Technical Quality Assurance Consultant for PACU

RFP Number:    TFCS-RFP-2024-002        

Issuance Date:           25/1/2024 

Deadline for Offers 01/2/2024

For: Palestinian Agricultural Cooperative Union (PACU)

Point of Contact: Sabeeh Qarban email: [email protected]

The Trade Facilitation and Customs Support programme (Tasdeer) is a five-year programme financed by the Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office (FCDO) and the objective of Tasdeer is to improve the trade performance and customs capabilities in the OPTs. It will ultimately contribute to increased inclusive private sector-led economic growth and fiscal sustainability in the OPTs. The programme is designed to be flexible and adaptable, and it will work politically and technically to make progress across the four-key interrelated workstreams.

Workstream 1 (WS1): Support to expedite the movement of goods and reduce transaction costs.

Workstream 2 (WS2): Support to improve Palestinian trade-related institutions and business enabling environment.

Workstream 3 (WS3): Support to improve the private sector’s skills and innovation to export and create jobs.

Workstream 4 (WS4): Support to improve PA’s customs readiness to assume functions from Israel and revenues from trade-related taxes.

The programme is implemented by a Cowater-led consortium on behalf of FCDO. A Steering Committee, including representatives from FCDO, the Ministry of National Economy (MoNE), and the Ministry of Finance (MoF), approves interventions identified and designed by the programme. The interventions are reviewed, and quality assured by a Strategic Advisory Panel comprised of experts from the core consortium members across the four key interrelated workstreams.

Deadlines

Questions regarding the technical or administrative requirements of this RFP may be submitted by email to [email protected]. Questions must be submitted in writing; phone calls will not be accepted.

Offers must be received no later than 01/2/2024.  Offers received after this date or time will be considered late and will not be considered.

Each offeror must submit its proposal in two separate attachments: The Technical proposal shall be submitted in a separate attachment from the financial proposal.

All offers and related documents must be sent by mail to: [email protected], Please enter the following in the subject section:

“Technical Quality Assurance Consultant for Food Products Production”

All offers must be prepared in English.

Term of Reference

Background

Palestinian Agricultural Cooperative Union (PACU) was established to empower Palestinian cooperatives, unifying their forces and elevate their livelihoods. Mawares, an initiative spearheaded by the Palestinian Agricultural Cooperative Union (PACU), emerged as a unified brand to champion the products of Palestinian cooperatives and elevate their economic well-being.

Over the past three years, PACU's export activities have been limited to small shipments and supplying a handful of exporting companies. To broaden its export horizons, PACU seeks to capitalize on the products of its member cooperatives, establishing the Mawares brand as a beacon of quality and excellence. To accomplish this objective, PACU needs to elevate the quality of its cooperatives products and align its manufacturing and packaging practices with the demand of global export markets.

Partnering with Tasdeer, PACU will embark on a thorough assessment of its dried herbs (sage, thyme, and mint), Shattah (hot pepper paste), Maqdous (eggplant pickles), Freekeh, Maftoul and pickled Grape leaves to gauge their suitability for export that were selected based on PACU leads from the US market. This evaluation will be conducted against both local and USA standards established by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

The objective of the Assignment

To support cooperatives under PACU in developing and setting the manufacturing standards for the targeted products, according to the identified quality aspects responding to market needs and regulations.

To assist cooperatives under PACU in establishing the specific packaging and labelling requirements responding to market needs and regulations.

To determine the necessary examinations and laboratory tests for the targeted products responding to market needs and regulations.

Methodology and Scope of Work

Under the scope of this assignment the consultant will perform the following tasks amongst others that might arise during the implementation to achieve the stated objectives:

Product Quality Assessment:

Evaluate the overall quality of each identified food product against the stipulated standards of PSI and US FDA.

Perform thorough testing of a sample of current products (proposed for exports) to identify modification to agriculture and production practices and to ensure   compliance with quality benchmarks and identification of the right tests for FDA and PSI Standards.

Labelling Compliance:

Scrutinize product labels for adherence to PSI and US FDA regulations.

Verify/ validate the accuracy and completeness of the information displayed on labels.

Ensure compliance with ingredient listings, nutritional information, and all mandatory labeling requirements.

Suggest the definitive content for the product labels for each item, ensuring alignment with both PSI and FDA regulations, and readiness for submission to the design and printing company.

Packaging Evaluation:

Assess the appropriateness and adequacy of packaging for each food product.

Verify/ Confirm that packaging materials meet the specified PSI and US FDA guidelines.

Identify and address any packaging-related issues that could affect product quality or safety.

