Request for Quotations (RFQ)
RFQ Number: AMD-002
Issuance Date: April 17, 2015
Deadline for Offers: April 24, 2015
Description: Legal Services in Lahore
For: U.S. Pakistan Partnership for Agricultural Market Development (AMD)
Funded By: United States Agency for International Development (USAID)
Implemented By: CNFA
Point of Contact: Zarreen Baqir
Section 1: Instructions to Offerors
- Introduction: The U.S. Pakistan Partnership for Agricultural Market Development (AMD) Program (AMD) is a four year USAID funded program implemented by CNFA in Pakistan. The objective of AMD is to support the development of Pakistan’s commercial agriculture, particularly through improving the ability of Pakistan’s agriculture and livestock sectors to meet both international and domestic demand in targeted product lines. As part of project activities, AMD requires the procurement of legal services to provide assistance and guidance in interpreting local law related to employment contracts, office and residential leases and other issues on an as needed basis through the life of the project. The purpose of this RFQ is to solicit quotations for these services.
Offerors are responsible for ensuring that their offers are received by CNFA in accordance with the instructions, terms, and conditions described in this RFQ. Failure to adhere with instructions described in this RFQ may lead to disqualification of an offer from consideration.
- Offer Deadline and Protocol: Offers must be received no later than 16:00 local Lahore time on April 24, 2015 by email to [email protected] Please reference the RFQ number in any response to this RFQ. Offers received after the specified time and date will be considered late and will be considered only at the discretion of CNFA.
- Questions: Questions regarding the technical or administrative requirements of this RFQ may be submitted no later than 16:00 local Islamabad time on April 21, 2015 by email to [email protected] Questions must be submitted in writing; phone calls will not be accepted. Questions and requests for clarification—and the responses thereto—that CNFA believes may be of interest to other offerors will be circulated to all RFQ recipients who have indicated an interest in bidding.
Only the written answers issued by CNFA will be considered official and carry weight in the RFQ process and subsequent evaluation. Any verbal information received from employees of CNFA or any other entity should not be considered as an official response to any questions regarding this RFQ.
- Quotations: Quotations in response to this RFQ must be priced as a monthly retainer fee. Pricing must be presented in PKR. Offers must remain valid for not less than thirty (30) calendar days after the offer deadline. Offerors are requested to provide quotations on official letterhead or format.
Eligibility: By submitting an offer in response to this RFQ, the offeror certifies that it and its principal officers are not debarred, suspended, or otherwise considered ineligible for an award by the U.S. Government. CNFA will not award a contract to any firm that is debarred, suspended, or considered to be ineligible by the U.S. Government. Only firms that are locally registered or Pakistani nationals will be considered eligible offerors to respond to this RFQ.
Offerors responding to this RFQ are requested to submit the following:
- Organizations responding to this RFQ are requested to submit a copy of their official registration or business license.
- Individuals responding to this RFQ are requested to submit a copy of their identification card.
- Evaluation and Award: The award will be made to a responsible offeror whose offer follows the RFQ instructions, meets the eligibility requirements, and is determined via a trade-off analysis to be the best value based on application of the following evaluation criteria. The relative importance of each individual criterion is indicated by the number of points below:
- Technical Experience and Demonstrated Capacity – 50 points:
- (30 points) Experience providing expert legal guidance and interpretation to US government funded international development projects. Provide references if possible.
- (10 points) Demonstrated knowledge of local labor and real estate law.
- (10 points) Previous work experience with CNFA
- Cost – 50 points: The overall rate presented in the offer.
Please note that if there are significant deficiencies regarding responsiveness to the requirements of this RFQ, an offer may be deemed “non-responsive” and thereby disqualified from consideration. CNFA reserves the right to waive immaterial deficiencies at its discretion.
Best-offer quotations are requested. It is anticipated that award will be made solely on the basis of these original quotations. However, CNFA reserves the right to conduct any of the following:
- CNFA may conduct negotiations with and/or request clarifications from any offeror prior to award.
- While preference will be given to offerors who can address the full technical requirements of this RFQ, CNFA may issue a partial award or split the award among various offerors, if in the best interest of the AMD Project.
- CNFA may cancel this RFQ at any time.
Please note that in submitting a response to this RFQ, the offeror understands that USAID is not a party to this solicitation and the offeror agrees that any protest hereunder must be presented—in writing with full explanations—to the AMD Project for consideration, as USAID will not consider protests regarding procurements carried out by implementing partners. CNFA, at its sole discretion, will make a final decision on the protest for this procurement.
- Terms and Conditions: This is a Request for Quotations only. Issuance of this RFQ does not in any way obligate CNFA, the AMD Project, or USAID to make an award or pay for costs incurred by potential offerors in the preparation and submission of an offer.
