Establishment of a framework contract related to Custom clearance  and Inland Transport Services-UNHCR Retour vers les opportunités

“RFQ/TUN/ 2021/003 : Establishment of a framework contract related to Custom clearance  and Inland Transport Services

INTRODUCTION TO UNHCR

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees was established on December 14, 1950 by the United Nations General Assembly. The agency is mandated to lead and co-ordinate international action to protect refugees and resolve refugee problems worldwide. Its primary purpose is to safeguard the rights and well-being of refugees. It also has a mandate to help stateless people.

In more than six decades, the agency has helped tens of millions of people restart their lives. Today, a staff of some 17,324 people in more than 135 countries continues to help about 79.5 million persons. To help and protect some of the world’s most vulnerable people in so many places and types of environment, UNHCR must purchase goods and services worldwide. For further information on UNHCR, its mandate and operations please see http://www.unhcr.org.

REQUIREMENTS

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), in Tunisia, invites well established and experienced service providers duly registered and licensed with the government of Tunisia to provide custom clearance and inland transportation service for the establishment of Frame Agreement(s) for two (2) years period with possibility of extension for another one (1) year (referred to hereinafter as “Services”) for UNHCR Tunisia.

The estimated comprehensive annual expenditure on both services, customs clearance and inland transportation for UNHCR, is estimated at USD 10,000. Please note that this figure may change upward or downward depending upon the requirement. It does not represent a commitment that UNHCR will purchase a minimum quantity of services. Quantities may vary and will depend on the actual requirements and funds available regulated by issuance of individual Purchase Orders against the Frame Agreement(s).

Offers can be submitted for the Section (I) on custom clearance or Section (II) on inland transportation services or both, but incomplete offers per section will not be accepted (i.e. quoting for partial item under the quoted section is not accepted).

IMPORTANT:

Terms of Reference (TOR) are detailed in Annex A of this document.

Successful bidder(s) will be requested to maintain their quoted price model for the duration of the Frame Agreement(s).

Other United Nations Agencies, Fund and Programmes shall be entitled to the same prices and terms as those contained in the offers of the successful bidders and could form the basis for a Frame Agreement with other UN Agencies.

It is strongly recommended that this Request for Quotation and its annexes be read thoroughly. Failure to
observe the procedures laid out therein may result in disqualification from the evaluation process.
Sub-Contracting: Please take careful note of article 5 of the attached General Terms and Conditions (Annex D).

Note: this document is not construed in any way as an offer to contract with your firm.

BIDDING INFORMATION:

RFQ DOCUMENTS

The following annexes form integral part of this Request for Quotation:

Annex A: Terms of Reference (TOR)

Annex B: Financial Offer Forms

Annex C: Vendor Registration Form (VRF)

Annex D: UNHCR General Conditions of Contracts for the Provision of Services – Rev.: July 2018

Annex E: Relevant Experience Form

Annex F: UN Supplier Code of Conduct

Annex G: Bid Data Form

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

We would appreciate your informing us by Gharbi@unhcr.org copying Sarieddi@UNHCR.org as to:

Your confirmation of receipt of this request for Quotation.

Whether or not you will be submitting a quotation.

IMPORTANT:

Failure to send the above requested information may result in disqualification of your offer from further  evaluation.

REQUESTS FOR CLARIFICATION

Bidders are required to submit any request for clarification or any question in respect of this RFQ by e-mail to Gharbi@unhcr.org. The deadline for receipt of questions is 23:59 hrs TUNIS local time on Friday, 17th of September 2021. Bidders are requested to keep all questions concise.

IMPORTANT:

Please note that Bid Submissions are not to be sent to the e-mail address above.
UNHCR will compile received questions and plans to respond shortly after the query closing date.
UNHCR may, at its discretion, copy any reply to a particular question to all other invited bidders at once.

YOUR OFFER

Your offer shall be prepared in French or English.

IMPORTANT:

Inclusion of copies of your offer with any correspondence sent directly to the attention of the responsible buyer or any other UNHCR staff other than the submission e-mail address will result in disqualification of the offer. Please send your bid directly to the address provided in the “Submission of Bid” section 2.6) of this RFQ.

Please submit your offer using the Annexes provided. Offers not conforming to the requested formats may be not taken into consideration.

