Advance Contract Award Notice (ACAN - 15-22135)

Advance Contract Award Notice (ACAN - 15-22135)

An ACAN is a public notice indicating to the supplier community that a department or agency intends to award a contract for goods, services or construction to a pre-identified supplier, thereby allowing other suppliers to signal their interest in bidding, by submitting a statement of capabilities. If no supplier submits a statement of capabilities that meets the requirements set out in the ACAN, on or before the closing date stated in the ACAN, the contracting officer may then proceed with the award to the pre-identified supplier.

Definition of the requirement:

The National Research Council Canada has a requirement for technical investigation, study and in support of the development of 4,700 spring hexaploid wheat recombinant inbred lines.

The work will involve the following:

1)

Growing and maintaining 50 recombinant inbred (RI) populations composed of 94 lines each – totaling 4,700 RI lines.

2)

Collecting leaf tissue (sufficient for DNA extraction, ~50 mg fresh tissue) from each of the RIL lines from BC1F1 or F2 (first generation) and BC1F5 or F6 generation (fourth generation); The leaf tissue collected from each line would be freeze dried in 96 well blocks and transferred on dry ice to NRC to maintain DNA integrity.

3)

Collecting seeds from 4,700 wheat lines over four generations (from BC1F1 to BC1F5 or from F2 to F6).

4)

Ensuring the seed identity for each line and tracking of line numbers

5)

Delivery of all leaf tissue and seeds collected to NRC with detailed line ID, population name and generation tracking within the specified time frames. No tissue or seeds should be kept by the contractor.

6)

Facilitating and maintaining regular communication with NRC. Communication is defined as all reasonable efforts to inform all parties of the plans, decisions, proposed approaches, implementation and results of work.

Deliverables:

1)

Freeze dried leaf tissue (sufficient for DNA extraction, ~50 mg fresh tissue) with detailed line ID, population name and generation tracking collected at seedling stages from BC1F1 or F2 (first generation); Electronic Excel sheet with detailed sample information such as line ID, population name, generation number, sample layout in the 96-well blocks.

2)

Limited seeds (10-20 seeds) with detailed line ID, population name and generation tracking from each line at every generation prior to BC1F5 or F6.

3)

Freeze dried leaf tissue (sufficient for DNA extraction, ~50 mg fresh tissue) with detailed line ID, population name and generation tracking collected at seedling stages from BC1F5 or F6 generation (fourth generation); Electronic Excel sheet with detailed sample information such as line ID, population name, generation number, sample layout in the 96-well blocks.

4)

Bulked seeds (~1g) with detailed line ID, population name and generation tracking from each line from the BC1F5 or F6 generation.

5)

Electronic Excel sheet with detailed information for all seeds such as line ID, population name and generation number.

Any interested supplier must demonstrate by way of a statement of capabilities that it meets the following requirements:



Experience - 7 years of experience in conducting crop RIL population development, especially hexaploid wheat RIL; At least 1 project for wheat or other crop similar in size, scope and complexity;



Established quality assurance manual and Standard Operating Procedure (SOP)



Detailed Knowledge and understanding of the requirement including constraints and problems that may occur during the contract. The supplier is expected to provide detailed summary how they overcome the challenges.



Academic qualifications - Must possess an undergraduate degree from a recognized university in the field of plant science or related area.



Professional designation, accreditation, and/or certification (e.g. professional engineer, Certified General Accountant). CSGA accredited plant breeder or professional agrologist or equivalent.

