SPECIAL NOTICE
A -- RFI for Nationwide Sheep & Goat ID & Tracking System
- Notice Date
- 8/4/2004
- Notice Type
- Special Notice
- NAICS
- 541710
— Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences
- Contracting Office
- Department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, Administrative Services Division/Contracting, 100 North 6TH Street Butler Square 5TH Floor, Minneapolis, MN, 55403
- ZIP Code
- 55403
- Solicitation Number
- 049-M-APHIS-04
- Response Due
- 9/7/2004
- Point of Contact
- Patricia Harris, Contracting Officer, Phone 612-336-3207, Fax 612-370-2106, - Jason Wilking, Contract Specialist, Phone 612-336-3210, Fax 612-370-2106,
- E-Mail Address
-
patricia.y.harris@usda.gov, Jason.L.Wilking@aphis.usda.gov
- Description
- 1. This is a special notice requesting information concerning the presence of resources/mature technologies with the potential to contribute to a performance based identification system for sheep and goats. This system will be used to identify sheep and goats in the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Services (APHIS) National Scrapie Eradication Program. The performance requirements for this system will be detailed in subsequent paragraphs. General The identification system must be usable in all or nearly all types of sheep and goats of all ages managed in diverse environments. The system must accommodate the present scrapie program identification device requirements. If printing is a component of the ID system, it shall meet the requirements for approved tags in 9 CFR be large enough to permit easy legibility at 3 ?C 5 feet distance. The device should be adequate to accommodate a 9 character alphanumeric flock identification number and a consecutively numbered individual animal ID sequence, or a 12 character alphanumeric serial number. These are unique numbers and shall not be duplicated. To enhance animal identification recording and animal movement tracking other ID technologies may be used beyond visual systems. Performance Specifications for ID systems beyond Visual-only systems The system should be functional in typical settings and field environments that would occur within the U.S. ID devices used must have a high retention rate (preferably ?? 1% per year loss) in various environments and must persist for at least 24 hours post mortem. The device must be easily applied or installed on or within the animal with minimal risk to the animal. During the reading process animal throughput of 1000 animals per hour should be feasible. Read success through these high throughput settings should exceed 95%. Read success must occur within chutes and alleyways used at points of animal concentration (such as, but not limited, to auction markets, loading facilities, on-farm working facilities, slaughterhouse entry chutes, and shows and fairs). The devices should not contaminate or adulterate the carcass or offal and must either be removed during routine slaughter or be approved for inclusion in by-products by FDA. Cost for individual animal ID devices must be appropriate for the animal commodity in which it is used. Equipment that reads the ID devices must meet international standards and be capable of reading devices manufactured by other vendors. These readers should be capable of outputting results in an electronic format to a database that can transfer the data to the national ID tracking system. Specific areas of interest include proven technologies, hardware, software, integrated system concepts, and industrial capabilities along with an estimate of the magnitude of resources necessary (to include Research, Development, Test, + Evaluation (RDT+E), Production, and other Government Cost) to field this capability by the end of September 30, 2005. This notice is not to be construed as an acquisition Request For Proposal (RFP), nor is any commitment on the part of the Government to award a contract implied, nor does the Government intend to pay for any information submitted as a result of this request. The Government does not intend to award a contract on the basis of this request or to otherwise pay for the information solicited except as an allowable cost under other contracts as provided in subpart 31.205-18, Independent Research and Development and Bid and Proposal Costs, of the Federal Acquisition Regulation. Any responses received will not be used as a proposal. 2. Company responses are to include a name and telephone number of a point of contact having the authority and knowledge to clarify responses with government representatives. Company responses should include a one page cover letter, a narrative summary and an annotated briefing (i.e. notes pages format). Companies are not limited to a single response. Submissions are due within 30 days of this announcement and may be made by e-mail or mailing your response on a compact disk to: Mrs. Patricia Harris, (612) 336-3207 Contracting Officer USDA, APHIS, MRPBS Contracting Butler Square, 5th Floor 100 North Sixth Street Minneapolis, MN 55403 patricia.y.harris@aphis.usda.gov Personnel hand-carrying responses should contact the Contracting Officer to arrange a likely arrival time. 3. This notice is part of Government Market Research, a continuous process for obtaining the latest information on the ??art of the possible?? from industry with respect to their current and near-term abilities. The information collected may be used by the Government to explore future strategies for the animal identification purposes. Information received as a result of this request will be considered as sensitive and will be protected as such. Any proprietary information received in response to this request will be properly protected from any unauthorized disclosure. The Government will not use any proprietary information submitted to establish the capability, requirements, approach, or solution so as to not inadvertently restrict competition. 4. U.S. and non-U.S. firms are permitted to respond to this request. Responses to questions from interested parties will be promptly answered and provided equally to all interested parties unless some release of proprietary information is involved or the answer addresses a question peculiar to a Company or that Company??s possible solution. Currently one-on-one sessions with respondents are not contemplated. If one-on-one sessions with interested parties are conducted, they will be offered to all to clarify understanding of the submittal and the capability ramifications. 5. Technical point of contact is Dr. Gary S. Ross, (301) 734- 7569. 6. This notice may be updated as additional information becomes available. Please continue to monitor the Federal Business Opportunities Website www.eps.gov to receive notices of any updates to this announcement.
- Place of Performance
- Address: Continental US
- Record
- SN00636479-W 20040806/040804211613 (fbodaily.com)
- Source
-
FedBizOpps.gov Link to This Notice
(may not be valid after Archive Date)
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