Non-Tax Program Envelopes

RFP # 1000335408 – Non-Tax Program Envelopes Description of Requirement  OVERVIEW The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) has a requirement for the supply and packaging of Government of Canada envelopes to be delivered to employees of the Agency located in offices across Canada on an ‘as and when requested’ basis. In addition, the CRA is seeking a supplier that is committed to become a registered supplier with the Ariba Supplier Network (ASN) prior to contract award. The Vendor must be able to provide their catalogue electronically in the format as set out herein. All orders placed as a result of this contract will be placed with the Vendor via the ASN. Sustainable Development It is the Agency’s objective to promote sustainable development initiatives by purchasing environmentally preferable products, where possible, as well as encouraging vendors to use best practices in packaging and delivery to reduce environmental impacts. The Contractor is required to assist the CRA with achieving these objectives and is responsible for the following: All products must include recycled fibre content. All envelopes must have a minimum of 50% recycled content with 10% post-consumer waste. All products must be certified under the Environmental Choice Program (ECP), or equivalent, or contain virgin fibre originating from a sustainably managed forest certified to a third-party verified forest certification standard such as, or equivalent to, the Canadian Standards Association Sustainable Forest Management Standard (CSA/SFMS), the Forestry Stewardship Council (FSC) or the Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI). 1. Products that are equivalent in certification to the certifications specified will be considered where the Contractor: (a) designates the certification(s) name of the product; (b) states that the substitute certification is fully interchangeable with one of the certifications specified in the offer; (c) provides complete specifications and descriptive literature for each substitute certification; (d) provides compliance statements that include technical specifics showing the substitute certification meets all mandatory performance criteria that are specified in one of the certifications specified in the offer; and (e) clearly identifies those areas in the specifications and descriptive literature that support the substitute product's compliance with any mandatory performance criteria. 2. Certification(s) offered as equivalent in form, fit, function and quality will not be considered if: (a) the offer fails to provide all the information requested to allow the contracting authority to fully evaluate the equivalency of each substitute certification; or (b) the substitute certification fails to meet or exceed the mandatory performance criteria of one of the specified certifications identified in the offer. Price Escalation/De-escalation Prices for the second year of the initial contract period and optional periods of service, if exercised at CRA's discretion, will be adjusted (i.e. either increased or decreased) in accordance with the following, as published by Statistics Canada. For envelopes (Table 1): Table 1 Industrial Product Price Index - Not seasonally adjusted for Pulp and Paper. The prices of the previous contract year will be multiplied by the “% change” published for the twelve month period preceding the contract anniversary date (for the second and third contract year) or the month preceding the month in which the Option is exercised. Release dates for major economic indicators can be accessed via http://www.statcan.gc.ca/release-diffusion/index-eng.htm TRADE AGREEMENTS Only AIT is applicable to this requirement. CONTRACT AND OPTIONS PERIODS The Services will be required from date of Contract to 31 July 2019 inclusive, with three irrevocable options to extend the contract period for up to three additional years, to be exercised in 1-year increments. Contractor Selection Methodology  The Bidder must meet all mandatory criteria applicable to this solicitation. Only the bids meeting the mandatory criteria will be evaluated and scored in accordance with the point rated evaluation criteria. Any proposal that does not achieve the minimum score of 36 points out of 60 will be considered non-compliant and will receive no further consideration. To determine an overall score for each proposal, technical and price will each be given a rating value; in this case, 60% for price and 40% for technical, and then combined to derive a total combined rating. The Bidder recommended for award of the Contract will be the compliant Bidder achieving the highest combined rating. All enquiries regarding this Request for Proposal must be directed in WRITING (see email address below) to: CONTRACTING Authority: Michael Yaehne Senior Supply/Business Analyst Contracting Division Canada Revenue Agency Tel. Number : (613) 995-4627 Email Address : Michael.Yaehne@cra-arc.gc.ca