Transportation of Biological Material

i. This is a combined synopsis/solicitation for commercial items prepared in accordance with the procedures contained in FAR Part 12.6, Acquisition of Commercial Items, and FAR Part 13.5, Simplified Procedures for Certain Commercial Products and Commercial Services, as supplemented with additional information included in this notice. This announcement constitutes the only solicitation; quotes are being requested and a written solicitation will not be issued.

ii. The solicitation number is 12805B23Q0949 and is issued as a Request for Quotation (RFQ).

iii. The solicitation document and incorporated provisions and clauses are those in effect through Federal Acquisition Circular (FAC) Number 2023-05 September 7, 2023 found at www.https://www.acquisition.gov/ 

iv. This solicitation is not set aside and will be issued as unrestricted for full and open competition. The associated NAICS code is 484230 the small business size standard is $34M.

v. List CLINS, item descriptions, quantities and units of measure:

See “Attachment 1 Schedule of Services (Pricing Schedule)”.

vi. Description/Statement of Work/Specification:

United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), Agricultural Research Service (ARS), Plains Area (PA), National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility (NBAF) has a requirement for short haul ground transportation of biological material.

Interested offerors may request access to view the solicitation documents by email request to kelly.wright@usda.gov and michael.hassett@usda.gov .  Interested offerors shall have an active VAR and active facility security clearance, with personnel cleared to view the material (classified as non-critical sensitive (Tier 3) and requires the company providing the services to have, prior to offering, and maintain, for the life of the contract, a favorable Facility Clearance Level Secret or higher level).  Offerors cleared by USDA OHS shall sign required Non-Disclosure Agreements, and then will be provided solicitation documents.

vii. Date(s) and place(s) of delivery and acceptance:  To be provided in the solicitation documents once cleared.

viii.  FAR Provision 52.212-1, Instructions to Offerors-Commercial, is incorporated by reference and applies to this acquisition. Please see the attached RFQ terms and conditions for the submission requirements and its addendum.

ix. Evaluation:

For the evaluation criteria, please see the attached RFQ terms and conditions.

x. Offerors are required to complete in full FAR Provision 52.212-3, Offeror Representations and Certifications-Commercial Items, with their offer online at SAM: www.sam.gov.  An offeror must state in their offer if they completed FAR 52.212-3 online and that is it up-to-date and valid. See the attached RFQ terms and conditions for more requirements.

xi. FAR Clause 52.212-4, Contract Terms and Conditions-Commercial Items, applies to this acquisition.

xii.  FAR Clause 52.212-5, Contract Terms and Conditions Required to Implement Statutes or Executive Orders-Commercial Items, is incorporated and applies to this acquisition. Please see the attached RFQ terms and conditions that are applicable to the acquisition.

xiii.  There are no additional contract requirement(s) or terms and conditions (such as contract financing arrangements or warranty requirements) determined by the contracting officer to be necessary for this acquisition and consistent with customary commercial practices.

xiv.  The Defense Priorities and Allocations System (DPAS) and assigned ratings are not applicable to this solicitation.

xv.  Date, time and place offers are due.

Offers are due by 5:00 p.m. Central Time on October 03, 2023. 

Submit offers to the following e-mail address(es), by the offer due date and time:

kelly.wright@usda.gov and michael.hassett@usda.gov