Description
Thursday, January 31, 2013 BBGCON1313-R-0001 - Sana Et Pakistani Questions and Answers: Q: Please clarify the terms ‘agent' and ‘principle' [sic]; by principle do you mean the networks in Pakistan? A: The term ‘agent' refers to an individual that acts as an intermediate for a broadcasting network. All proposals submitted for consideration must be from a broadcasting network. Proposals submitted by an agent on behalf of a broadcasting network will not be considered. The term ‘principal' refers to the primary source or company submitting a proposal. The principal in this solicitation is a full-time executive within the broadcasting network authorized to sign a binding contract on behalf of his or her company with the VOA. The solicitation specifies a popular television network in Pakistan with nationwide coverage -terrestrial, direct-to-home satellite or cable. The principal therefore (1) must have a physical presence in Pakistan; (2) must have a broadcasting footprint in the country of Pakistan to be considered. Q: Is Tax Payer ID Number and CCR registration required for bidders who are based outside the USA? A: Regarding the requirement for a Tax Payer ID Number, please refer to FAR 52.212-3 which states: (l) Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN) (26 U.S.C. 6109, 31 U.S.C. 7701). (Not applicable if the offeror is required to provide this information to a central contractor registration database to be eligible for award.) Regarding CCR registration (now sam.gov), Offeror shall provide proof of registration in CCR database or documentation supporting the applicability of an exemption to register under FAR 4.1102 which states: 4.1102 Policy. (a) Prospective contractors shall be registered in the CCR database prior to award of a contract or agreement, except for- (1) Purchases under the micro-purchase threshold that use a Governmentwide commercial purchase card as both the purchasing and payment mechanism, as opposed to using the purchase card for payment only; (2) Classified contracts (see 2.101) when registration in the CCR database, or use of CCR data, could compromise the safeguarding of classified information or national security; (3) Contracts awarded by- (i) Deployed contracting officers in the course of military operations, including, but not limited to, contingency operations as defined in 10 U.S.C. 101(a)(13) or humanitarian or peacekeeping operations as defined in 10 U.S.C. 2302(7); or (ii) Contracting officers located outside the United States and its outlying areas, as defined in 2.101, for work to be performed in support of diplomatic or developmental operations, including those performed in support of foreign assistance programs overseas, in an area that has been designated by the Department of State as a danger pay post (see http:// aoprals.state.gov/Web920/danger_pay_all.asp); or (iii) Contracting officers in the conduct of emergency operations, such as responses to natural or environmental disasters or national or civil emergencies, e.g., Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5121); (4) Contracts with individuals for performance outside the United States and its outlying areas; (5) Contracts to support unusual or compelling needs (see 6.302-2); (6) Contract actions at or below $25,000 awarded to foreign vendors for work performed outside the United States, if it is impractical to obtain CCR registration; and (7) Micro-purchases that do not use the electronic funds transfer (EFT) method for payment and are not required to be reported (see Subpart 4.6). (b) If practical, the contracting officer shall modify the contract or agreement awarded under paragraph (a)(3) of this section to require CCR registration. (c) (1) (i) If a contractor has legally changed its business name, "doing business as" name, or division name (whichever is shown on the contract), or has transferred the assets used in performing the contract, but has not completed the necessary requirements regarding novation and change-of-name agreements in Subpart 42.12, the contractor shall provide the responsible contracting officer a minimum of one business day's written notification of its intention to change the name in the CCR database; comply with the requirements of Subpart 42.12; and agree in writing to the timeline and procedures specified by the responsible contracting officer. The contractor must provide with the notification sufficient documentation to support the legally changed name. (ii) If the contractor fails to comply with the requirements of paragraph (c)(1)(i) of the clause at 52.204-13, Central Contractor Registration Maintenance, or fails to perform the agreement at 52.204-13, paragraph (c)(1)(i)(C), and, in the absence of a properly executed novation or change-of-name agreement, the CCR information that shows the contractor to be other than the contractor indicated in the contract will be considered to be incorrect information within the meaning of the "Suspension of Payment" paragraph of the EFT clause of the contract. (2) The contractor shall not change the name or address for electronic funds transfer payments (EFT) or manual payments, as appropriate, in the CCR record to reflect an assignee for the purpose of assignment of claims (see Subpart 32.8, Assignment of Claims). (3) Assignees shall be separately registered in the CCR database. Information provided to the contractor's CCR record that indicates payments, including those made by EFT, to an ultimate recipient other than that contractor will be considered to be incorrect information within the meaning of the "Suspension of payment" paragraph of the EFT clause of the contract. Q: Will you accept other items in the proposal that are outside the specific scope? A: All proposals must comply with all requirements set forth in the solicitation. Offerors are welcome to submit multiple proposals that comply with the requirements of the solicitation. Q: The solicitation refers to broadcast on Thursday and Friday. Will this show air two (2), fresh episodes per week? A: SANA will air two (2) fresh episodes per week. Repeats of the programs shall be aired at no additional cost. Q: Can we edit the program to reduce its duration. The doc says 24 minutes of content with 5 minutes of ads/promo space in 2 breaks. We normally sell more advertising than that. Can we edit the content in conjunction with VOA to accommodate its programming format? A: No. All proposals must comply with all requirements set forth in the solicitation. Offerors are welcome to submit multiple proposals that comply with the requirements of the solicitation. Q: Does VOA have a preference on satellite versus Internet delivery of the content or will it depend on our normal processes and facility to accept the content? A: No preference. Q: If the authorities in Pakistan have any issues with the program and require it to be edited, censored or stopped-will we be allowed to make judicious decisions on minor edits or will all changes requested by the Pakistan government have to come back to VOA for decision? A: VOA and the Broadcaster would need to jointly agree upon the edits.