Suggest the best packaging for each product.

List of Required Food Lab Analyses:

Compile a comprehensive list of necessary laboratory analyses for each food product.

Specify the types of analyses required, such as microbiological, chemical, and nutritional testing.

Ensure that the required analyses align with PSI and US FDA standards to guarantee full compliance.

 Technical Documentation:

 Identification of all required technical documents (health certificate, testing... etc.) for export.

Prepare key required documents/ procedures for quality control to be in line with export market requirement.

provide specific recommendations and work instruction to ensure the cooperative production process is in line with all requirements identified.

Prepare a detailed report summarizing the findings of the quality, labeling, and packaging review.

Clearly delineate areas of compliance and non-compliance with PSI and US FDA standards.

Provide actionable recommendations for corrective measures.

Deliverables

 Assignment technical report including all assessments and Requirements identified for each product.

Technical documentation of export requirements, quality control, and work instruction.

Actionable recommendations for corrective measures.

Duration and Reporting 

Tasdeer will contract a Local consultant to lead and deliver the consultation services abovementioned in this TOR. The assignment is to be completed in 30 working days.

The local consultant will work remotely where and when applicable. The consultant is expected to be in Palestine for the duration of their stakeholder consultations.

The local consultant will report to Tasdeer’s WS3 Lead and is expected to work with Mr. Nidal Dweikat the executive Director of PACU.

Technical proposal requirements 

The Technical Volume should describe in detail the offeror’s proposed plan for providing the consultation work described.  It should demonstrate a clear understanding of the consultation work to be undertaken and the responsibilities of all parties involved.  The technical offer should include details on the methodology, professional experience, qualifications of technical experts, and a clear description of deliverables that will be made available to carry out the required activities.  The plan should also provide details on the anticipated delivery schedule, including an estimated completion date.

Qualifications, skills, and professional experience 

Qualified consulting individuals are invited to submit a proposal that includes the following:

a) Proven experience in developing and providing technical assistance for food manufacturing companies.

b) Proven experience in developing food production assessments and plans.

C) proven experience in both Palestinian standards and the USA- FDA requirements

All electronic copies of documents in the Technical Volume must be in PDF.

The information contained in the Technical Volume should not contain any cost- or price-related information.

Basis for Award

The award will be made to a responsible offeror whose offer follows the RFP instructions, meets the eligibility requirements, and is determined via a trade-off analysis to be the best value based on the application of the following evaluation criteria. The relative importance of each criterion is indicated by the number of points below:

Technical approach – 20 points: Responsiveness to the technical specifications and requirements. This will evaluate the offeror’s proposed methodology and work plan. The methodology should demonstrate a comprehensive understanding of the scope of work and a firm grasp of the purpose of the required deliverables. The Work plan should include the organization of the tasks illustrating maximization of time and clarity in the assignment of personnel.

Experience – 25 points in relevant field and corporate capabilities: This will include an evaluation of the capacity of the organization to perform the scope of work, a review of success stories of previous experience in similar jobs, and the ability to illustrate past successes in performing similar assignments.

Consultant Composition - 25 points: This will include an evaluation of the qualifications of proposed consultants; a mix of experience and technical capabilities and the assignment of tasks to maximize resources and meet deadlines. Evaluation of the CV and reference if needed.

Cost Proposal – 30 points: The overall cost presented in the offer.

For technical proposals that get a score less than 50/70, a financial offer might not be considered.

Proposals short-listed based on the highest scores in the technical evaluation may be required to make a presentation, after which the technical scoring will be adjusted for those short-listed proposals.

Best-offer quotations are requested. It is anticipated that the award will be made solely based on these original quotations. However, PACU reserves the right to conduct any of the following:

May conduct negotiations with and/or request clarifications from any offeror before award.

May cancel this RFP at any time.

Cost Proposal 

The Cost Volume must include a unit cost breakdown for every line item described in Annex 1, as well as a description of any other costs involved; see the Price Schedule in Annex 1 for the required format. The offer must preserve and indicate the line-item numbers. All items, services, transportation costs, etc. must be clearly labeled and included in the total price. Prices must be quoted on a lump-sum, all-inclusive basis. No other costs, taxes, and/or fees may be added later.

Quotations must be fixed price, expressed in USD including income tax.  

Payment Method 

The payment of the contract is planned on a deliverable basis. The number of the payments is per the required deliverables:

one payment of 100% upon the completion of the consultancy mission.

The first draft of the deliverable must be submitted within 15 working days of the project's start date.

The final report and completion of the assignment must be finalized within 15 days of the first draft's acceptance.