DUPONT™ BAX® System Q7 Startup Package (for new system)

Trade Agreement: NAFTA/AIT/Canada FTAs with Peru/Colombia/Panama Tendering Procedures: All interested suppliers may submit a bid Attachment: None Competitive Procurement Strategy: Lowest/Lower Bid Comprehensive Land Claim Agreement: No Nature of Requirements: DUPONT? BAX® System Q7 Startup Package (for new system)

39903-150149/A Alan Takasaki Supply Specialist Public Works and Government Services Canada Acquisitions Branch Vancouver, 2nd floor, 800 Burrard St Vancouver, BC V6Z 2V8 Telephone: (604)775-7605 Facsimile: (604)775-7526 E-mail address: al.takasaki@pwgsc.gc.ca

The PWGSC Vancouver office provides procurement services to the public in English.

Requirement: Canada Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) Microbiology Laboratory located in Burnaby BC., require the supply and delivery One(1) only, DUPONT? BAX® System Q7 Startup Package (for new system).

Delivery date: On or before March 31, 2015.

All Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) food testing labs use the BAX Q7 instruments for regulatory testing of food samples. The CFIA Burnaby Microbiology Laboratory currently has two BAX Q7 instruments. In order to complement current testing capacity within the Burnaby Laboratory, the BAX Q7 instrument must be purchased to allow for:

The integration into the current work flow of the laboratory including ISO 17025 accreditation requirements and the quality assurance system with the laboratory.

The use of methods which have undergone extensive validation across multiple food matrices that are published as fit for purpose methods in the enforcement of food safety regulations.

All the methods using the BAX Q7 instrument are published in the Health Canada Compendium of Analytical Methods which is the Canadian repository of all regulatory testing methodologies (e.g. MFLP-15, MFLP-28, MFLP-29, and MFLP-30).

No other testing platform has received the same level of validation and approval for the regulatory testing of matrices under the CFIA's testing regime.

The substitution of a new testing platform would require the expenditure of additional human resources and extensive verification (of new methods and instrument) due to the CFIA's strict quality assurance system and the ISO 17025 accreditation of the labs. As CFIA Burnaby does not currently have the resources, it would take several years to verify any new instrument and could decrease the ability of the lab to deliver on its food safety mandate. Maintaining multiple testing platforms to perform the same test would significantly increase operational costs. In addition, the implementation costs would exceed $200,000.00 for verification and/or validation, training, retooling the laboratory, additional reagents and labour for validating and/or verifying the system. The laboratory would have an added cost of maintaining the additional inventory of tests, increased analyst training, and increased proficiency testing to maintain proficiency and accreditation.

Using an alternate testing platform could also create unacceptable inconsistencies across the CFIA testing labs. BAX instruments use specific kits that have been validated extensively and having a different instrument would result in different reported tests on some diagnostic samples. This will result in confusion and concerns from CFIA clients and any auditing authority. The CFIA also has several equivalencies for methods used on the BAX Q7 instrument with international regulatory partners to allow for harmonization of the Canadian food safety system to exporting partners. The use of alternate instruments and their associated methods could jeopardize this relationship and negatively impact trade.

Delivery Date: Above-mentioned

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

Documents may be submitted in either official language of Canada.