99 -- Canned Fruit, Announcement FV300, Invitation 102

The Department of Agriculture invites offers to sell canned fruit as indicated below. Offers are due by 1 p.m., Central Time, Thursday, June 15, 2006. Acceptances will be announced by midnight, Monday, June 29, 2006. Deliveries are to be made from August 16, 2006 to November 15, 2006. Offers are invited from the trade for: Canned Pears (sliced) 6/#10 118,568 cases Canned Pears (diced) 6/#10 153,216 cases Canned Pears (halves) 6/#10 54,720 cases All prime vendors are reminded that they are prohibited from subcontracting with companies or individuals that have been suspended or debarred. All invitations with orders for the state of New York, must have the pack date stamped on the outside of each carton. The pack date should be annotated as per the following example: (05/01/2003). Orders for the state of New York requiring the special marking will be indicated by (**). This applies to New York orders "Only," if and when they appear on an invitation. Effective August 1, 2005, Contractors are required to submit Annual Representations and Certifications via the Online Represenation and Certifications Application (ORCA). Bids must be submitted electronically via the Domestic Electronic Bid Entry System (DEBES) on the Internet. Offerors who submit bids using other than DEBES, will be deemed non-responsive. Offeror must be assigned a Logon ID by USDA to access the site. The Internet address is: http://pcsd.usda.gov/debes. Bidders are cautioned to bid only quantities they can reasonably expect to produce and deliver in accordance with the contract. An electronic version of this invitation can be obtained through the World Wide Web via the Commodity Procurement Home Page at http://www.ams.usda.gov/cp. Purchases will be made on a delivered basis, subject to Announcement FV-300, to the listed locations. Delivery by trucks or railcars is optional to the contractor, except for those destinations(s) which specify delivery by truck only or rail only. Split shipments are indicated by single asterisk. For addtional information, contact DeVera Redmond, Small Business Coordinator, 202-720-7106