LC-Castries: development and implementation of standards and a certification system for selected agricultural products and training in Saint Lucia

Country:

Saint Lucia

City/Locality:

KASTRIS

Notice/Contract Number:

eu:246512-2008

Publication Date:

Sept 26, 2008

Deadline:

Oct 30, 2008

Buyer:

MINISTRY OF ECONOMIC AFFAIRS, ECONOMIC PLANNING, INVESTMENT AND NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Original Language:

English

Address:

MINISTRY OF ECONOMIC AFFAIRS, ECONOMIC PLANNING, INVESTMENT AND NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT
CASTRIES
Saint Lucia

Email:

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71356200 - Technical assistance services

Notice Type: 0708
-
Contract notice
Regulation of Procurement: External aid and European Development Fund
EU Official Journal Publication: 187/2008
, #
246512-2008
Contract Nature: Service contract
Procedure Type: Restricted procedure
Type of Bid Required: Not defined
Awarding Criteria: Not defined

Summary:
Location — Saint Lucia
Service procurement notice
1. Publication reference: EuropeAid/127218/D/SER/LC
2. Procedure: International restricted.
3. Programme: Special framework of assistance 2002.
4. Financing: EC contribution — budget line 21.03.18 (ex. B7-8710).
5. Contracting authority: Government of Saint Lucia represented by the
National Authorising Officer.
Contract specification
6. Nature of contract: Fee-based.
7. Contract description: The purpose of this contract is to improve and
ensure the quality and safety of locally-produced crops, poultry, meat and
fish and foster their sustainable marketability. The development of
national standards and codes of practice will facilitate the strengthening
of the local capacity to produce and supply safe, best quality crops,
poultry, fish and meat products to the domestic market and possibly for
export. The expected results are to:
(i) produce a compendium of draft standards and codes of practice for the
production, processing, marketing, handling and transportation of crops,
poultry, meat and fish that are appropriate to the needs and circumstances
of Saint Lucia;
(ii) recommend the appropriate policy, legal and institutional framework;
(iii) develop an action plan for the implementation of standards/codes of
practice;
(iv) design and establish a product certification system to ensure
independent, third-party certification for selected crops, poultry, meat
and fish products;
(v) develop training modules and manuals on the handling and inspection of
selected crops, poultry, meat and fish products; and
(vi) train handlers, inspectors and auditors in food quality and safety
standards and certification systems.
8. Number and titles of lots: Not applicable.
9. Maximum budget: EUR 596 000.
10. Scope for additional services: The contracting authority may, at its
own discretion, extend the project in duration and/or scope subject to the
availability of funding, up to a maximum not exceeding the length and
value of the initial contract. Any extension of the contract would be
subject to satisfactory performance by the contractor.
Conditions of participation
11. Eligibility: Participation is open to all legal persons participating
either individually or in a grouping (consortium) of candidates which are
established in a Member State of the European Union or in a country or
territory of the regions covered and/or authorised by the specific
instruments applicable to the programme under which the contract is
financed (see also item 30 below). Participation is also open to
international organisations. The participation of natural persons is
governed by the specific instruments applicable to the programme under
which the contract is financed.
12. Candidature: All eligible natural and legal persons (as per item 11
above) or groupings of such persons (consortia) may apply.
A consortium may be a permanent, legally-established grouping or a
grouping which has been constituted informally for a specific tender
procedure. All members of a consortium (i.e., the leader and all other
members) are jointly and severally liable to the contracting authority.
The participation of an ineligible natural or legal person (as per item
11) will result in the automatic exclusion of that person. In particular,
if that ineligible person belongs to a consortium, the whole consortium
will be excluded.
13. Number of applications: No more than 1 application can be submitted
by a natural or legal person whatever the form of participation (as an
individual legal entity or as leader or member of a consortium submitting
an application). In the event that a natural or legal person submits more
than 1 application, all applications in which that person has participated
will be excluded.
14. Shortlist alliances prohibited: Any tenders received from tenderers
comprising firms other than those mentioned in the shortlisted application
forms will be excluded from this restricted tender procedure. Shortlisted
candidates may not form alliances or subcontract to each other for the
contract in question.
15. Grounds for exclusion: As part of the application form, candidates
must submit a signed declaration, included in the standard application
form, to the effect that they are not in any of the exclusion situations
listed in Section 2.3.3 of the 'Practical Guide to contract procedures for
EC external actions'.
16. Subcontracting: No subcontracting is allowed.
17. Number of candidates to be shortlisted: On the basis of the
applications received, 4–8 candidates will be invited to submit detailed
tenders for this contract. If the number of eligible candidates meeting
the selection criteria is less than the minimum of 4, the contracting
authority may invite the candidates who satisfy the criteria to submit a
tender.
Provisional timetable
18. Provisional date of invitation to tender: 14.11.2008.
