FOOD STANDARDS AUSTRALIA NEW ZEALAND
REQUEST FOR TENDER
FOR THE PROVISION OF A REVIEW OF FSANZ’S APPROACH TO PROJECT MANAGEMENT TO INCREASE EFFICENCY
RFT NO 2014-15/23
RFT Details
This document is available until the closing date, 2 March 2015.
Lodgement of tenders
Tenders must be lodged by the ‘Closing Time’ of 2.00 pm Australian Eastern Standard Time (AEST) on 2 March 2015.
Hand delivery:
Tenders (RFT 2014-15/23) must be delivered by the ‘Closing Time’ at:
Tender Box
RFT NO 2014-15-23
Food Standards Australia New Zealand
New Zealand Address:
Level 3 154 Featherston Street
Wellington 6011 NEW ZEALAND
Australian Address:
Boeing Building
55 Blackall Street
Barton ACT 2600 AUSTRALIA
Postal Delivery:
Tenders (RFT 2014/15-23) must be received by the ‘Closing Time’ at:
New Zealand Address:
PO Box 10559
The Terrace Wellington 6143 NEW ZEALAND
Or
Australian Address:
PO Box 7186
Canberra BC, ACT 2610 AUSTRALIA
Copies Required
Tenderers shall lodge one (1) unbound, single-sided A4 with numbered pages of the original of their Tender marked ‘ORIGINAL’ and accompanied by supporting documentation such as brochures, handbooks and the like.
Additionally, two (2) copies of the Tender with two (2) copies of any supporting documents marked ‘COPY’ must also be provided. An electronic copy of the Tender should also be lodged in a rich text format (rtf) or Microsoft® Word format either in compact disk or by email to: .
In the event of a discrepancy between any copy, including electronic copy and the original Tender, the original takes precedence.
Email delivery
Tenders (RFT 2014-15/23) must be delivered by the ‘Tender Closing Time’ by email to:
Respondents shall lodge email submissions to the designated email delivery noted on the first page. Email submissions shall clearly state the name of the respondent’s business or company and the RFQ number to which the submission relates. Each email submission shall not contain attachments totalling more than 20MB. If a Respondent requires lodging attachments totalling more than 20MB, respondents may send a submission in more than one email, clearly noting the total number of emails that form the entire submission in the title of the email, for example “Company X, RFT 2014-15/23 – Part 1 of 3”. If a single attachment is greater than 20MB, respondents should contact the Contact Officer for assistance. In the event of a discrepancy between any copy, including electronic copy and the original Tender, the original takes precedence.
Fax Tenders
Faxed Tenders will not be accepted. Refer to Part A, paragraph 0.
Late Tenders
Late tenders will not be accepted. Refer to Part A, paragraph 0.
Contact Officer
For all inquiries relating to this Request for Tender please contact:
Name: Ms Gillian Duffy
Food Standards Australia New Zealand
Address: Boeing Building
55 Blackall Street
Barton ACT 2600 AUSTRALIA
Email:
Phone: +61 2 6271 2227
TABLE OF CONTENTS
RFT Details ii
PART A – Conditions of Tender 1
1. Invitation to Tender 1
2. Contract 1
1. Enquiries by Tenderers 1
2. Tender content 1
3. Lodgement of Tenders 2
4. Late Tenders 2
5. Alterations, erasures, or illegibility 2
6. Unintentional errors of form 2
7. Ownership of Tender documents 3
8. Tender validity period 3
9. Compliance 3
10. Part Tenders 3
11. Language and measurement 3
12. Currency 3
13. Tendering entities 4
14. Minimum content and format requirements 4
15. Conditions for participation 4
16. Additional information 4
17. Tenderers to meet costs 4
18. Tenderers to inform themselves 4
21. Tenderer's confidential information 5
22. FSANZ confidential information 6
23. Conflicts of interest 6
24. Australian and New Zealand goods and services 7
25. Compliance with law and policy 7
26. Acceptance of Tenders 9
27. Termination of the RFT 9
28. Public Statements 9
29. Debriefing of Tenderers 10
30. Complaints 10
31. Anti-competitive conduct and inappropriate use of information 10
PART B – Statement of Requirement 11
1. Background 11
2. Services 11
3. Outputs expected from the preferred Tenderer 12
4. Time-frame 12
5. Fees 13
6. Conflict of Interest 13
7. Communication issues 13
8. Confidentiality issues 13
9. Values, Code of Conduct and Ethical Relationships 14
PART C – Response Format and Evaluation 15
1. Response format 15
2. Evaluation Process 15
PART D – Draft Agreement 18
ii
PART A – Conditions of Tender
1. Invitation to Tender
1.1. Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) invites interested parties (Tenderers) to submit a tender (Tender) for the provision of [insert a brief description of the services] (Services) in accordance with this Request for Tender (RFT).
