Automated CO2-Extraction System for the Analysis of Clumped Isotopes in Carbonates

Trade Agreement: CETA / WTO-AGP / NAFTA / CFTA / FTAs with Peru / Colombia / Panama / Korea Tendering Procedures: Generally only one firm has been invited to bid Non-Competitive Procurement Strategy: Government Objectives Representing Best Interests/Value to Govt Comprehensive Land Claim Agreement: No Vendor Name and Address: ISO-MASS SCIENTIFIC INC #140, 5700 - 1 Street S.W. Calgary Alberta Canada T2H3A9 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. DEFINITION OF THE REQUIREMENT The Delta-lab, Geological Survey of Canada (GSC-Québec), Lands and Mineral Sector, Natural Resources Canada (NRC), needs to purchase an automated CO2-extraction system with a multiple position auto-sampler for the analysis of clumped isotopes in carbonates, to be online with the previously purchased MAT253 on contract # 23331-150102/001/BAP, specifically designed for this type of analysis (7 collectors for analyses of all pertinent CO2 masses- m/z). The network of the device users will be used to make fast progress and research developments to support the LMS programs.

3. CRITERIA FOR ASSESSMENT OF THE STATEMENT OF CAPABILITIES (MINIMUM ESSENTIEL REQUIREMENTS)

3.1 General Requirements 3.1.1 Product Using a Current and Proven Technology: Suppliers must propose a product that must not be a prototype or a system under test; it must be a product using a current and proven technology. In order to demonstrate that it is a product using a current and proven technology, Suppliers must include with their Statement of capabilities, a letter of reference from their clients (customer of the supplier itself) on at least five (5) valid projects. For a project to be considered valid, it is mandatory that the product specified in the letter: 1. Is a product similar to the one requested in this ACAN; a product will be considered similar if he meets, at least, the technical specifications listed in section 3.2 hereafter; and 2. has been sold and delivered within the period of the 5 years before the closing date of this ACAN. The letter must refer to the nature of the contract, as well as the client’s relative satisfaction. Each letter must contain a minimum of the following information: (a) Date of letter; (b) Description of work according to the following paragraph: This letter is to confirm that the company ___________completed, to our satisfaction, a project involving the provision of (enter make, model and quantity); (c) The contract was awarded on _____________; (d) Client’s name and signature; (e) Name of the client’s organization; and (f) Client’s telephone number and email. - Each letter may be verified with the issuing organization (client) to check and certify the accuracy of the information. - If the client is not available or the information contained in the letter does not match the requirements described above, the Statement of capabilities could be declared not compliant. 3.1.2 Warranty, upgrades and service: The vendor must guarantee a minimum one-year warranty on all parts and labour beginning on the date of acceptance of the system by the site authority (after complete installation). During the warranty period, hardware upgrades developed by the manufacturer to increase performance and/or reliability of the instrument, must be provided free of charge. After the warranty period, the hardware upgrades will be available to be purchased by the user. The vendor will provide expert service and engineering repairs diligently and at minimal cost, ideally from within Canada, during and after warranty period. 3.1.3 Delivery: The instrument must be delivered to the GSC-Québec on or before February 1, 2019. All cables, tubing, capillaries, power cords, fittings, LN2 tank and other accessories required for installation and operation must be included along with complete operation and maintenance manuals. 3.1.4 Safety: The instrument must comply with international regulatory, safety, and electromagnetic compatibility requirements and be designed and manufactured under a quality system registered to ISO 9001. 3.1.5 Installation and Training: The instrument must be installed at the Delta-Lab by a vendor factory-trained representative with several years experience (at least 4 years) on the development and assessment of the performance of the CO2-extraction automated device for clumped isotopes. A specialized training on maintenance and clumped isotopes systematics must be provided using the purchased automated system connected to the in-house MAT-253 dedicated to clumped isotope analysis at the Delta-Lab.