This solicitation is subject to CNFA’s standard terms and conditions. Any resultant award will be governed by these terms and conditions. Please note that payment will only be issued to the entity submitting the offer in response to this RFQ and identified in the resulting award; payment will not be issued to a third party.
- Language: Offerors shall provide all responses in English. Additionally, a basic requirement for all offerors to be considered responsive is the ability to communicate proficiently in English while providing said services to the AMD project.
Section 2: Offer Checklist
To assist offerors in preparation of proposals, the following checklist summarizes the documentation to include an offer in response to this RFQ:
â¡ Cover letter, signed by an authorized representative of the offeror (see Section 4 for template)
â¡ Official quotation, including responses to evaluation criteria (Section 3).
â¡ Copy of offeror’s registration or business license (see Section 1.5 for more details).
***** ETHICAL AND BUSINESS CONDUCT REQUIREMENTS *****
CNFA does not tolerate fraud, collusion among offerors, falsified proposals/bids, bribery, or kickbacks. Any firm or individual violating these standards will be disqualified from this procurement, barred from future procurement opportunities, and may be reported to both USAID and the Office of the Inspector General.
Employees and agents of CNFA are strictly prohibited from asking for or accepting any money, fee, commission, credit, gift, gratuity, object of value or compensation from current or potential vendors or suppliers in exchange for or as a reward for business. Employees and agents engaging in this conduct are subject to termination and will be reported to USAID and the Office of the Inspector General. In addition, CNFA will inform USAID and the Office of the Inspector General of any supplier offers of money, fee, commission, credit, gift, gratuity, object of value or compensation to obtain business.
Offerors responding to this RFQ must include the following as part of the proposal submission:
• Disclose any close, familial, or financial relationships with CNFA or project staff. For example, if an offeror’s cousin is employed by the project, the offeror must state this.
• Disclose any family or financial relationship with other offerors submitting proposals. For example, if the offeror’s father owns a company that is submitting another proposal, the offeror must state this.
• Certify that the prices in the offer have been arrived at independently, without any consultation, communication, or agreement with any other offeror or competitor for the purpose of restricting competition.
• Certify that all information in the proposal and all supporting documentation are authentic and accurate.
• Certify understanding and agreement to CNFA’ prohibitions against fraud, bribery and kickbacks.
Please contact Alan Pieper, Executive Vice President for Operations and Compliance at [email protected] with any questions or concerns regarding the above information or to report any potential violations.
Section 3: Evaluation Responses and Cost
Please provide your response in MS Word, NOT by hand, and follow the word limits for each section.
Technical Experience and Demonstrated Capacity (50 points)
(30 points) Detail your experience providing expert legal guidance and interpretation to US government funded international development projects in Pakistan by date. Provide references if possible. (limit your response to no more than 150 words).
(10 points) Describe your knowledge of and experience handling local labor and real estate law issues, especially as they relate to international employers (limit your response to no more than 150 words).
(10 points) Detail any previous experience you have working with CNFA, specifically the name of the project, your direct contact at CNFA, the scope and duration of your assignment. (limit your response to no more than 150 words).
Cost (50 points)
(50 points) Monthly Retainer Fee
Section 4: Offer Cover Letter
The following cover letter must be placed on letterhead and completed/signed/stamped by a representative authorized to sign on behalf of the offeror:
To: AMD Project
Reference: RFQ no. AMD-002
To Whom It May Concern:
We, the undersigned, hereby provide the attached offer to perform all work required to complete the activities and requirements as described in the above-referenced RFQ. Please find our offer attached.
We hereby acknowledge and agree to all terms, conditions, special provisions, and instructions included in the above-referenced RFQ. We further certify that the below-named firm—as well as the firm’s principal officers and all services offered in response to this RFQ—are eligible to participate in this procurement under the terms of this solicitation and under USAID regulations.
Furthermore, we hereby certify that, to the best of our knowledge and belief:
- We have no close, familial, or financial relationships with any CNFA or AMD project staff members;
- We have no close, familial, or financial relationships with any other offerors submitting proposals in response to the above-referenced RFQ; and
- The prices in our offer have been arrived at independently, without any consultation, communication, or agreement with any other offeror or competitor for the purpose of restricting competition.
- All information in our proposal and all supporting documentation is authentic and accurate.
- We understand and agree to CNFA’ prohibitions against fraud, bribery, and kickbacks.
We hereby certify that the enclosed representations, certifications, and other statements are accurate, current, and complete.
Authorized Signature:
Name and Title of Signatory:
Date:
Company Name:
Company Address:
Company Telephone and Website:
Company Registration or Taxpayer ID Number:
Does the company have an active bank account (Yes/No)?
Official name associated with bank account (for payment):