Section 32 Apple (Bags And Cartons) for use in Domestic Food Assistance Programs.

USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS)-Commodity Procurement Program (CPP) intends to issue a solicitation for procurement of the products listed in the attached solicitation for domestic food assistance programs. Deliveries are to various locations in the United States on an FOB origin basis (see solicitation). The solicitation may include various small business set-asides pursuant to the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 631, et seq.). This may include partial or total small business set-asides, service-disabled veteran-owned (SDVO) set-asides, quantities reserved for 8(a) and AbilityOne firms, and price evaluation preferences for qualified HUBZone small businesses.

The solicitation is expected to be available on or after today and will be available electronically through USDA Web Based Supply Chain Management (WBSCM) located at https://portal.wbscm.usda.gov/publicprocurement and through a link to the aforementioned website in the documents attached to the solicitation notice on Contract Opportunities website. A hard copy of the solicitation will not be available for the acquisition. All future information regarding this acquisition, including solicitation amendments and award notices, will be published through WBSCM and Contract Opportunities website (https://sam.gov). Interested parties shall be responsible for ensuring that they have the most up-to-date information about this acquisition. The anticipated date of receipt for offers is listed above under General Information. The contract type will be firm-fixed-price.

Pursuant to Agricultural Acquisition Regulation (AGAR), 470-103(b), commodities and the products of agricultural commodities acquired under this contract must be a product of the United States and shall be considered to be such a product if it is grown, processed, and otherwise prepared for sale or distribution exclusively in the United States. Packaging and container components under this acquisition will be the only portion subject to the World Trade Organization Government Procurement Agreement (WTO) (GPA), and Free Trade Agreements (FTA), as addressed by Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR), clause 52.225-5. Complete details of the commodity and packaging requirements are available through the attached documents. AMS's solicitation (when published) will specify the pack, sizes, quantities, and required delivery schedules.

To be eligible to submit offers, potential contractors must meet the AMS vendor qualification requirements established in accordance with FAR Subpart 9.2. The AMS main contacts for vendor qualification requirements are Andrea Lang, who can be reached at (202) 720-4237 and Diana Dau David who can be reached at (202)-378-1075, or by email at newvendor@usda.gov . Details of these requirements and contact information are available online at: http://www.ams.usda.gov/selling-food.

Once qualification requirements have been met, access to WBSCM will be provided. Bids, modifications, withdrawals of bids, and price adjustments shall be submitted using this system. Submission of the above by any means other than WBSCM will be determined nonresponsive.

The attached solicitation should be read in conjunction with contract terms and conditions contained in the Master Solicitation for Commodity Procurements Domestic Programs (MSCP-D) available on the AMS website at https://www.ams.usda.gov/selling-food/solicitations. Commodity specifications documents are referenced in the solicitation and can be accessed online at https://www.ams.usda.gov/selling-food/product-specs.