Equine Drug Testing Services

Trade Agreement: CETA / WTO-AGP / CPTPP / NAFTA / CFTA / FTAs with Peru / Colombia / Panama / Korea
Tendering Procedures: All interested suppliers may submit a bid
Non-Competitive Procurement Strategy: Exclusive Rights
Comprehensive Land Claim Agreement: No
Vendor Name and Address: 
Bureau Veritas Canada (2019) Inc.
8577 Commerce Court
Burnaby British Columbia
Canada
V5A4N5
Nature of Requirements: 

1. 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. 

2. Background

The Canadian Pari-Mutuel Agency (CPMA) is a Special Operating Agency and a Federal Regulatory Agency within Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada with a mandate to ensure the integrity of pari-mutuel betting on horse races. 

One of the key activities undertaken by the CPMA in advancing this mandate is the operation of a national drug control program in accordance with the Pari-Mutuel Betting Supervision Regulations (the Regulations) (http://laws.justice.gc.ca/eng/regulations/sor-91-365/index.html ) enacted under the Criminal Code aimed at preventing and detecting the use of prohibited drugs and medication in race horses.
Official samples consisting of urine or blood are collected from horses before or after a race. They are analyzed for the drugs listed in the Schedule of the Pari-Mutuel Betting Supervision Regulations (the Regulations) and findings are reported to provincial authorities for adjudication and appropriate action. 

Based on the total volume of samples analyzed, the Contractor can anticipate approximately 20% of samples will require some follow up analysis after the initial screening process, and approximately 1% of the total volume of samples will proceed through some stage of confirmatory analysis. The historical positive case rate has been approximately 0.3 per thousand. The estimated number of samples to be analysed per year is estimated to be between 18,000 and 20,000.                                                  
It is anticipated that approximately 85%of samples will be urine, while approximately 15% will be blood (serum or plasma). These figures may fluctuate by ± 5% in any given year as they are subject to the needs of the Canadian racing industry.

3. Definition of the Requirement

In this regard the CPMA requires the services of a laboratory that will be designated as an "Official Laboratory" under the Regulations. The laboratory will provide services to detect the uncontrolled use of drugs and medications in racing horses. The Work will consist of the following:

3.1 Analytical laboratory services for the analysis of equine urine and blood samples (designated as official samples) obtained from horses racing in pari-mutuel races at Canadian racetracks for the broadest possible coverage of prohibited drugs at concentrations of relevance in the horseracing industry. A sample may contain a single drug or multiple drugs, with or without associated metabolites; and

3.2 Research laboratory services on an "as and when requested" basis for the detection and identification of drugs and metabolites in horses through the analysis of urine and blood samples obtained from horses which have been administered drugs under controlled conditions.

4. Criteria for Assessment of the Statement of Capabilities (Minimum Essential Requirements)
 
Mandatory Criteria

Any interested supplier must clearly demonstrate by way of a statement of capabilities that it meets all of the following minimum requirements:
 
4.1 Mandatory Accreditation Requirement

a) The Contractor’s laboratory performing the work must be accredited by the Standards Council of Canada (SCC) under ISO/IEC 17025 in the Forensic Testing Program specialty area as a Forensic Equine Drug Testing laboratory (SCC Requirements and Guidance for the Accreditation for Forensic Testing Laboratories, Appendix 4 - Equine Forensic Testing;

OR

b) The Contractor’s laboratory performing the Work must be accredited under ISO/IEC 17025 in the Forensic Testing Program specialty area as a Drug Chemistry or Toxicology laboratory (SCC Requirements and Guidance for the Accreditation for Forensic Testing Laboratories, Appendix 6 - Drug Chemistry or Appendix 1 - Toxicology) and can demonstrate that their laboratory performing the Work:

i) has an accredited scope that includes analytical instrumentation and methodology for the analysis of drugs included in (but not limited to) the Schedule to the Pari-Mutuel Betting Supervision Regulations, according to Part V of the Regulations http://laws.justice.gc.ca/eng/regulations/sor-91-365/index.html ; and

ii) is in the process of obtaining a scope expansion to cover Equine Drug Testing. Under these circumstances, the Contractor’s laboratory performing the Work must have successfully completed a scope expansion to cover Equine Drug Testing. (This requirement would need to be completed prior to the award of a contract as a result of a competitive solicitation).

4.2 Analytical Capabilities

a) The Contractor’s laboratory performing the Work must be able to offer qualitative analysis, using validated in-house methods to detect and confirm drugs and metabolites in equine body fluids, for drugs included in the Schedule to the Pari-Mutuel Betting Supervision Regulations.

b) The Contractor’s laboratory performing the Work must be able to offer quantitative analysis on a limited number of samples for a selected group of drugs including salicylic acid, procaine and furosemide under the Regulations’ "Adjunct Programs" (https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/regulations/SOR-91-365/page-1.html  ) .
 
c) The Contractor’s laboratory must have in place validated in-house test methods capable of screening and confirming a broad range of drugs at concentrations of interest in racing, as well as the ability to expand their capabilities to address newly identified drugs. The Contractor could refer to other horse racing bodies such as the Racing Medication and Testing Consortium (RMTC), Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association (TOBA), or Association of Official Racing Chemists (AORC) for information on drug concentrations of interest in racing.

