Sources Sought Notice: Tobacco Retailer Ownership Identification MARKET RESEARCH PURPOSES ONLY NOT A REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL OR SOLICITATION The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Office of Acquisitions and Grants Services (OAGS) is conducting market research to support the Center for Tobacco Products (CTP). FDA conducts inspections of tobacco product retailers in the United States and U.S. territories to determine a retailer's compliance with federal laws and regulations, including the FD&C Act, as amended by the Tobacco Control Act. Generally, FDA issues a warning letter to a retail establishment the first time FDA finds a violation. Continued failure to comply with the applicable laws and regulations may lead to enforcement actions, including Civil Money Penalties or No-Tobacco-Sale Orders. Identifying ownership of the tobacco product retail establishment is a necessary part of the administrative process. FDA/CTP has a need to hire a contractor to assist with the ownership verification of tobacco product retail establishments and additional ownership and legal research regarding a small subset of these establishments. This is a Sources Sought notice to determine the availability of Small Businesses capable of supplying the required supply item/services. This notice is for planning purposes only, and does not constitute an invitation for Bids, Request for Proposal or Request for Quotation or an indication the Government will award a contract, nor does the Government intend to pay for any information submitted as a result of this notice. Your responses to the information requested will assist the Government in determining the appropriate acquisition method, including whether a set-aside is possible. Capabilities Required: The FDA is seeking sources capable of fulfilling this requirement, and should have the following capabilities available in order to satisfy the following objectives to be considered a potential source for this requirement. Capable contractors shall have the ability to verify ownership of certain tobacco retail establishments on certain inspection dates and current address for the owner to assist FDA in ensuring administrative actions are issued to the proper retail establishment owner. Capable contracts shall have the ability to determine whether establishment ownership changed during select timeframes and provide the names and current addresses for each owner during the specified timeframes As a need is identified (but likely no more frequently than weekly), FDA will provide the contractor with a list of retail establishments for which it requires ownership verification. FDA will also provide the contractor with access to the Tobacco Inspection Management System (TIMS), which contains additional establishment information. At a minimum, this information will include the name of the establishment (which may include an officially licensed name and/or a trade name), its address, and the dates that violations were observed. Capable sources shall have the ability to research and identify ownership of the establishments using all available resources according to the requirements listed below. Within 15 business days of receiving the FDA request for verification, capable sources shall provide a comprehensive ownership determination and supporting documentation. Complete ownership information must include the following: 1. Name of the party or parties that have current ownership interest in the establishment 2. Date that the current owner took ownership of the establishment 3. If ownership changed between the inspection dates provided by FDA, the name and current address of each entity or person that owned the establishment and dates of ownership during the provided timeframes. 4. Documents supporting the ownership determination, which may include various licensing documents, corporate registrations and filings, corporate dissolution records, tax records, banking/financial information, credit information, real property transactions, lease agreements, Secretary of State (or equivalent) record confirming business registration status -if requested, and any other relevant documents indicative of establishment ownership and dates of ownership. • FDA may request additional research in some cases to determine whether the transfer or sale was an arm's-length transaction; for example, documents evidencing any relationship between prior and current owners, e.g., such as overlapping corporate officers, familial relationships between the parties apparent from marriage certificates, or administrative, civil, or criminal actions involving any of the individual owners or listed corporations Following the FDA request, the capable sources must provide the analysis. The analysis must include a narrative summary and legible electronic copies of all documents relied upon to reach the conclusion. Capability Statements: Responses to this sources sought shall unequivocally demonstrate the respondent's capabilities to provide the services described above. Though the target audience is small business, all interested parties may respond. At a minimum, responses shall include the following: 1. Business name and bio, DUNS number, business address, business website, business size status (i.e., SB, VOSB, SDVOSB, HUBZone SB, SDB, WOSB, LB), point of contact name, mailing address (if different from business address), phone number and email address. Provide this same information again if responding to provide a service offered by another firm. 2. Past Performance information shall include date of services, description, dollar value, client name, 3. Client address, client contact name, client point of contact mailing address (if different from that provided for client), client point of contact phone number, client point of contact email address, and name of company (to include DUNS number and size status) if not the respondent. 4. Descriptive literature, brochures, marketing material, etc. detailing the nature of services the responding firm is regularly engaged in providing. 5. If applicable, identification of the firm's GSA Schedule contract(s) by Schedule number and Schedule Item Numbers (SIN)s that are applicable to this potential requirement are also requested. If a large business, clarify if subcontracting opportunities exist for small business concerns. The Government is not responsible for locating or securing any information, not identified in the response. Response Instructions: Interested parties shall respond with capability statements in person, by e-mail, fax, mail or other delivery method before 3:00 PM Eastern Time on June 20th, 2018 to
[email protected]. Disclaimer and Important Notes: This notice does not obligate the Government to award a contract or otherwise pay for the information provided in response. The Government reserves the right to use information provided by respondents for any purpose deemed necessary and legally appropriate. Any organization responding to this notice should ensure that its response is complete and sufficiently detailed to allow the Government to determine the organization's qualifications to perform the work. Respondents are advised that the Government is under no obligation to acknowledge receipt of the information received or provide feedback to respondents with respect to any information submitted. After a review of the responses received, a pre‐solicitation synopsis and solicitation may be published in Federal Business Opportunities. However, responses to this notice will not be considered adequate responses to a solicitation. Confidentiality: No proprietary, classified, confidential, or sensitive information should be included in your response. The Government reserves the right to use any non‐proprietary technical information in any resultant solicitation(s).