The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), Food Safety Inspection Service (FSIS) intends to negotiate solely with Biomerieux , Inc. 100 Rodolphe Street, Durham, North Carolina 27712 to obtain the following services for the USDA FSIS Eastern, Mid-Western and Western Labs:

Preventive maintenance on Tempo and Masterclaves

The Government intends to purchase services from Biomerieux , Inc. to perform preventive maintenance for seven (7) microbiological media sterilization and dispensing units located in the three USDA-FSIS Field Service Labs (FSL) in St. Louis MO, Athens GA, and Albany CA.  The labs have seven (7) media preparation- Masterclaves units, two (2) table-top units with a 9-liter capacity for preparation of agar plates; and five (5) free standing units, two with a 28-liter capacity, and three with a 60-liter capacity for dispensing enrichment media into lab samples.

The services are sole proprietary of Biomerieux , Inc. and Biomerieux is the only known source which can provide the required services to the current requirements. This procurement will be conducted under the authority of FAR 6.302-1 - Only One Responsible Source and no Other Supplies or Services will Satisfy Agency Requirements Citation: 41 U.S.C. 253(c)(1). The period of performance will be for a 12- month base period plus 4 option years.

The approximate dollar value under consideration is $460,000 for 5 years.

The contractor shall provide services that meet the following requirements:

The vendor will provide one (1) yearly preventive maintenance (PM) visit that will encompass verification and calibration of all seven (7) media preparation units and all nine (9) TEMPO automated systems mentioned above.  The visits will be approximately 12 months apart.  Once yearly PM visits are required per ISO 17025 standards.  The OPHS Laboratories are an ISO 17025 accredited laboratory. 

This is not a request for quotations or an announcement of a forthcoming solicitation. Request for copies of this solicitation will not be honored or acknowledged. The Government does not intend to pay for information received. All interested parties must respond within five (5) calendar days from the date of this notice. Written responses must provide clear and concise documentation indicating your firm's capability to provide the proprietary services. Verbal responses are not acceptable and will not be considered. When responding to this announcement, respondents should refer to announcement #123A9421Q0006. If no viable responses have been received in response after Friday, February 12, 2021, 5:00 pm E.S.T. to this announcement, USDA/FSIS shall negotiate solely with Biomerieux, Inc.