Your offer shall comprise the following two sets of documents in PDF format (Copies of the PDF format documents may, as an addition, be included in Excel or other formats etc.):

• Technical offer
• Financial offer

Content of the TECHNICAL OFFER

IMPORTANT:

No pricing information should be included in the Technical offer. Failure to comply may risk disqualification. The technical offer should contain all information required.
Mandatory Requirement: Pass/Fail Criteria

The following six (6) eligibility criteria must be met by the bidder to qualify for further consideration. Pre-conditions are not ratable components of the technical offers.

• Proof that your company is registered and licensed by the Government of Tunisia to provide such services.
• Proof that, your company has at least three (3) years of experience, in continuous business of providing customs clearance and inland transportation services in Tunisia.
• Proof that your company is registered with the VAT.
• Duly completed, signed, stamped and dated Vendor Registration Form; (VRF is attached at Annex C or if already registered with UNHCR provide the company’s UNHCR vendor ID).
• Written statement that your company accepts UNHCR terms, conditions, and standard payment terms of 30 days.
• Insurance Policy: provide and submit valid insurance policy from insurance company to the vehicles and cargo contained therein against risks (fire, theft, damage and third-part liability). This is only applicable for the transportation part.

Your technical proposal should be concisely presented and structured in the following order toinclude, but not necessarily be limited to the following information:

A) Description of the company, company’s qualifications and the general organization capability:

A description of your company with the following documents:

• Company profile, year founded, if multi-location company specify headquarter location, and audit reports for the past two (2) years.
• List of similar and successfully completed or underway projects in the last five (5) years; including but not limited to the experience with the UN Agencies, other Humanitarian Organizations and the private sector. For each completed contract, please include its value. Use (Annex E) to complete this part.
• List of clients contact name and phone number to be used for reference check. Use (Annex E) to complete this part.
• Copy of any quality certificates of ISO 9000, ISO 9001 or other relevant equivalent standards. Any information that will facilitate our evaluation of your company’s substantive reliability, financial and managerial capacity to provide the services.

B) Fleet availability, capacity, age, on board technologies, licenses of owned equipment:

Please provide information on the below:

• Number of the fleet intended to be used for this project.
• Types, age and capacity of trucks.
• Submit a proof of conducted annual inspection and other required licenses.

C) Customs brokerage and any other relevant licenses and certifications:

• Submit a proof that your company has international linkage; if applicable.
• Submit any relevant international licenses e.g. International Federation of Freight Forwarders Associations (FIATA) standards or equivalent; if available.
• Submit a proof that your company has experience in the custom clearance at the Tunisian borders i.e. airport, seaport and land.

D) UNHCR General Conditions for Provision of Services: Your technical offer should contain
your acknowledgement of the UNHCR General Conditions for Provision of Services by signing (Annex D).

Content of the FINANCIAL OFFER

Your separate Financial Offer must contain an overall offer in a single currency, in TND. The financial offer must cover all the services to be provided (price “all inclusive”). The quoted fees shall comprise all cost, including travel communication (facsimile, telephone, etc.), reporting time.

The Financial Offer is to be submitted as per the Financial Offer Form (Annex B). Bids that have a different price structure may not be accepted.

Annex B is divided into two (2) sections:
– Section (I) for custom clearance; and
– Section (II) for inland transportation.
As mentioned in this RFQ document above under point no. “(1) Requirements”, you may quote for one of the sections or both, but incomplete offers per section will not be accepted (i.e. quoting for partial item under quoted section is not accepted). Prices must be given without VAT. You are requested to hold your offer valid for ninety (90) days from the deadline for submission. UNHCR will make its best effort to select the company(ies) within this period. UNHCR’s standard payment terms are within thirty (30) days after satisfactory implementation and receipt of documents in order.

The cost of preparing a bid and of negotiating a contract, including any related travel, is not reimbursable nor can it be included as a direct cost of the assignment.

BID EVALUATION:

Supplier Registration:

The qualified suppliers will be added to the Vendor Database after investigation of suitability based on the submitted Vendor Registration Form and supporting documents. The investigation involves consideration of several factors such as:

• Financial standing,
• Core business,
• Track record,
• Contract capacity.

This will be followed later by performance evaluation as a supplier such as:

• Random / periodic testing of the supplier’s services,
• Ability to respond quickly to Agency’s needs,
• Timely delivery,
• Dependability of services.

