SOLICITATION NOTICE
99 -- Regional Agriculture Trade Expansion Support (RATES) Program
- Notice Date
- 5/30/2002
- Notice Type
- Solicitation Notice
- Contracting Office
- Agency for International Development, Overseas Missions, Kenya USAID-Nairobi, Unit #64102, APO, AE, 09831-4102
- ZIP Code
- 09831-4102
- Solicitation Number
- 623-02-034
- Response Due
- 7/23/2002
- Archive Date
- 8/7/2002
- Point of Contact
- Tadeusz Findeisen, Contracting Officer, Phone 011-254-2-862-400, Fax 011-254-2-860-861,
- E-Mail Address
-
tfindeisen@usaid.gov
- Description
- In approximately 15 to 19 days of this Synopsis issuance, REDSO/ESA will post full Request for Proposals (RFP) solicitation for the implementation of a Regional Agricultural Trade Expansion Support (RATES) project. The primary objective of the RATES program is be to increase the value/volume of agricultural trade within the East and Southern Africa region and between the region and the rest of the world by 35% in the next five years i.e. 2002 - 2007. Whereas past REDSO/ESA efforts in this area have dwelled more on the broad trade facilitation issues related, development literature and experience in the region and elsewhere suggests that it is difficult to achieve such an objective without concentrating at least some support on particular commodities. Vertical involvement in designated industries or commodity chains also makes it possible to tackle barriers to trade of a broader nature, both because of the experiential learning that takes place and because of the private sector involvement that vertical activities tend to attract. However, even within the agricultural sector alone there are structural concerns that are not specific to a single commodity or commodity cluster but which either reduce the efficiency or transparency of trading itself or reduce competitiveness in a global marketplace. Agriculture-specific cross-cutting concerns include such topics as grades and standards, sanitary and phyto-sanitary regulations, agricultural marketing institutions, and intellectual property rights (e.g. plant variety protection, genetically-modified organisms). Such broad issues, not specific to any commodity chain or technical topic, are essential and complementary to vertical supply chain development. In order to respond to both kinds of trade constraints, vertical as well as broad, REDSO/ESA has decided to adopt a hub-and-satellite approach for the RATES program. The satellites will aim at enhancing trade efficiency and competitiveness along selected commodity supply chains. In some special cases, satellites may be set up to handle thematic issues. The Hub will be a specialized service center intended to handle the broad cross-cutting issues in support of the interventions to be undertaken by the satellites. The driving force behind the skill composition and actions of the Hub will therefore be the satellite activities and common issues that cut across them. In addressing these issues, the Hub will address broad agricultural trade facilitation activities in close collaboration with regional inter-governmental organization such as COMESA, IGAD, EAC, IBAR, and private sector organizations. The requirements falls into North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code 5416 (Management, Scientific and Technical Consulting Services), its Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) cross-reference is code 8742 (Administrative Management and General Management Consulting). Full-and-open competition (no set-asides or other limitations on competition) procedure will be followed to select winning U.S. contractor. The level of funding for this project is anticipated to be in $10-20 million range over the five year period. Bidders will be encouraged to sub-contract or form consortiums. Involvement of local African firms (through subcontracting with prime U.S.-based contractor) will be strongly advantageous to Project objectives. The winning bidder will work mainly in the East and Southern Africa but will have to collaborate with relevant institutions based elsewhere. Full description of the requirements will appear in the RFP Solicitation.
- Place of Performance
- Address: Kenya and Eastern and South Africa Region
- Record
- SN00085011-W 20020601/020530213057 (fbodaily.com)
- Source
-
FedBizOpps.gov Link to This Notice
(may not be valid after Archive Date)
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