d) The Contractor’s laboratory used to perform the Work must have in place Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) at their laboratory to be used to perform the Work for the methodology proposed for the screening and confirmation of scheduled drugs and for the operation of the following analytical instruments to use for detection and confirmation of scheduled drugs:

i) high performance liquid chromatography - mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS-MS)
ii) high performance liquid chromatography - high resolution accurate mass spectrometry (UPLC-HRAM)
iii) enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA (automated plate reader))

e) The Contractor must have in place "fit for purpose" Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) for related and supplementary activities; including, but not limited to, sample preparation techniques, qualitative screening system, qualitative confirmation protocol, quantitative analysis protocol, internal Quality Control Program, method development, method validation (qualitative & quantitative), training for analytical chemists (including in court testimony), and sample continuity & sample storage. 

f) The Contractor must have on their premises sufficient pure drug and drug metabolite reference standards, which are maintained current to meet the technical requirements and other reference materials relevant to the performance of the Work.

g) The Contractor must have an internal quality control program (IQC) in the form of drug substances added to a representative matrix or blank representative matrix that must be introduced and carried through screening procedures, in a single blind manner, at a minimum rate of one per analytical batch. The total number of QCs analyzed should correspond to an equivalent of 5% of samples tested.  At a minimum, 50% of the QC samples should contain a drug substance.  In addition to the single blind QC samples, other QCs should also be introduced and maintained, such as inclusion of reference standards in chromatography systems, matrix blanks, known matrix spikes and maintenance of instrument logs and other documentation, and such other procedures as are considered necessary by the laboratory to provide checks on all analytical systems in use in the drug control program.

4.3 Research Services

The Contractor must be able to offer laboratory research services for test method development and validation, and analysis of equine blood and urine samples as part of elimination profile studies for drugs and metabolites related to substances of interest to the Canadian horse racing industry as directed by the CPMA. For this part of the Work, the Contractor’s laboratory must have the ability to provide the services of one (1) Research Scientist and one (1) Research Technician.

4.4 Language Capability

The Contractor certifies that it has the language capability required to perform the Work in either of Canada’s Official Languages.

5. Applicability of the trade agreement(s) to the procurement
 
This procurement is subject to the following trade agreement(s): 

a) Canadian Free Trade Agreement (CFTA)
b) World Trade Organization - Agreement on Government Procurement (WTO-AGP)
c) North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)
d) Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA)

6. Justification for the Pre-Identified Supplier 

Only the Forensic Equine Drug Testing Bureau Veritas Laboratory, Canadian Pari-Mutuel Agency and Racing Forensics Inc. are accredited under the Forensic Equine Drug Testing specialty area - Appendix 4. Racing Forensics Inc.’s accreditation is limited to sample collection protocol and TCO2 testing, leaving only Forensic Equine Drug Testing Bureau Veritas Laboratory and the Client with the Mandatory Accreditation Requirements. 

7. 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".
 
8. Exclusions and/or Limited Tendering Reasons
 
The following exclusion(s) and/or limited tendering reasons are invoked under the: 

a) Canadian Free Trade Agreement (CFTA) - Article 513, sub-article 2.iii., which states:  if the goods or services can be supplied only by a particular supplier and no reasonable alternative or substitute goods or services exist for any of the following reasons:
 
iii) due to an absence of competition for technical reasons;

b) World Trade Organization - Agreement on Government Procurement (WTO-AGP) - Article XV: Limited Tendering Procedure, sub-article 1.b., which states: "when, for works of art or for reasons connected with protection of exclusive rights, such as patents or copyrights, or in the absence of competition for technical reasons, the products or services can be supplied only by a particular supplier and no reasonable alternative or substitute exists;"

c) North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) - Article 1016 Limited Tendering Reasons, sub-article 1.2.b., which states: "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;"

d) Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) - Article(s) 1.b.iii., which states, if the goods or services can be supplied only by a particular supplier and no reasonable alternative or substitute goods or services exist for any of the following reasons:
 
iii) due to an absence of competition for technical reasons;

9. Ownership of Intellectual Property 

Canada will own the intellectual property rights in foreground information on the following grounds:

- where the foreground intellectual property consists of material subject to copyright, with the exception of computer software and all documentation pertaining to that software.


10. Confidentiality

If the Bidder provides the information required above to Canada in confidence while indicating that the disclosed information is confidential, then Canada will treat the information in a confidential manner as permitted by the Access to Information Act, R.S., 1985, c.c. A-1, Section 20(1) (b) and (c).

11. Period of the proposed contract
 
The proposed contract is for an initial period of three (3) years, with an option to extend the period by up to two (2) additional one (1) year periods.  

12. Name and address of the pre-identified supplier 

Forensic Equine Drug Testing Bureau Veritas Laboratories
8577 Commerce Court 
Burnaby, BC Canada V5A 4N5

13. Suppliers' right to submit a statement of capabilities
 
Suppliers who consider themselves fully qualified and available to provide the 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.

14. Closing date for a submission of a statement of capabilities 

The closing date and time for accepting statements of capabilities is Friday August 9, 2019, 2PM EDST.

15. Inquiries and submission of statements of capabilities 

Inquiries and statements of capabilities are to be directed to: 

Mark Hall
Supply Specialist 

Telephone: 613-858-8626
E-mail: mark.hall@tpsgc-pwgsc.gc.ca

Delivery Date: Above-mentioned

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 officer identified above.

An Advance Contract Award Notice (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.

Suppliers who consider themselves fully qualified and available to provide the services/goods described herein, 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.

The PWGSC file number, the contracting officer's name and the closing date of the ACAN must appear on the outside of the envelope in block letters or, in the case of a facsimile transmission, on the covering page.

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

Documents may be submitted in either official language of Canada.