Development of ISO TC 298 and TC 333 Standards

Advance Contract Award Notice (ACAN):
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:
Development of ISO TC 298 and TC 333 Standards

The Department of Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) has a requirement to engage a contract to manage all aspects of the Canadian participation and leadership in the development of international standards for rare earth and lithium production through the Canadian Mirror Committee for ISO TC 298 and ISO TC 333, and its adoption process into Canada’s national standards system.

The work will involve the following: The contractor will manage all aspects of the Canadian engagement through the Canadian Mirror Committee to ISO TC 298 and to ISO TC 333:

• Logistics and administration for meetings and teleconferences;
• Project management;
• Procedural guidance;
• Interaction with ISO central secretariat and other international bodies;
• Member support including insight into all required versions of standards as they are developed through the ISO standards process and ensure they are suitable for adoption in Canada as a National Standard of Canada;
• All necessary materials related to standards development;
• Member recruiting and proper training;
• Communications support including agendas meeting minutes and other document generation;
• Committee meeting organization and hosting; and,
• Administration of funding support and outreach.

Criteria for assessment of the Statement of Capabilities (Minimum Essential Requirements):

• MUST possess the harmonized agreements with the Standard Council of Canada for working in ISO and IEC international standards.

• MUST be accredited as a standards development organization by the Standard Council of Canada eligible to work on the specific standards development ISO TC298 rare earths and ISO TC333 lithium.
• MUST possess harmonized agreements to manage activities of the Rare Earths and Lithium SM/TC.

Applicability of the trade agreement(s) to the procurement:

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

• Canadian Free Trade Agreement (CFTA)
• World Trade Organization - Agreement on Government Procurement (WTO-AGP)
• Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA)
• Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP)
• Canada-Chile Free Trade Agreement (CCFTA)
• Canada-Colombia Free Trade Agreement
• Canada-Honduras Free Trade Agreement
• Canada-Korea Free Trade Agreement
• Canada-Panama Free Trade Agreement
• Canada-Peru Free Trade Agreement (CPFTA)

Justification for the Pre-Identified Supplier:
The supplier mentioned in section 10 below is the only known supplier that meets the mandatory criteria set out in section 3 above.

Should Canada receive a statement of capabilities from a supplier that contains sufficient information to indicate that it meets the requirements set forth in this ACAN, a competitive process will be triggered with a technical and financial evaluation methodology of the bids proposed by the potential bidders

Government Contracts Regulations Exception(s):
 
The following exception(s) to the Government Contracts Regulations is (are) invoked for this procurement under subsection: subsection 6(d) - only one person is capable of performing the work).

The identified supplier, CSA Group, is the only one able to meet all of the criteria identified in paragraph 3 above.

Exclusions and/or Limited Tendering Reasons:
The following exclusion(s) and/or limited tendering reasons are invoked under the:

• Canadian Free Trade Agreement (CFTA) – Article: 513.1(b) (iii);
• World Trade Organization - Agreement on Government Procurement (WTO-AGP) – Under the Revised GPA - Article XIII, 1 (b) (iii);
• Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) – Article(s) Article 19.12 (b) (iii)
• Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) – Article(s): 15.10 , 2 (b) (iii) (s)
• Canada-Chile Free Trade Agreement (CCFTA) – Article(s) Kbis-09 (b),Article Kbis-09 (c)
• Canada-Colombia Free Trade Agreement – Article(s): 1409 (b) (iii);
• Canada-Honduras Free Trade Agreement – Article(s): 17.11 2 (b) (iii)
• Canada-Korea Free Trade Agreement – Article 14.3, Under the Revised GPA - Article XIII, 1 (b) (iii);
• Canada-Panama Free Trade Agreement – Article(s) 16.10 (b) (iii)
• Canada-Peru Free Trade Agreement (CPFTA) – Article(s1409 (b) (iii)

Period of the proposed contract or delivery date:
The proposed contract is for a period from date of award to March 31, 2023 with four one-year option periods.

Cost estimate of the proposed contract:
The estimated value of the contract, including option(s), is $500,000.00 (GST/HST extra).

Name and address of the pre-identified supplier:
CSA Group
155 Queen Street
Ottawa, ON
K1P 6L1

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 March 14, 2023 at 2:00 PM EST.

Inquiries and submission of statements of capabilities are to be directed to:

Brenda Harlow (Procurement Specialist)

Brenda.Harlow@nrcan-rncan.gc.ca