19. Provisional commencement date of the contract: 16.3.2009.
20. Initial period of execution and possible extension of the contract: 9
months but no later than 30.12.2009.
Selection and award criteria
21. Selection criteria: The following selection criteria will be applied
to candidates. In the case of applications submitted by a consortium,
these selection criteria will be applied to the consortium as a whole:
1) Economic and financial capacity of candidate (based on item 3 of the
application form):
(a) the average annual turnover of the candidate in the last 3 years must
exceed EUR 795 000; and
(b) the averages of cash and cash equivalents at the beginning and end of
year are positive.
2) Professional capacity of candidate (based on items 4 and 5 of the
application form):
(a) at least 2 staff currently work for the applicant in fields related to
this contract; and
(b) at least 20 % of all staff working for the candidate this year in
fields related to this contract are permanent.
3) Technical capacity of candidate (based on items 5 and 6 of the
application form):
(a) The candidate should have a demonstrated track record in developing or
conducting assessments of food safety standards and codes of practice in
developing countries in general and in ACP countries in particular in the
past 3 years. This includes experience (short-term and/or long-term) in
drafting standards and codes of practices for crops, poultry, meat or
fish; provision of training in food safety standards; development of
certification systems for food crops, poultry, meat or fish etc.;
(b) the candidate has worked successfully on at least 1 project with a
budget of at least that of this contract in fields related to this
contract in the past 3 years.
An economic operator may, where appropriate and for a particular contract,
rely on the capacities of other entities, regardless of the legal nature
of the links which it has with them. It must in that case prove to the
contracting authority that it will have at its disposal the resources
necessary for performance of the contract, for example by producing an
undertaking on the part of those entities to place those resources at its
disposal. Such entities must respect the same rules of eligibility and
notably that of nationality, as the economic operator.
If more than 8 eligible candidates meet the above selection criteria, the
relative strengths and weaknesses of the applications of these candidates
must be re-examined to identify the 8 best applications for the tender
procedure. The only factors which will be taken into consideration during
this re-examination are:
— economic and financial capability — max. 25 points,
— permanent staff specialised in development of food safety standards;
training/capacity building in food safety standards; project management —
max. 25 points,
— experience in implementing similar donor-financed programmes in ACP
countries — max. 25 points,
— experience in collaborating with international bodies (e.g., FAO etc.),
companies or experts on food safety standards — max. 25 points.
22. Award criteria: Best value for money.
Application
23. Deadline for receipt of applications: 30.10.2008 (16:00), Saint Lucia
time.
Any application received after this deadline will not be considered.
24. Application format and details to be provided: Applications must be
submitted using the standard application form (available from the
following Internet address: http://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/work/procedures/
index_en.htm), whose format and instructions must be strictly observed.
Any additional documentation (brochure, letter, etc.) sent with an
application will not be taken into consideration.
25. How applications may be submitted: Applications must be submitted in
English exclusively to the contracting authority:
— either by recorded delivery (official postal service) to:
The National Authorising Officer, Ministry of Economic Affairs, Economic
Planning, Investment and National Development, American Drywall Building,
Vide Boutielle, Castries, Saint Lucia. Tel. (758) 468 21 80. Fax (758) 453
29 60. E-mail: projects@candw.lc,
— or hand-delivered (including courier services) directly to the
contracting authority in return for a signed and dated receipt to:
The National Authorising Officer, Ministry of Economic Affairs, Economic
Planning, Investment and National Development, American Drywall Building,
Vide Boutielle, Castries, Saint Lucia. Tel. (758) 468 21 80. Fax (758) 453
29 60. E-mail: projects@candw.lc.
The contract title and the publication reference (see item 1 above) must
be clearly marked on the envelope containing the application and must
always be mentioned in all subsequent correspondence with the contracting
authority.
Applications submitted by any other means will not be considered.
26. Alteration or withdrawal of applications: Candidates may alter or
withdraw their applications by written notification prior to the deadline
for submission of tenders. No application may be altered after this
deadline.
Any such notification of alteration or withdrawal shall be prepared and
submitted in accordance with clause 25. The outer envelope (and the
relevant inner envelope) must be marked 'Alteration' or 'Withdrawal' as
appropriate.
27. Operational language: All written communications for this tender
procedure and contract must be in English.
28. Additional information: The programme will be coordinated by the
Saint Lucia Bureau of Standards.
29. Date of publication of contract forecast: June 2008.
30. Legal basis: Council Regulation (EC) No 856/1999 of 22.4.1999
establishing a special framework of assistance for traditional ACP
suppliers of bananas.

LC-Castries: development and implementation of standards and a certification system for selected agricultural products and training in Saint Lucia

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