Description.NAICS code 541199. In accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation Part 13 “Simplified Acquisition Procedures” (48 CFR Part 13), the United States Department of Commerce is providing widespread notice of this acquisition opportunity and is requesting proposals to provide a training course of at least 40 hours in the practice of international commercial arbitration leading to certification in arbitration. The course will preferably be held in the United States for up to 20 West African ADR providers. In addition, a facilitator will work over the course of 16 hours with the participants to develop and produce a standard curriculum for an arbitration course to be taught in West Africa by the participants upon their return to their respective home countries. This project may require an instructor to co-teach an arbitration course in West Africa at a later stage. Materials developed under this contract, specifically the new curriculum for West Africa, will be copyrighted by CLDP. It is anticipated that the course and curriculum development workshop will commence before September 30, 2003 and last approximately 7 business days. Evaluation Criteria. The contractor should have the following technical capabilities: 1. Significant experience (at least 10 years) and proven success in training of English and French speaking foreign professionals in arbitration; 2. Significant practical experience (at least 10 years) instructing courses in alternative dispute resolution and commercial arbitration specifically; 3. United States location preferred. Response Requirements. Interested offerors are requested to submit a brief capability statement (not to exceed five (5) pages) which comprehensively addresses each criterion set forth above. Cost and technical proposals are not required and will not be considered at this time. The Government will review and evaluate timely received capability statements and those offerors who meet the Evaluation Criteria will be deemed “qualified”. The Government will then furnish each qualified offeror with a draft copy of the Statement of Work, source selection criteria and proposal instructions. The Government may enter into discussions with qualified offeror after receipt of capability statements and after receipt of proposals. If the Contracting Officer determines that such discussions are necessary, the Government will notify qualified offeror of the date/time for such discussions. For the sake of clarity, the Government may communicate with qualified offeror at any point during evaluation of the capability statements and proposal evaluation process. The Government also reserves the right to award without discussions at the Contracting Officer’s discretion. Contract Type and Period of Performance. The Government anticipates issuing a Purchase Order for a firm-fixed price that will require the contractor to complete the required work within 150 days of Purchase Order award. Additional Information. Compliance with protocol between the governments of the Country and the United States of America in connection with performance of the Contract will be required. Qualified offerors will be briefed on the protocols and security requirements. The protocols and security requirements are not available for public dissemination. Qualified offerors who have been provided with the protocol and security information will be forbidden from disclosing the terms, content and procedures of the protocol and security. Furthermore, while in the County, the selected contractor will be representing the Commercial Law Development Program, the U.S. Department of Commerce and, by extension, the United States Government. The contractor will therefore be required to adhere to all applicable ethics codes in effect in their respective jurisdictions and professions and contractors also must adhere to applicable federal conflict of interest statutes and standards of conduct. Response Requirements. Interested offerors must submit two (2) copies of capability statements on or before 09/09/03. The capability statements must specifically and comprehensively address the Evaluation Criteria and be submitted in writing. The address to which Capability Statements must be addressed and sent is: Cherita Toulson, Contract Specialist, U.S. Department of Commerce, Room 6521, 1401 Constitution Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20230. Electronic (e-mail) versions of the Capability Statements must be in Microsoft Word format and sent to
[email protected]. All Capability Statements must be sent to assure receipt by the Government on or before 3:00 p.m. EST, September 9, 2003.