99 -- Canned Fruit, Announcement FV300

The Department of Agriculture invites offers to sell canned fruit as indicated below. Offers are due by 1 p.m., Central Time, Thursday, June 8, 2006. Acceptances will be announced by midnight, Thursday, June 15, 2006. Deliveries are to be made from July 1, 2006 to September 30, 2006. Offers are invited from the trade for: Canned Pears 24/#300 16,200 cases No offer will be made to 8(a) vendors. Offerors are advised that if they cannot supply the product for the first delivery period (07/01/06 - 07/15/06), please do not bid on them. All prime vendors are reminded that they are prohibited from subcontracting with companies or individuals that have been suspended or debarred. All invitations with orders for the state of New York, must have the pack date stamped on the outside of each carton. The pack date should be annotated as per the following example: (05/01/2003). Orders for the state of New York requiring the special marking will be indicated by (**). This applies to New York orders "Only," and when they appear on an invitation. Effective August 1, 2005, contractors are required to submit Annual Representations and Certifications via the Online Representation and Certifications Application (ORCA). Bids must be submitted electronically via the Domestic Electronic Bid Entry System (DEBES) on the Internet. Offerors who submit bids using other than DEBES, will be deemed non-responsive. Offeror must be assigned a Logon ID by USDA to access the site. The Internet address is: http://pcsd.usda.gov/debes. Bidders are cautioned to bid only quantities they can reasonable expect to produce and deliver in accordance with the contract. An electronic version of this invitation can be obtained through the World Wide Web via the Commodity Procurement Home Page at http://www.ams.usda.gov/cp. Purchases will be made on a delivered basis, subject to Announcement FV-300, to the listed locations. Delivery by trucks or railcars is optional to the contractor, except for those destination(s)which specify delivery by truck only or rail only. For addtional information, contact DeVera Redmond, Small Business Coordinator, 202-720-7106