Framework Agreement-Open ITT
Introduction
The Forestry Commission’s (FC) mission is to protect and expand Britain's forests and woodlands and increase their value to society and the environment.
We, the FC, will always consider equality when conducting our procurement activities. We require you to meet your duties under the Equality Act 2010 and may ask for evidence that you are aware of and operate in accordance with those requirements
We take the lead in the development and promotion of sustainable forest management. We deliver the distinct forestry policies of England and Scotland through specific objectives drawn from the country forestry strategies.
More information is available on our website at www.forestry.gov.uk
1 Type and term of agreement
We will be awarding a framework agreement for the provision of a plant health inspection service for imports of controlled wood, wood products and bark into ports of landing within Great Britain.
Our intention is to award this framework agreement for a period of 4 years.
Break points are available within the framework agreement annually, at which time we will decide on whether the framework agreement will continue.
The decision on whether to use the break points will be at our discretion and we will base it on performance.
The total value of this framework agreement over the entire period including any extension options will be in the region of £1,500,000 to £2,000,000.
2 Timetable, enquiries and return arrangements
2.1 Timetable
Set out below is the proposed procurement timetable. This is intended as a guide, and, while we do not intend to depart from the timetable, we reserve the right to do so.
Stages / DatesIssue ITT Document / Wednesday 10th September 2014
Bidder Briefing Day / Thursday 9th October 2014
Closing date and time for enquiries / Tuesday 21st October 2014
Tender Return Date and Time / 1 pm, Monday 3rd November 2014
Expected Notification of Intent to Award / Monday 15th December 2014
End of Standstill Period / Monday 5th January 2015
Expected Start Date / Wednesday 1st April 2015
2.2 Clarification, bidder briefing day
2.2.1 Clarification
Once we have evaluated submissions, we may need further clarification and may ask for this additional information or a clarification meeting. The purpose is to further explore the information you have provided in your submission.
2.2.2 Bidder briefing day
Bidders are invited to attend a Bidder Briefing Day to help them understand more about the requirements of this contract. We anticipate that Briefing will take place on the date specified in the timetable at Section 2.1 above and bidders should contact the person named at 2.3 to confirm their attendance and receive further details. We are hoping to hold this event in Birmingham. Attendance is not mandatory and any bidders that are unable to attend will be provided with a copy of the slides from the day along with any additional questions and answers covered at the event. This information will be sent out via email within 3 days of the closing date for enquiries.
2.3 Enquiries
Please send all enquiries in writing or by email, by the deadline stated at Section 2.1, quoting the framework agreement number printed at the front of this document to:
Ian Brownlee
Plant Health Service
Forestry Commission
Silvan House
231 Corstorphine Road
Edinburgh
EH12 7AT
Email:
If we consider any question or request for clarification is relevant to all interested parties, we will circulate both the query and the response to all potential tenderers, although your identity will remain confidential.
If you want to tender, and have not yet registered interest in the framework agreement, you must do so before the closing date for enquiries to make sure you are told about any questions and answers.
2.4 Return arrangements
Please return your completed tender as:
· two paper copies by post or hand delivered, and
· one copy on disk or USB type storage device in a read only format
Please note that we do not accept fax or email copies.
We must receive your completed tender before the closing time shown in the Timetable at Section 2.1. We will keep tenders received before this deadline unopened until after this time. We reserve the right to not consider any tenders received after the deadline. Please be aware that tenders may be copied for our use.
Mark your envelopes with the words ‘Tender for Plant Health Inspection and Survey Programmes in Great Britain, CFSTEN 1/14– Not to be opened until 1pm on Monday 3rd November 2014’.
Submissions may be excluded if you do not mark the envelope in this way.
Send completed tender documents to the following address:
Corporate Support Officer
Corporate & Forestry Support
Silvan House
231 Corstorphine Road
Edinburgh
EH12 7AT
3 Statement of Requirements
We intend to award a framework agreement principally for the provision of a Plant Health Inspection Service for controlled wood, wood products and bark entering Great Britain from abroad in order to protect Britain’s woodlands and trees from harmful pests and diseases.
The inspections will take place at designated points of entry (seaports and airports) throughout Great Britain. The Plant Health Service operates on a full-cost recovery basis for the inspection service that it provides and therefore it charges timber importers with inspection fees being levied on each consignment of controlled sawn wood entering Great Britain based on the volume of material being imported.
A framework is an agreement with one or several providers. It sets out the general terms and conditions under which we can make specific purchases as and when we need them. The formal contract is formed when the customer places a call-off order against the framework asking for specific delivery of goods, services or works. A bidder can receive a call-off order directly, or we may ask them to take part in a mini-competition with the other bidders on the framework.
This particular Framework Agreement will operate as follows:
· For each of the lots detailed below, we will appoint a maximum of three suppliers who will be ranked on the basis of their tender returns.
· Each supplier will only be able to be named on a maximum of three lots either as the primary supplier or as the second or third placed supplier. As described for each lot, there are pre-determined elements of work. These elements of work will form a call-off order, with the primary supplier, which will be detailed in a contract Schedule at the Framework Agreement commencement date.
· The primary supplier for each lot will have the capacity to provide a plant health inspection service throughout the year in designated ports.
· The supplier under direction of the contract manager will act as the first point of contact for importers/agents of wood and wood products in the lot area and therefore the supplier must be contactable by phone (including mobile) and email.
· Any additional work out with work at designated ports (which cannot be fixed at this point in time) will be allocated on a call-off basis as required and offered, to the primary supplier of each lot.
· If the primary supplier is not able to undertake the work then the next ranked supplier will be offered the work and so on.