1.2. Tenderers should read all parts of this RFT carefully. Any Tenders that are not submitted according to this RFT may be excluded from consideration.
1.3. This RFT is expressly not a contract between FSANZ and the Tenderer. Nothing in this RFT or in any Tender document is to be construed as to give rise to any contractual obligations, express or implied.
2. Contract
2.1. FSANZ proposes to enter into a contract with the successful Tenderer substantially in the form of the Draft Agreement set out in Part D.
2.2. Omitted.
2.3. Omitted.
3. Enquiries by Tenderers
3.1. All enquiries by potential Tenderers for information should be addressed only to the nominated contact officer named in the RFT Details.
3.2. Tenderers may, in writing, seek clarification of the meaning of this RFT from the contact officer specified in the RFT Details. FSANZ may respond to requests for clarification either orally or in writing (including faxed notice or by electronic mail or by special arrangement). However, if the Tenderer wants to rely on FSANZ’s response, the respondent must request that FSANZ provide the response in writing.
3.3. Where, in the opinion of FSANZ, further information provided to one potential Tenderer should be provided to all potential Tenderers, such information will be given the same distribution as the original RFT.
4. Tender content
4.1. Should a potential Tenderer find any discrepancy, ambiguity, inconsistency, error or omission in this RFT document or any other information provided by FSANZ, they should notify FSANZ in writing as a soon as possible, and in any case before the Closing Time so that FSANZ may take any corrective action it considers necessary.
4.2. Any variation to the original RFT will be given the same distribution as the original RFT.
5. Lodgement of Tenders
5.1. Tenders must be sent via email to the required email address or lodged in the tender box at the address and by the ‘Tender Closing Time’ specified in the RFT Details.
5.2. The Closing Time may be extended by written notice by FSANZ. Any extension will be given the same distribution as the original RFT.
5.3. Due to problems encountered with verification of origin and guarantee of receipt, Tenders submitted by facsimile will not be accepted.
5.4. Tenders may be deposited by hand in the tender box or sent as a postal article for placement in the tender box. The onus is on Tenderers to ensure that any tenders sent by mail are posted:
a. within sufficient time to reach the tender box by the Closing Time; and
b. by an appropriate means to ensure the Tenderer can track the progress of the tender and confirm its delivery.
5.5. FSANZ will be under no obligation to provide Tenderers with confirmation of delivery of Tenders.
6. Late Tenders
6.1. Tenders lodged after the Tender Closing Time will deemed late and will be opened and registered separately.
6.2. Subject to paragraph 6.3, FSANZ will not admit a late Tender to evaluation.
6.3. FSANZ will only admit to evaluation late Tenders that have been received late solely due to mishandling by FSANZ. For the avoidance of doubt, 'mishandling by FSANZ' does not include mishandling by a courier or mail service provider engaged by the Tenderer to deliver the Tender. It is the responsibility of each Tenderer to ensure that their Tender is dispatched and lodged in accordance with paragraph 5.1.
7. Alterations, erasures, or illegibility
7.1 Before lodgement of Tender, the Tenderer must initial any alterations or erasures made to the Tender.
7.2. If the Tenderer become aware of any discrepancy, error or omission in the Tender after lodgement and wishes to lodge a correction or additional information, that material must be in writing and lodged in accordance with the above provisions and before the Tender Closing Time.
7.3. Any Tender in which prices are not clearly and legibly stated may be excluded from consideration.
8. Unintentional errors of form
8.1. If FSANZ considers that there are unintentional errors of form in a Tender, FSANZ may request the Tenderer to correct or clarify the error but will not permit any material alteration or addition to the Tender.
9. Ownership of Tender documents
9.1. All Tender documents will become the property of FSANZ on lodgement.
9.2. Intellectual property rights in the Tender do not pass to FSANZ with the property in the Tender itself. However, FSANZ is licensed to use and copy any Tender document to the extent necessary to conduct an efficient selection process and the preparation and management of any resultant contract.
10. Tender validity period
10.1. Offers in response to this RFT must remain open for 90 days from the Closing Time specified in the RFT Details.
11. Compliance
11.1. The Tenderer will be taken to agree and comply with all conditions of the RFT unless the Tenderer specifies otherwise and gives reasons for such.
11.2. Tenderers may choose not to comply with a condition or part of the Statement of Requirement set out in Part B (non-compliance). Tenderers shall detail the extent of and reasons for such non-compliance. However, as non-compliance will be considered during the evaluation of Tenders, significant non-compliance may render a Tender ineligible for further consideration.
11.3 Responses will be considered non-compliant where Tenderers in any way limit, qualify, confuse or make compliance conditional in their Tenders.
12. Part Tenders
12.1 FSANZ will not consider a Tender for only part of the requirement.
13. Language and measurement
13.1. The Tender, including all attachments and supporting material, must be written in English.
13.2. All measurements must be expressed in Australian legal units of measure.
14. Currency
14.1. Tendered prices should be inclusive of:
a. GST (as defined in section 195-1 of the A New Tax System (Goods and Services Tax) Act 1999) (Cth);
b. all costs of complying with this RFT; and
c. all costs associated with doing all things necessary for the due and proper completion of the proposed contract.
14.2. Any prices not stated in Australian dollars will be converted to Australian dollars using the exchange rate as it exists at the Tender Closing Time for the purposes of evaluation.
14.3. Tenderers from the public sector should note that Competitive Neutrality requires that Government businesses should not enjoy net competitive advantages over their private sector competitors by virtue of public sector ownership.
14.4. Tenderers from the public sector should demonstrate in their pricing that Competitive Neutrality requirements have been met, including:
d. payment of relevant taxes and charges;
e. rates of return; and
f. cost of funds.
15. Tendering entities
15.1. FSANZ will only consider Tenders submitted by single legal entities which are in existence or unincorporated joint ventures which have been established at the Tender Closing Time specified in paragraph 5.1.
15.2. FSANZ may reject a Tender if it is submitted on the basis that two or more organisations will be jointly and severally liable.
16. Minimum content and format requirements
16.1. Subject to paragraph 0, FSANZ will exclude a Tender from further consideration if FSANZ considers that the Tender:
a. is not written in English (see paragraph 13.1);
b. does not express measurements in Australian legal units of measurement (see paragraph (see paragraph 13.2);
c. is a Tender for only part of the Services (see paragraph 12.1); or
d. the Tender does not contain the statement required by paragraph 31.1.
17. Conditions for participation
17.1. FSANZ will exclude a Tender from further consideration if FSANZ considers that the Tenderer does not comply with the conditions set out in paragraph 15.1.
18. Additional information
18.1. Tenderers may include additional information to any features of the Tender not covered by the requirements. This information, if considered of value, may be considered as part of the evaluation.
19. Tenderers to meet costs
19.1. Tenderers are to meet all costs of responding to this RFT, including preparation, submission, postage, courier, lodgement and negotiation costs.
20. Tenderers to inform themselves
20.1. Tenderers are considered to have:
a. examined the RFT and any documents referred to in the RFT and any other information made available in writing by FSANZ to Tenderers for the purpose of preparing a Tender; and
b. examined all further information which is obtainable by the making of reasonable inquiries relevant to the risks, contingencies and other circumstances.
20.2. Tenderers acknowledge that except where expressly provided for in this RFT, the Tenderer does not rely on:
a. any statement, letter, document or arrangement whether oral or in writing or other conduct, or
b. any warranty or representation made by or on behalf of FSANZ, as adding to or amending this RFT, but has relied entirely on its own inquiries and inspections.
20.3. Neither FSANZ nor its officers, employees or advisers will be liable to any Tenderer or any other person on the basis of any promissory estoppel, quantum meruit or on any other contractual, quasi contractual or restitutionary grounds or any rights with a similar legal or equitable basis whatsoever or in negligence as a consequence of any matter or thing relating or incidental to a Tenderer’s participation in this RFT process, including instances where:
a. a Tenderer is not engaged to undertake the provision of the Services;
b. FSANZ decides not to outsource all or any of the Services;
c. FSANZ exercises or fails to exercise any of its other rights under or in relation to this RFT; or
d. FSANZ makes information available or provides information to a Tenderer relating to its assets, procedures, plans, Tender, existing arrangements for provision of the Services or any possible future arrangements.