The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), Animal Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), Veterinary Services Division (VS), is seeking a contractor(s) to provide the following ear tags for sheep and goats: Metal Flock ID/Premise and alphanumeric serial tags (both tamper evident or resistant), OR Plastic Flock ID/Premise and alphanumeric serial tags (both tamper evident) Deliveries will be required nationwide. The Contractor(s) shall furnish all the needed supplies, shipping, and equipment, to provide the ear tags including applicators and provide the proper reporting for all orders in an APHIS database (Animal Identification Management System) and receipting in the Government Invoice Processing Platform. The award of one or more Firm-Fixed Price Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) commercial supply contract(s) are anticipated for these ear tags. The anticipated period of performance for this contract is five years from the date of award. The associated North American Industrial Classification System (NAICS) code for this requirement is 332999 All Other Miscellaneous Fabricated Metal Product Manufacturing The Small Business Size Category is 750 Employes Offerors must be approved scrapie program tag manufacturers and the tags and applicators (devices) offered. must be approved scrapie program devices, or the offerors must have submitted an acceptable application for. approval prior to award. Please contact Diane Sutton at (301) 851-3509 or
[email protected] for questions regarding becoming an approved scrapie program ear tag manufacturer. In accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 52.209-4 First Article Approval-Government Testing; The solicitation will require that offerors submit sample ear tags, applicators and supporting data in order to evaluate the tags. Tags will be evaluated for durability, retention, tag closure, ease of application, legibility, injury to the ear, and absence of toxic or irritating substances in the composition of the tags. Tags shall have excellent retention and legibility rates in sheep and goats throughout their lives and must minimize injury to the ear. Data meeting the following requirements is desirable for evaluating tag retention, durability and legibility: This is not a request for proposals, but instead market research to determine interested vendors prior to issuing a solicitation. A determination by the Government on the method of competing this requirement has not been established. The Government will not award a contract based on this Sources Sought Notice or the information received, nor will it reimburse participants for the information they provide. If you are an interested vendor, please provide the following information: on the Interested Parties’ Response Form 1) Business name and point of contact; 2) uei SAM number and CAGE code; 3) business size (consider FAR part 19 – country of tag manufacturing); and 4) a brief statement of Capability (no more than three pages) including a description of tags offered, manufacturing capabilities, country where the blank tags are manufactured and if different, the country were tags are printed or stamped and packaged, and reporting capabilities and 5) Include any past performance information on contracts of similar size and scope. Please respond via email only. Information provided will not be used as a part of any subsequent solicitation requirement. Interested sources who submit data are responsible for appropriately marking information if it is proprietary in nature. A determination by the Government not to compete this proposed contract action based on this notice is solely within the discretion of the Government. Responses are due no later than4 p.m., Mountain Standard Time, Thursday, April 27, 2023, to the attention of Carol Dingess, Contracting Officer, via email to
[email protected]