3.2 Technical Specifications 3.2.1 The required CO2-extraction automated device needs imperatively to be fully compatible with the MAT 253, which was manufactured by Thermo Finnigan. The device must be put on-line with the MAT 253 and be fully operational when connected with the MAT 253 of the Delta-Lab (GSC). 3.2.2 The required CO2-extraction automated device must use an individual bath system for the digestion of the carbonate samples. 3.2.3 The required CO2-extraction automated device must provide the possibility to treat carbonate samples weighing less than 2 mg. 3.2.4 The required CO2-extraction automated device must use an LN tank volume no larger than 90L (65cm x 65cm) because the space of the room spectrometry is limited and the purchase of a larger tank would problems with respect to the standards of health and safety at work. 3.2.5 The required CO2-extraction automated device must have a least 46-vials carrousel for individual analyses and offer the possibility to use an additional magazine of vials (46 or more) for preparation of an equivalent number of samples.

4. APPLICABILITY OF THE TRADE AGREEMENTS TO THE PROCUREMENT This procurement is subject to the following trade agreements: - Canadian Free Trade Agreement (CFTA); - North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA); - World Trade Organization - Agreement on Government Procurement (WTO-AGP); and - Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA).

5. JUSTIFICATION FOR THE PRE-IDENTIFIED SUPPLIER The ThermoFisher Kiel IV device manufactured by Thermo-Finnigan is the only known product to be able to meet the technical specifications described in this ACAN.

Company " Isomass Scientific Inc." is the only authorised distributor Thermo-Finnigan products in Canada. Thus, according to the purchasing policies of Government Contracts, GSC-Québec-NRC proposes to award the contract to " Isomass Scientific Inc.", that is, to our knowledge, the only company who is able to fulfill the requirement and that the product meets all of the evaluation criteria.

6. GOVERNMENT CONTRACTS REGULATIONS EXCEPTION The following exception to the Government Contracts Regulations is invoked for this procurement under subsection 6(d): Only one person or firm is capable of performing the work.

7. EXCLUSIONS AND/OR LIMITED TENDERING REASONS The following exclusion(s) and/or limited tendering reasons are invoked under the section of the trade agreement(s) specified:

7.1 Canadian Free Trade Agreement (CFTA) Chapter Five - Government Procurement Article 513: Limited Tendering 1. Subject to paragraphs 2 and 3, and provided that it does not use this provision for the purpose of avoiding competition among suppliers or in a manner that discriminates against suppliers of any other Party or protects its own suppliers, a procuring entity may use limited tendering in the following circumstances: b. 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.

7.2 North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) Part Four: Government Procurement - Chapter Ten Article 1016: Limited Tendering Procedures: 2. An entity may use limited tendering procedures in the following circumstances and subject to the following conditions: b. 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.

7.3 World Trade Organization - Agreement on Government Procurement (WTO-AGP) Article XIII Limited Tendering 1. Provided that it does not use this provision for the purpose of avoiding competition among suppliers or in a manner that discriminates against suppliers of any other Party or protects domestic suppliers, a procuring entity may use limited tendering and may choose not to apply Articles VII through IX, X (paragraphs 7 through 11), XI, XII, XIV and XV only under any of the following circumstances: b. 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.

7.4 Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) Chapter nineteen: Government procurement Article 19.12 - Limited tendering 1. Provided that it does not use this provision for the purpose of avoiding competition among suppliers or in a manner that discriminates against suppliers of the other Party or protects domestic suppliers, a procuring entity may use limited tendering and may choose not to apply Articles 19.6 through 19.8, paragraphs 7 through 11 of Article 19.9, and Articles 19.10, 19.11, 19.13 and 19.14 under any of the following circumstances: b. 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.

8. PROPOSED DELIVERY DATE The goods must be delivered no later than February 1st, 2019.

9. COST ESTIMATE OF THE PROPOSED CONTRACT The estimated value of the contract is between 200,000$ and 300,000$.

10. NAME AND ADDRESS OF THE PRE-IDENTIFIED SUPPLIER Isomass Scientific Inc. #140, 5700 - 1 Street S.W. Calgary (Alberta) CANADA, T2H 3A9

11. SUPPLIER ' 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.

12. CLOSING DATE FOR A SUBMISSION OF A STATEMENT OF CAPABILITIES The closing date and time for acceptation statements of capabilities is on October 11, 2018 at 2:00 p.m. eastern daylight time (EDT).

13. INQUIRIES AND SUBMISSION OF STATEMENTS OF CAPABILITIES Inquiries and statement of capabilities are to be directed to: Name: Marial Tremblay Title: Supply Specialist

Telephone: 418-803-4088 E-mail: Marial.Tremblay@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.