Independent Assessment of the European Union (EU) Fuel Quality Directive’s ‘Conventional’ Default Value

SUMMARY OF REQUIREMENT 

By means of this RFP, NRCan is seeking proposals from bidders to conduct an independent assessment of the European Union (EU) fuel quality directive’s ‘conventional’ default value.
	
The period of the contract shall be from the date of contract award to September 27, 2013. 

This requirement is subject to the provisions of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), the Canada-Chilli Free Trade Agreement (CCFTA), the Canada-Columbia Free Trade Agreement (CCFTA), Canada-Peru Free Trade Agreement (CPFTA) and the Agreement on Internal Trade (AIT).


NO REIMBURSEMENT FOR RFSO COST

There shall be no direct payment by the Crown for costs incurred for the presentation and submission of proposals in response to this RFSO.

SUBMISSION OF BIDS/ BID RECEIVING UNIT ADDRESS

It is the Bidders responsibility to ensure that proposals are delivered to the following location, by the time and date indicated on page 1 of this RFP document:

Natural Resources Canada
		Bid Receiving Unit - Mailroom 
		588 Booth Street, Room 108
		Ottawa, Ontario    K1A 0Y7
		Attention: Lisa Escander

It is requested that the Bidder’s name, return address, Request for Proposal Number, and Bid Closing Date appear legibly on the outside of the envelope containing the Bidder’s proposal.   Failure to do so may result in bids being misdirected.  NRCan will not assume responsibility for proposals directed to any other location. 

The onus is on the Bidder to ensure that the proposal is delivered to the location above.  Not complying with the above instructions may result in NRCan’s inability to ascertain reception date and/or to consider the bid prior to contract award.  Therefore, NRCan reserves the right to reject any proposal not complying with these instructions.

Due to the nature of the bid solicitation, bids transmitted by facsimile or electronic mail to NRCan will not be accepted.
ENQUIRIES - BID SOLICITATION

All enquiries must be submitted in writing to the Contracting Authority no later than five (5) calendar days before the bid closing date.  Enquiries received after that time may not be answered.

Bidders should reference as accurately as possible the numbered item of the bid solicitation to which the enquiry relates.  Care should be taken by bidders to explain each question in sufficient detail in order to enable Canada to provide an accurate answer.  Technical enquiries that are of a "proprietary" nature must be clearly marked "proprietary" at each relevant item.  Items identified as proprietary will be treated as such except where Canada determines that the enquiry is not of a proprietary nature.  Canada may edit the questions or may request that the Bidder do so, so that the proprietary nature of the question is eliminated, and the enquiry can be answered with copies to all bidders.  Enquiries not submitted in a form that can be distributed to all bidders may not be answered by Canada.

To comply with the Code of Conduct for Procurement, bidders are obliged to alert the contracting authority to any factual errors that they discover in bid solicitations.

MANDATORY REQUIREMENTS

The Bidder must provide examples of at least two previous studies they have completed which demonstrate their capability to analyze results associated with different crude oil pathways (from both conventional and non-conventional sources) in a Well-to-Wheel Life Cycle Assessment of Greenhouse Gas emissions.  

NRCan reserves the right to verify the accuracy and veracity of each of the Bidders cited studies
The Bidder must provide examples of at least two studies that have been completed and made available for public consumption within the last five years.  

NRCan reserves the right to verify the accuracy and veracity of each of the Bidders cited studies.
The Bidder must describe the approach they will use to undertake the project in order to achieve each of the objectives and requirements as outlined in the Terms of Reference.
•	The Bidder must provide a detailed outline showing their proposed approach clearly identifying how they will achieve the objectives and provide the deliverables within the identified timeframes.
•	The plan must include a work breakdown demonstrating allocation of sufficient resources to address the projects objectives within the identified timeframes. 
•	The work breakdown must clearly identify the project leader and their role in accomplishing the work.
	The Bidder must propose a Project Leader. The bidder must demonstrate that the proposed Project Leader has at least five (5) years of experience in project management.
	
	The bidder must demonstrate that each proposed resource has at least two (2) years of experience in using life cycle assessments to model greenhouse gas emissions for crude oil pathways.

	In order to enable evaluation of resources bidders must include within their proposal a detailed curriculum vitae (CV) for each proposed resource named in their proposal. CVs must include the following:
	 
1.	educational and professional designation attainments, and all other academic credentials for each proposed resource;
2.	a detailed description of the proposed resource’s work experience (indicated in years/months) in the area of life cycle assessments to model greenhouse gas emissions for crude oil pathways;
3.	the number of months of previous work experience during the past three (3) years in the area of life cycle assessments to model greenhouse gas emissions for crude oil pathways; and,
a detailed description of the project leader’s work experience (indicated in years/months) in the provision of project management.
	
	PROPRIETARY RIGHTS/INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
	
The Contractor will take ownership of the Foreground Information arising from the performance of the work in accordance with the Treasury Board Policy on Intellectual Property.  For reference, the Treasury Board Site is: http://www.tbs-sct.gc.ca/pol/doc-eng.aspx?id=13697 
	
	SECURITY REQUIREMENTS
There is no security requirement associated with this solicitation.
	
	RIGHTS OF NRCAN
	
	NRCan reserves the right to:
	
 

•	Seek clarification or obtain verification of statements made in a proposal;
•	Reject any or all proposals received in response to this RFP;	
•	Enter into negotiations with one or more Bidders on any or all aspects of its proposal;
•	Accept any proposal in whole or in part without prior negotiation;
•	Cancel and/or re-issue this RFP at any time;
•	Verify any or all information provided by the Bidder with respect to this RFP including references;
•	Retain all proposals submitted in response to this RFP;
•	Declare a proposal non-compliant if NRCan determines during the evaluation phase, that the Bidder does not have the legal status, facilities and technical, financial and managerial capabilities to fulfill the requirements stated herein;
•	Discontinue the evaluation of any proposals which are determined, at any stage of the evaluation process, to be non-compliant.