Request for Proposals - Emergency Food Products

Emergency Food A-20 Paste.

USDA, Farm Service Agency, Commodity Operations, Kansas City Commodity Office, International Procurement Division intends to issue a Request for Proposals (RFP) for the procurement of noncommercial emergency food products for use in various international food assistance programs. These products include: Ready-To-Eat (Meal Replacement): Paste (A-20), Rice Bar (A-28), and Wheat Bar (A-29). The RFP will be available online through the Government-wide point of entry for Federal Business Opportunities (FedBizOpps), www.fbo.gov. A hard copy of the solicitation will not be available for the acquisition. All future information regarding this acquisition, including solicitation amendments and award notices, will be published on the Federal Business Opportunities website (http://www.fbo.gov). Interested parties shall be responsible for ensuring that they have the most up-to-date information about this acquisition. The anticipated date of receipt for offers will be on or near May 16, 2011. The RFP will seek responsible offers to supply and deliver large quantities of emergency food products to the Government. As delivery schedules and exact quantities are not yet known, award will be made on and indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity basis. Pursuant to Agricultural Acquisition Regulation 470.103(a), commodities and the products of agricultural commodities acquired under this contract must be a product of the United States. A product shall not be considered to be a product of the United States if it contains any ingredient that is not produced in the United States if that ingredient is (1) produced in the United States; and (2) commercially available in the United States at fair and reasonable prices. Packaging and container components under this acquisition will be the only portion subject to the World Trade Organization Government Procurement Agreement and Free Trade Agreements, as addressed by FAR clause 52.225-5. Agricultural commodities and their products are exempt from 52.225-5.

The amount and frequency of commodity procured is dependent upon the needs of the program administering agencies, U.S. Agency for International Development and USDA's Foreign Agricultural Service. The solicitation will comply with the policies and procedures governing competitive negotiated acquisitions prescribed in Part 15 of the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR). Responsible offerors are required to submit proposals that adequately address all technical and price evaluation factors contained in RFP. Award will be made to contractors demonstrating the best value to the Government based on the evaluation factors stated in the solicitation. The Government may elect to award a single delivery order contract or task order contract or to award multiple delivery order contracts or task order contracts for the same or similar supplies or services to two or more sources under this solicitation. The contract period will consist of a base period of twelve months, and the potential for two, one-year option periods, if exercised at the Government's discretion. Emergency food products fortified/enriched to meet statutory requirements for international food aid programs are classified as noncommercial items. Detailed commodity and packaging requirements for the emergency food products will be published with the solicitation.