This procurement is subject to the following trade agreement(s):

World Trade Organization - Agreement on Government Procurement (WTO-AGP)

NAFTA – North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)

Justification for the Pre-Identified Supplier:

HAPLOTECH Inc. is a Winnipeg, MB based company founded and managed by Dr. Radisa (Rale) Gjuric, CSGA accredited plant breeder since 1996 with over 20 years of experience in private and public plant breeding. HAPLOTECH Inc. services many clients from both private and public sector in Canada and internationally (Australia, Chile, Germany and US). This company provides competent technical and consulting services to plant breeding organizations. Technical services include but not limited to pre-breeding projects in canola, wheat and barley. The company facilities (greenhouses, growth rooms, labs and offices) are long term leased from the University of Manitoba and four West Farms, all in and around Winnipeg, MB. HAPLOTECH Inc. employs 7 full time staff with variety of background (2 PhD, 2 MSc, 3 BSc),

several with 20+ years of experience in working with wheat and some with professional agrologist designation. In addition the company hires casual and part-time staff mostly using graduate and undergraduate students from the University of Manitoba.

The NRC project is a large project with tight timelines which create complex logistics in execution. The project requires extensive greenhouse space and labor which is made available at the facilities of HAPLOTECH Inc. Additionally, the project requires growing four generations of wheat in the time span of approx. 18 months. HAPLOTECH Inc. has unique experience of rapid cycling of plant generations for specialized NAM populations, including application of measured stress, harvest and planting immature embryos, etc. Importantly, HAPLOTECH Inc. has well established quality assurance manual and Standard Operating Procedures for the development of RILs to ensure the accuracy and quality of the work. HAPLOTECH Inc. has successfully generated 2,500 canola RILs derived to the F6 generation, from 2,500 original F2 plants for Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Saskatoon; this demonstrated their expertise and resulted in the delivery of the first crop NAM population generated in Canada. Critically, the relatively close location of the company and minimal transportation logistics will enable frequent delivery of leaf tissue and seeds smoothly and in the shortest possible timeframe. The rapid delivery of leaf tissue is essential to maintain the integrity of the material for DNA genotyping. HAPLOTECH Inc. has unique capabilities currently in Canada to conduct the project in such a large scale within a tight timeframe. The experience, technical and physical capacity that HAPLOTECH Inc. possesses will ensure the project objectives will be achieved on time.

Government Contracts Regulations Exception(s) The following exception(s) to the

Government Contracts Regulations is (are) invoked for this procurement under subsection 6(d) - "only one person is capable of performing the work").

o

World Trade Organization - Agreement on Government Procurement (WTO-AGP) – Article(s) (CAP Code 71) where, for works of art, or for reasons connected with the protection of patents, copyrights or other exclusive rights, or proprietary information or where there is an absence of competition for technical reasons, the goods or services can be supplied only by a particular supplier and no reasonable alternative or substitute exists;

o

North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) – Article(s) (CAP Code 71) where, for works of art, or for reasons connected with the protection of patents, copyrights or other exclusive rights, or proprietary information or where there is an absence of competition for technical reasons, the goods or services can be supplied only by a particular supplier and no reasonable alternative or substitute exists;

Ownership of Intellectual Property:

No intellectual property will be generated as a result of this contract.

Period of the proposed contract or delivery date:

The estimated proposed contract will begin December 2015 and be completed by March 2017

(The contract will include an optional one period satisfactory to the discretion of the National Research Council Canada)

Name and address of the pre-identified supplier:

HAPLOTECH Inc.

71 Calderwood Bay

Winnipeg, Manitoba

Canada R3T 6A1

Suppliers' right to submit a statement of capabilities Suppliers who consider themselves fully qualified and available to provide the goods, services or construction services described in the ACAN may submit a statement of capabilities in writing to the contact person identified in this notice on or before the closing date of this notice. The statement of capabilities must clearly demonstrate how the supplier meets the advertised requirements.

Closing date for a submission of a statement of capabilities: The closing date and time for accepting statements of capabilities is

(December 11th, 2011 at 2:00 p.m. EST).

16. Inquiries and submission of statements of capabilities to the Contracting Authority:

Mr. Johnathon Gillis Senior Contracting Officer Telephone: 613-993-5506 E-mail:Johnathon.Gillis@nrc-cnrc.gc.ca