DATE: April 28, 2009
USDA CONSUMER PACK WHOLE CHICKENS PURCHASE PROGRAM ANNOUNCED (PY-348):

The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) today announced plans to purchase frozen consumer pack whole chickens for use in domestic food nutrition assistance programs.

Offers will be invited from the trade for frozen U.S. Grade A ready-to-cook young chickens, with neck and giblets or without neck and giblets. Individual chickens must weigh 3 to 5.5 pounds (1.36 to 2.5 kg) per carcass weighed without neck and giblets. The commodity must be commercially labeled and packed in individual plastic-film bags with 10-12 chickens per fiberboard shipping container. A purchase unit will total 39,600 pounds (17,962 kg).

Invitation No. 1, inviting offers due by 12 noon, Central Time, Monday, May 18, is being issued in the near future. Acceptances will be announced by midnight, Friday, May 22, for product to be delivered from July 1 to September 30.

All offers must be submitted electronically through the Domestic Electronic Bid Entry System (DEBES) website at https://pcsd.usda.gov:3077/mdbc1000.exe?. Offers submitted by any means other than DEBES will be considered nonresponsive.

There are some important changes to this year's program. Under the food defense requirements, all non-conformances listed in the audit report must be addressed in writing to both the Contracting Officer and Auditor within 14 calendar days of the audit. Plans must also have been audited since March 1, 2009. Also, qualified bidders must provide annual financial updates to Dun & Bradstreet as detailed in the Qualification Requirements.

Although most other provisions of the program are similar to the program operated last year, offerors are urged to carefully read all applicable terms and conditions of the Master Solicitation for Commodity Procurement dated April 2009; Qualification Requirements for Prospective Contractors dated April 2009; Commodity Specification for Frozen Consumer Pack Chickens dated August 2008; and Invitation No. 1.

Inquiries may be made by telephoning (202) 720-7693 or addressing the Contracting Officer; USDA/AMS/Poultry Programs, Commodity Procurement Branch STOP 0260;
1400 Independence Ave., SW; Washington, DC 20250. An electronic version of this Food Purchase Report can be obtained through the world-wide-web via the Commodity Procurement Home Page at: http://www.ams.usda.gov/PYProcurement.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) prohibits discrimination in all its programs and activities on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, disability, and where applicable, sex, marital status, familial status, parental status, religion, sexual orientation, genetic information, political beliefs, reprisal, or because all or a part of an individual's income is derived from any public assistance program. (Not all prohibited bases apply to all programs.) Persons with disabilities who require alternative means for communication of program information (Braille, large print, audiotape, etc.) should contact USDA's TARGET Center at (202) 720-2600 (voice and TDD).

To file a complaint of discrimination write to USDA, Director, Office of Civil Rights, 1400 Independence Avenue, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20250-9410 or call (800) 795-3272 (voice) or (202) 720-6382 (TDD). USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer.