information:
NAICS CODES*

325212 — Synthetic Rubber Manufacturing
339113 — Surgical Appliance and Supplies Manufacturing
423450 — Medical, Dental, and Hospital Equipment and Supplies Merchant Wholesalers

NOTES: All Capability Statements/Responses to this Sources Sought Notice shall be submitted via email only to tednette.white@nih.gov. Telephone, Fax, or any other form of communication inquiries will not be reviewed or accepted. Responses to this Sources Sought Notice shall be received no later than July 22, 2024, at 3:00 p.m. (Eastern Standard Time). This Sources Sought Notice may or may not assist the NIH in determining sources only. A solicitation is not currently available. If a solicitation is issued, it may or may not be announced at a later date, and all interested parties shall respond to that solicitation announcement separately from the responses to this Sources Sought Notice.

DISCLAIMER: This Request for Information (RFI) is issued for information and planning purposes only and does not constitute a solicitation. All information received in response to this RFI that is marked a proprietary will be handled accordingly in accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 15.201(e), RFIs may be used when the Government does not presently intend to award a contract, but wants to obtain price, delivery, other market information, or capabilities for planning purposes. Responses to these notices are not offers and cannot be accepted by the Government to form a binding contract. Responders are solely responsible for all expenses incurred associated with responding to this RFI.

Background:

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is the U.S. Federal Government's medical research agency and is one of several health agencies within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Public Health Service.  NIH is now one of the world's foremost biomedical research agencies and is comprised of 27 separate institutes and centers (ICs), most of which are located on a 322-acre campus located in Bethesda, Maryland.  The NIH mission is to uncover new knowledge that will lead to better health for everyone.  The NIH works towards that mission by conducting research in its own laboratories and supporting nonfederal scientists at universities and medical schools, hospitals, and research institutions around the world.

When acquiring personal protective equipment (PPE), the Make PPE in America Act within the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act requires the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to procure PPE – including its materials and components – that is grown, reprocessed, reused, or produced in the United States. See Pub. L. 117-58, Division G, Title XI, Subtitle C, sec. 70953(b)(2) (November 15, 2021).

Personal Protective Equipment

Nitrile gloves, a PPE commercial end product, are necessary to continue mission critical operations while avoiding a public health emergency. The use of nitrile gloves by HHS staff is in the best interest of the general public as they are required for the prevention and/or mitigation of public health crises.

As permitted by the FAR Part 10, this is a market research tool being utilized for the informational and planning purposes.  Your responses will assist the Government in the development of its acquisition strategy. 

Response to the following 6 questions is strictly voluntary – it is not mandatory to submit a response to this notice to participate in formal RFQ process that may take place in the future.  However, it should be noted that information gathered through this notice may significantly influence our acquisition strategy. All interested parties will be required to respond separately to any solicitation posted as a result of this sources sought notice. Respondents will not be notified of the results of the evaluation.  We appreciate your interest and thank you in advance for responding to the sources sought.

NIH Is seeking answers to the following 6 questions from nitrile butadiene rubber (NBR) suppliers and nitrile glove suppliers.

                                  1. Company Name: _____________________________

                                  2. Place of Incorporation: ________________________

                                  3. Is your company a manufacturer or distributer of NBR? (Please

                                      specify which, or "both")

                                                  a. If you are a manufacturer, please state the volume of NBR

                                                      produced on a monthly and annual  basis.  (ex. metric

                                                      tons/year, pounds/year, kilogram/year, etc.) 

                                                  b. If you are not the manufacturer of NBR, please list the name

                                                      and location (street address, city, region/state/province,

                                                     country) of your NBR supplier.

                                                 c. Do you have current supplier agreements and certificates of

                                                     NBR origin from your supplier? (Yes/No/NA becasue my

                                                     company is the supplier). If yes, please include a copy of

                                                     your response to this notice.

                                  4. Is your company a manufacturer or distributor of Nitrile Gloves?

                                      (Please specify which, or "both")

                                                  a. If you are a manufacturer of the end product (nitrile

                                                      glovers), please state the volume of gloves produced

                                                      on a monthly and annual basis in units of each.

                                                      (ex. 11 million gloves/month, 100 million gloves/year)

                                                      If you are a manufacturer of the end-product (nitrile

                                                      gloves), please list the name and location (street

                                                      address, city, region/state/province, country) of all of

                                                      your component and raw-material  suppliers (ex. NBR,

                                                     additional required polymer coating materials, etc.).

                                                     Please identify each raw material/component supplier

                                                     information on separate line items, using the format below.     

                                                                 1. Component:

                                                                 2. Quantity Supplied per Month:

                                                                 3. Supplier Name:

                                                                 4. Supplier Address (include city, country):

                                                   b. lf you ae a distributor or reseller of the end-product (nitrile

                                                       gloves), please list the name and location (street address,

                                                       city, region/state/province, country) of all of your nitrile glove

                                                       suppliers.

                                                    c. Do you have current supplier agreements and certificates of

                                                        end-product (nitrile gloves and raw materials/components)

                                                        origin from your supplier? (Yes/No/NA because my company

                                                        is the supplier). If yes, please include a copy in your response

                                                        to this notice.

                                 5. Are 100% of the product components of the nitrile gloves you sell

                                    commercially, grown, sourced and manufactured in the United States

                                    of America? (Yes or No)

                                 6. If components are sourced from outside of the United States, please

                                     confirm:

                                                  i. What percentage of the components used to make the

                                                     end-product (nitrile gloves) are sourced from countries

                                                     other than the United States?

                                                  ii. Whether all components are sourced from a Trade

                                                      Agreements Act (TAA) designated compliant country

                                                     (or countries).