· Such call-offs will generally be in the form of a written instruction via e-mail and will be carried out under the terms of the Framework Agreement, with any special terms being instructed at the point of call-off. These instructions will be provided mainly via the contract manager but may, with the contract manager’s permission, be an importer, exporter or their agent or a registered forestry trader. Any call-offs will be charged at the pre-agreed Framework Rate.
· Lists of the local government districts in which the contract lot will operate are provided in the lot specification section.
· The supplier will provide an inspection service from 0900–1700 Monday to Friday. Plant Health managers provide a service outside these hours where an importer, exporter or their agent or a registered forestry trader has requested in advance and the Plant Health Inspector who will carry out the inspection has agreed to do so (some inspections cannot be conducted properly except in daylight conditions).
Background Information
The Forestry Commission’s primary objective with regard to tree health, as emphasised in its mission statement is to:
• Preserve the health and vitality of our forests, trees and woodlands through strategies which exclude, detect, and respond to existing and new pests, whether of native or exotic origin.
The Forestry Commission’s tree health strategy also has a number of secondary objectives and those which are most relevant to this contract are listed below:
• Ensure that our border controls are effective, and on the basis of available evidence, are proportionate to the risks posed by both known and unknown biosecurity threats
• Monitor for the presence of previously absent pests, or the spread of existing ones
• Encourage the adoption of sound biosecurity practice in a consistent way on both the public and private forest estate through general awareness raising to stimulate cultural and behavioural changes
Our tree health strategy operates at three levels. First, through our border controls, we do everything we can to prevent undesirable pests from entering the country. Second, and in the event of a new outbreak, we move as quickly as we can to eradicate the threat, and if this is not possible, to contain it. Finally, we may have to learn to live with the pest, and adapt our management to reduce the threat it presents
The work of the Forestry Commission’s Plant Health Service is primarily involved with the first of the three levels i.e. border controls and it implements the EU legislation provided in the EU Plant Health Directive (Council Directive 2000/29/EC) at a national GB level via the Plant Health (Forestry) Order 2005 as amended.
Plant Health Inspectors are required to carry out plant health checks on controlled wood, wood products and bark that enter Great Britain from abroad to ensure that it meets the special landing requirements. Remedial action such as destruction, re-export or exceptionally treatment can be ordered through the issue of a statutory notice against material that does not comply with the landing requirements. Detailed guidance on the inspection work performed by Plant Health Inspectors can be found in the Inspector’s Manual and other plant health Guides which are provided in the appendices for this this ITT. More general information can be found on the Forestry Commission’s website at www.forestry.gov.uk/planthealth.
The list of documents provided at Appendix 1 is as follows –
1. Inspectors Manual (To be updated and republished on 1st October following legislation changes)*
2. Form PHF28 Certificate of Clearance
3. Form PH4 EU Material Statutory Notice
4. Form PH3 Third Country Statutory Notice
5. Registered Forestry Traders Inspection Form
6. Plant Health Guide: Import Inspection Fees for Wood, Wood products and bark (To be updated and republished on 1st October following legislation changes)*
7. Plant Health Guide Importing wood, wood products and bark (To be updated and republished on 1st October following legislation changes)*
The list of documents provided at Appendix 2 is as follows –
8. Pine Wood Nematode Survey and Sampling 2011
9. Form PWN Survey Material Trees
10. Protected Zone Survey – General Guide for Surveyors
11. Standard Operating Procedure: Pest Free Areas
12. Standard Operating Procedure: Phytophthora Processing Licence Inspections (To be updated and republished on 1st October following legislation changes)*
The list of documents provided at Appendix 3 is as follows –
13. Plant Health Service Standards
14. Importers Letter For Non-Compliant Wood Packaging Material and Dunnage Re: ISPM15 The Plant Health (Forestry) Order 2005
15. SOP Chinese Stone and associated wood packaging material inspections
16. SOP US North American Hardwood Lumber Association Kiln Drying Certification Program
17. SOP Timber and Wood Product Inspections and Sampling Ratios
18. Biosecurity Z Card
Updated documents will be emailed to bidders who have registered an interest in the Framework Agreement.
Plant Health inspections are performed at major seaports and airports throughout Great Britain where wood and wood products are landed and details of the work required at each of the main points of landing are provided in the following sections which details the contract work as individual Lots.
Plant Health Service Standards
The service standards apply to all lots and are detailed in the Plant Health Service Standards leaflet which provided at Appendix 3.
General Contract Specifications
The following general contract specifications apply to all of the lots on offer (where the work is applicable) and therefore these should be read in conjunction with the individual lot specifications provided in the following pages.
Contract Rates
The service supplier will submit details of three rates in their tender bid which will be payable depending on the type of inspection or survey work that they will be performing. An all-inclusive on-site rate will be payable for routine timber, wood packaging material and dunnage inspection work and a day rate will be payable for other less routine work. Suppliers will be asked for a third rate to cover all costs related to administrative duties. Details of the three types of rates are provided in Part F ‘Pricing Schedule’ of the ITT.
The rate applicable for each work type described below is shown in brackets in the work type heading.
Plant Health Cross Border Service
The Supplier will have the capacity to provide a plant health service throughout the year in the locations described in the Lot Specific Specification.
Generally speaking all controlled timber is subjected to 100% inspection with either the consignment being inspected in its entirety or a representative sample is inspected. Some wood products may be subject to Reduced Frequency of Inspection regimes at percentages set by the European Union. Wood of Acer saccharum from Canada and the USA has been subjected to reduced frequency of inspection (RFI) checks in the past however at the commencement of the framework agreement no wood products are anticipated to have RFI checks applied to them.
Timber- Inspections - Containerised and Bulk Shipments (on-site rate)