SOURCES SOUGHT
R -- Commercial Advisor for Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI)
- Notice Date
- 11/1/2004
- Notice Type
- Sources Sought
- NAICS
- 541199
— All Other Legal Services
- Contracting Office
- Department of Commerce, Office of the Secretary, Commerce Acquisition Solutions, Office of the Secretary, 14th & Constitution Avenue NW Room 6514, Washington, DC, 20230
- ZIP Code
- 20230
- Solicitation Number
- SA1301-05-RP-0003
- Response Due
- 11/15/2004
- Archive Date
- 11/30/2004
- Small Business Set-Aside
- Total Small Business
- Description
- In accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Part 13, Simplified Acquisition Procedures, the United States Department of Commerce is providing widespread notice of this acquisition opportunity and is requesting proposals from experts to assist the Department of Commerce Commercial Law Development Program (CLDP) as outlined below in the Statement of Work. Interested contractors are requested to submit their proposals not later than 12:00 PM EST on November 15, 2004. Electronic submissions in Microsoft Word are preferred and should be sent to sjohnson@doc.gov STATEMENT OF WORK TITLE: Advisor on Commercial Law 1. BACKGROUND The Commercial Law Development Program (CLDP) is supporting the U.S. Government?s Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI) by providing technical assistance to a group of Middle East countries in order to improve their legislative and regulatory frameworks, and ultimately, to facilitate the region?s preparedness for the Middle East Free Trade Area (MEFTA). As trade and commerce increases in the Middle East and the countries in this region expand their presence in the global market, it is important that their legal and judicial professionals have knowledge and understanding of complex commercial issues. 2. PURPOSE The purpose of this Contract is to provide technical support to the U.S. Department of Commerce Commercial Law Development Program (CLDP) with its commercial law programs in the Middle East. This contract includes all costs related to time and administration of the duties described below, including administrative support, supplies, and overhead. No medical benefits, leave or other benefits will be provided. 3. DESCRIPTION OF WORK The Contractor shall provide the following services: a) Conduct presentations on advanced commercial topics, including maritime, insurance, and/or construction law at seminars and conferences in the Middle East. b) Provide specific guidance to government officials and business leaders on commercial law issues. c) Draft progress reports and provide updates/information per CLDP/Washington office requests. The Contractor is expected to travel to, but not limited to, the following countries: Bahrain, Jordan, Oman, Qatar, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. 4. DELIVERABLES Deliverable items required under this Contract include: a) Presentations on advanced commercial topics, including maritime, insurance, and/or construction law at CLDP events. b) One (1) report for each assignment, which should include recommendations for follow-on projects and names of all contacts, per the direction of CLDP (not to exceed five (5) pages per report. c) One (1) original Invoice Worksheet (SF-1034) per assignment. Contractor shall submit all invoices in accordance with the invoice instructions identified in Part 10 of the SOW. All invoices should be sent either by fax, e-mail or overnight delivery to the following address: Mr. Kerry Eckstein Senior Counsel Room 5875 Commercial Law Development Program U.S. Department of Commerce 1401 Constitution Ave., NW Washington, DC 20230 Tel: 202-482-2400 Fax: 202-482-0006 keckstein@doc.gov 5. PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE The base period of performance will commence on December 1, 2004 through November 30, 2005. The Contractor will be requested to work on assignments on an as-needed basis. A standard 8-hour workday applies to this Contract. a) Option Periods The Government reserves the right to exercise one (1) option period for this contract. The period of performance for this option period shall commence on or about December 1, 2005 to September 30, 2006. The total duration of this contract (including all option periods) shall not exceed September 30, 2006. 6. TRAVEL REQUIREMENTS AND TRAVEL EXPENSES During the base period of the contract, the Contractor is expected to travel as needed by CLDP. A third party CLDP Contractor for logistical services shall handle the Contractors? travel arrangements. All travel must be approved in advance by CLDP and must be in accordance with Federal Travel Regulations (FTR). The Contractor is expected to take reasonable steps to mitigate the amount of travel expenses. Travel expenses are limited to: Round-trip economy class tickets from a designated city in the U.S. to selected cities in the Middle East, and return to that same U.S. city; Visa application fee; Lodging expenses (at the U.S. Government allowed rate) for the period of travel; U.S. Government per diem allowance for designated cities; Transportation to and from hotel in country to meeting sites; Telephone calls; and Medical evacuation insurance. To be reimbursable, the travel expenses must be: a. Allowable under the FTR and the provisions of this Contract; b. Reasonable; and c. Allocable and necessary to performance of the Contract. d. Contractor?s travel time is billable to this Contract. 7. RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE The U.S. Department of Commerce generally, and CLDP particularly, shall provide program documents and materials that CLDP deems necessary for the successful implementation of the events on which the Contractor is working. 8. CONTRACTOR?S ADDITIONAL RESPONSIBILITIES: In addition to other duties included in this Contract, the Contractor: a. Due to security situations overseas, must request permission from CLDP before leaving the assigned country for any reason during the assigned time; however, Contractor may use discretion if security concerns make early exit from assigned country necessary. b. Strictly abide by security instructions or other instructions received from the staff of U.S. Embassies in countries where the Contractor shall carry out duties under this Contract. c. Should not provide information on his/her work under the Contract to any individual or entity unless advised to do so by CLDP. d. Must report to the CLDP office, at his or her earliest convenience, any time missed from this assignment due to illness. 9. CONFLICT OF INTEREST AND STANDARDS OF CONDUCT GUIDELINES The Contractor represents CLDP, the U.S. Department of Commerce and, by extension, the United States Government during his or her assignment. The Contractor must protect the integrity of the work of CLDP by honoring the conflict of interest and standards of conduct set forth below. The Contractor must adhere to all applicable ethics codes in effect in his/her respective jurisdictions and professions. Contractors who are Federal employees also must adhere to applicable federal conflict of interest statutes and standards of conduct. In addition, the Contractor must comply with the following standards: a. The Contractor shall not seek, receive, accept, or agree to receive any compensation beyond what may be provided by the Contractor's regular employer or by CLDP for legal or advisory services to be rendered, either personally or by another, as agent, attorney, or otherwise in connection with the CLDP program; b. The Contractor shall not undertake private promotional activities during, or in conjunction with, any CLDP activity or on any CLDP-funded visit (this restriction includes, but is not limited to the dissemination of business cards with the name of any private firm with which the Contractor is affiliated, or client brochures or other promotional literature with a view toward client development; this restriction is not intended to prevent Contractors who are U.S. Government employees from distributing cards identifying their agency and position); c. The Contractor shall not directly or indirectly use, or allow the use of, official, confidential, or proprietary information obtained through or in connection with his or her work for CLDP if such information has not been made available to the general public; and d. The Contractor shall advise CLDP, in writing and as soon as possible, of any issues involving the Contractor or his or her firm or agency that may result in any actual or apparent conflict of interest or that the Contractor knows or has reason to believe may reflect unfavorably on, or cause embarrassment to CLDP or the United States Government. 10. INVOICE INSTRUCTIONS Contractor shall submit both an invoice and invoice worksheet (SF-1034) to the COTR identified in Clause 1352.201-71 no later than the 10th day of each month for work performed in the previous month. Contractor should note that payment for each invoice may take up to 30 days from the submission date of the invoice. Contractor may only receive payment after the delivery and acceptance of each deliverable item. A proper invoice must include the name and address of the Contractor; the Contract number; description, quantity, unit price of the services performed; shipping and payment terms; name and address of the Contractor official whom payment is to be sent; name, title, phone number, and mailing address of person to notify in the event of a defective invoice; and your Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN). If the invoice does not comply with these requirements, the COTR will return it within 7 days after receipt with the reasons why it is not a proper invoice. Invoices shall be submitted in accordance with the payment schedule identified on the Schedule of Supplies and Services identified on your contract award document. The Contractor shall also submit an invoice worksheet SF-1034, Public Voucher for Purchases and Services Other Than Personal. The SF-1034 can be located on the GSA Forms Library website: http://www.gsa.gov/Portal/gsa/ep/formslibrary.do?formType=SF The Contractor shall submit all final outstanding invoices no later than two weeks after the conclusion of the event. 10. SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS The Government will award one (1) Purchase Order resulting for this solicitation to the responsible/responsive offeror(s), whose quotation, conforming to the solicitation, results in the best value to the Government. Evaluation factors are listed below in descending order of importance. Technical factors are more important than price. Offerors must provide a technical proposal with evidence and/or documentation that address all technical factors in order to be considered for evaluation. A technical proposal that addresses only part of the technical requirements in Factor A and B below may not be considered fully responsive to the Government?s needs and may not be accepted. The technical evaluation criteria will be conducted in accordance with weighted technical evaluations. Factor A ? Technical Offeror shall provide a technical proposal that describes their technical approach to the tasks described in this SOW. The technical proposal shall also relate the Contractor?s previous experience related to the following areas to his/her ability to perform the tasks describe in this SOW: a. Experience dealing with host government officials, business or academic leaders in the Middle East in the areas specified in this SOW. The technical proposal is not to exceed 5 pages. Factor B ? Price The price evaluation will determine whether the proposed prices are realistic, complete, and reasonable in relation to the requirement in the SOW. The offeror shall provide a firm fixed price quote that includes all direct and indirect costs associated with the work requested in this SOW. 11. PRICE/TECHNICAL PROPOSAL TRADE-OFF The Government will perform the price/technical tradeoff of each proposal to determine which proposal represent the ?best value? to the Government, price/cost and other factors considered. ?Best value? is defined as the offer that results in the most advantageous acquisition decision for the Government. Technical quality in proposals is more important than price/cost. The Government reserves the right to award to other than the lowest evaluated price/cost. The analysis of all proposals will be performed through an integrated assessment and trade-off analysis between technical and price/cost factors. Where proposals are essentially equal technically, price/cost becomes much more important. The Government may enter into discussions if it deems discussions to be necessary; however, the Offeror shall assume that the Government will not enter discussions before awarding the contract.
- Place of Performance
- Address: U. S. Department of Commerce, 14th and Constitution Avenue, NW, Washington, DC
- Zip Code: 20230
- Country: USA
- Zip Code: 20230
- Record
- SN00701954-W 20041103/041102061551 (fbodaily.com)
- Source
-
FedBizOpps.gov Link to This Notice
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