Due Diligence:

UNHCR may conduct a due diligence/vender verification exercise if the bidders are not known to UNHCR or have not already worked satisfactorily for UNHCR in the past if the bidders are found to be technically compliant by-passing technical evaluation. Should the findings of the due diligence/supplier verification indicate non-suitability of bidders, the finding of the due diligence/supplier verification report will prevail. UNHCR will not conduct such exercise for those unknown bidders whose offer do not pass the technical evaluation. The due diligence exercise, when needed, will take place following technical evaluation by the Technical Evaluation Committee (TEC) and before commencement of financial proposal evaluation.

SUBMISSION OF BID:

Bid Reference: RFQ/TUN/2021/003

Deadline for submission: 24 September 2021 – 12.00 P.M hrs Tunis, Tunisia Local Time or Earlier.

Offers must be submitted electronically to the email address: tuntu@unhcr.org

a. Format PDF files (Copies of the PDF format documents may, as an addition, be included in Excel or other formats etc.
b. Email size must not exceed 20 MB
c. For big attachments over 20 MB, please split into multiple numbered emails (e.g. 1 of 3, 2 of 3 and 3 of 3).
d. No document downloading links are accepted. All documents must be attached with the emails.
e. If the supplier is uploading number of small files, please zip the files into a ZIP folder and upload the folder instead of each file individually.
f. The subject line of the email must clearly state the tender reference number RFQ/TUN/2021/003.
g. The subject of the email must also include the company name and type of offer (i.e technical or financial)
h. The Technical offers and financial offers must be submitted in separate emails.
i. All files must be free of viruses and not corrupted.
j. UNHCR reserves the right to accept or reject any offers that is not following the email submission instructions.
k. No other person from UNHCR to be copied on the tender emails otherwise the supplier may be disqualified for this tender.
l. For any technical issues with submission of emails, the suppliers must contact this email
address: Gharbi@unhcr.org copying sarieddi@unhcr.org

IMPORTANT:

Any bid received after this date or sent to another UNHCR address may be rejected. UNHCR may, at its discretion, extend the deadline for the submission of bids, by notifying all prospective bidders simultaneously.

m. UNHCR will not be responsible for locating or securing any information that is not identified in the bid. Accordingly, to ensure that enough information is available, the bidder shall furnish, as part of the bid, any descriptive material such as extracts, descriptions, and other necessary information it deems would enhance the comprehension of its offer.

BID ACCEPTANCE:

UNHCR reserves the right to accept the whole or part of your bid. UNHCR may, at its discretion, increase or decrease the proposed content when awarding the contract and would not expect a significant variation of the rate submitted. Any such increase or decrease in the contract duration would be negotiated with the successful bidder as part of the finalization of the Purchase Orders for Services. UNHCR may, at its discretion, extend the deadline for the submission of bids, by notifying all prospective suppliers in writing. The extension of the deadline may accompany a modification of the solicitation documents prepared by UNHCR at its own initiative or in response to a clarification requested by a prospective supplier.

Please note that UNHCR is not bound to select any of the firms submitting bids and does not bind itself in any way to select the firm offering the lowest price. Furthermore, the contract will be awarded to the bid considered most responsive to the needs, as well as conforming to UNHCR’sgeneral principles, including economy and efficiency and best value for money.

CURRENCY AND PAYMENT TERMS FOR PURCHASE ORDERS

Any Purchase Order (PO) issued as a result of this RFQ will be made in TND. Payment will be made in accordance to the General Conditions for the Purchase of Services and in the currency in which the PO is issued. Payments shall only be initiated after confirmation of successful completion by UNHCR business owner. UNHCR will not consider any advance payment.

UNHCR GENERAL CONDITIONS OF CONTRACTS FOR THE PROVISION OF SERVICES

Please note that the General Conditions of Contract for Provision of Services (Annex D) will be strictly adhered to for the purpose of any future contract. The Bidder must confirm the acceptance of these terms and conditions by attaching a singed and stamped copies of the attached conditions of services

ZERO TOLERANCE POLICY

Please note that UNHCR strictly follows zero tolerance policy and as such advises its suppliers not to offer any gift, favor, hospitality, etc. to its staff.

THE UN GLOBAL COMPACT

The UN Global Compact is a call to companies to align strategies and operations with universal principles on human rights, labor, environment, and anti-corruption, and take actions that advance societal goals