ACAN - PEA CO-OP TESTING TRIALS

This Advance Contract Award Notice (ACAN) is a public notice indicating to the supplier community that Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada intends to award a service contract 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 this ACAN, the Contracting Officer may then proceed with the award to the pre-identified supplier.

REQUIREMENT:

Field pea breeding is part of the Cereal and Pulse Science Strategy of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC). Field Pea breeding lines with improved agronomic characteristics, disease resistance and other traits have to be tested before they can be registered at the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) and marketed to Canadian Pea Producers.

CFIA is the administrator for Crop Variety Registration and provides authority to regulate the quality, testing, inspection and sale of seeds in Canada under the Government of Canada Seeds Act and Seed Regulations. In order for a field pea cultivar to be registered by (CFIA), breeding lines must be evaluated in the Field Pea Co-operative Registration Test (Pea Co-op Test) for a minimum of two years to obtain the data for recommendation from the Prairie Recommending Committee for Pulses and Special Crops (PRCPSC). Because CFIA is the agency responsible for crop registry under the Seeds Act, they have determined that only the University of Saskatchewan will be allowed to coordinate and administrate the Pea Co-op test. Therefore, AAFC, Lacombe Research and Development Centre requires the Crop Development Centre of the University of Saskatchewan to coordinate Pea Co-op Registration Testing Trials.

SCOPE OF WORK / DELIVERABLES:

The Contractor shall provide the following for each year:

1. TEST COORDINATION

Package and distribute the seed received from AAFC to be included in the Pea Co-op Trials, and ensure that trials are conducted following the test protocols ratified by PRCPSC;

2. ANALYSIS OF DATA ENTRIES

Collect and summarize the following data types from all testing sites as per the protocol outlined in the approval process required by CFIA;

Agronomic data to be collected once: plant stand, leaf type, vine length, pre-harvest lodging score, days to maturity and seed yield. Co-operators are requested to collect all of these data at the test sites. Typical maximum acceptable coefficient of variation (c.v.) for seed yield is 15; however, discretion allows the test coordinator to accept somewhat greater c.v. under exceptional circumstances. Minimum acceptable trial site mean yield is normally 1500 kg/ha.

Disease data to be collected: mycosphaerella blight, powdery mildew, and root rot. 

Quality data to be collected:

 a) On all entries: cotyledon and seed coat color, seed weight, seed shape, seed coat breakage rate and protein content as per the test protocols ratified by PRCPSC;

b) On green cotyledon entries: green color bleaching score, and green color intensity score at a minimum.

c) Optional cook testing

3) REPORTING OF RESULTS

 Summarize the results of the data entries and submit to AAFC.

CRITERIA FOR ASSESSMENT OF THE STATEMENT OF CAPABILITIES:

Any interested supplier must demonstrate by way of a Statement of Capabilities that they have the right, as determined by CFIA, to coordinate Pea Co-op Testing Trials for variety recommendation for pulse variety registration.

CONTRACT PERIOD:

April 1, 2023 to March 31, 2024, with four (4), one (1) year options to extend.

ESTIMATED VALUE: $42,257.00 (including GST)

Option Years, if exercised:

Option Year 1 - April 1, 2024 – March 31, 2025, $43,102.00

Option Year 2 - April 1, 2025 – March 31, 2026, $43,964.00

Option Year 3 - April 1, 2026 – March 31, 2027, $44,844.00

Option Year 4 - April 1, 2027 – March 31, 2028, $45,741.00

PRE-IDENTIFIED SUPPLIER:

University of Saskatchewan

Dept. of Plant Sciences

51 Campus Drive, Unit 4D36

Saskatoon, Saskatchewan

S7N 5A8

SOLE SOURCE JUSTIFICATION:

CFIA is the Agency responsible for crop registry under the Seeds Act; they have determined that the University of Saskatchewan is the only coordinator of the Field Pea Co-op Tests for the Pulse Crop breeders. The Seeds Act is administered by the Plant Health and Biosecurity Directorate of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) and provides authority to regulate the quality, testing, inspection and sale of seeds in Canada.

Government Contracts Regulations Exception and Limited Tendering Reason:

Section 6 (d) has been invoked for this procurement as only one supplier (person/firm) is capable of performing the Contract.

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.

ACAN NOTICE:

You are hereby notified that the government intends to negotiate with one firm only as identified above. Should you have any questions concerning this requirement, contact the Contracting Authority.
An ACAN allows departments and agencies to post a notice, for no less than fifteen (15) calendar days, indicating to the supplier community that it intends to award a good, service or construction contract to a pre-identified contractor. If no other supplier submits, on or before the closing date, a "Statement of Capabilities" that meets the requirements set out in the ACAN, the Contracting Authority may then proceed with the award. However, should a Statement of Capabilities be found to meet the requirements set out in the ACAN, then the Contracting Authority will proceed to a full tendering process.

STATEMENT OF CAPABILITIES CLOSING DATE AND TIME:

The closing date and time for acceptance of Statement of Capabilities is January 31, 2023 at 2:00 pm CST.

Suppliers who consider themselves fully qualified and available to provide the services described herein, may submit a Statement of Capabilities in writing, either via letter, facsimile or email 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.

The Solicitation Number, Name of Contracting Authority and closing date of the ACAN must appear within your Statement of Capabilities in block letters.

The Crown retains the right to negotiate with suppliers on any procurement.

CONTRACTING AUTHORITY:

Melissa Smith, Contracting Specialist

Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada

Western Service Centre

300 – 2010 12^th Avenue

Regina, SK S4P 0M3

Telephone: 306-515-4796

Facsimile: 306-780-5018

Email: melissa.smith3@agr.gc.ca