Support to 5 high-priority Member States in prevention and control of (multidrug-resistant) tuberculosis
Contract Award Notice
Contract Notice
Invitation to Tender
Tender Specifications
Annex I - Draft Contract
Annex II - Exclusion criteria and non–conflict of interest declaration
Annex III - Legal entity form
Annex IV - Financial identification form
Annex V - Authorised signatory form
Annex VI - Curriculum Vitae template
Annex VII - Financial Proposal
Annex VIII - Confirmation of offer submission
Annex IX - Tender submission checklist
Question 1
Regarding the"kick‐off meeting involving the contractor, ECDC and beneficiary Member States (1 person per Member State)"
Will the kick-off meeting be virtual or on location If on location, will it have to be supported from the project or will it be financed by the ECDC If from the project is there a preferred country where the meeting has to take place
Answer
The kick-off meeting will be virtual and will be organised by ECDC.
Question 2
Regarding the exchange visits: if there any minimum number of visits that has to be conducted if yes, number of visits per project or per country If - based on the needs assessment that we are currently conducting - a country does not need an exchange visit but prefers to have TA or training, is it possible In other words, is there flexibility in the choosing of the modalities (TA, training, exchange) or is there any minimum requirement per modality, per year, per country or per project
Answer
The number of exchange visits, trainings and consultancies will be decided on in the kick off meeting and will be agreed on in a general workplan, with milestones, deadlines and responsibilities for a period of at least 12 months. There is no minimum requirement of number of exchange visits, trainings or consultancies per year, per country or per project.
Question 3
Consortia: Annex II has to be signed by all members of the consortium. Just to confirm, there are no other annexes or parts of the proposal that have to be signed by all consortium partners
Answer
Each consortium member needs to provide a separate Annex II. At the stage of tender submission, copies may be sent. In addition, as mentioned in section 1.4 Participation of consortia, the consortium members need to provide a copy of the document authorising the leader to submit the tender. Section 1.6.1 Envelope A indicates the requirement to submit a consortium agreement duly signed and dated by each consortium member. In case of award, the original of the documents will be requested. After the submission, for the awarded tenderer, Section 3.1 mentions that each consortium member shall provide originals of supporting documents, those referenced in Annex II, in the section starting with “In case of award of contract …”
Question 4
Section 2.2.3.3 (paragraphs 3-4 Page 14) specifies the procedure on interim (upon submission of certain deliverables) and final payments (upon acceptance of the reports) on specific case studies are included. Does it mean that no upfront payments will be made
Answer
No upfront payment (pre-financing) is foreseen. The draft contract in Annex I, Article I.4, foresees an interim payment and balance payment for each specific contract. These are done upon submission and approval of deliverables as indicated in Article I.4.
Question 5
The following statements are included in the same section (Page 14 Paragraph 5) and Section 2.2.2 (Page 12): "The results of the meeting iin Riga n the form of the meeting report will be presented during and become fully integrated into the kick‐off meeting for this FWC and will shape the priorities for subsequent requests for services for specific contracts" and "The framework contract will start with a kick‐off meeting involving the contractor, ECDC and beneficiary Member States (1 person per Member State) where the results from the meeting in Latvia will be presented, as well as the contractor team. As a result of the kick off meeting, a general workplan will be designed, with milestones, deadlines and responsibilities for a period of at least 12 months; this workplan will also include broad areas of work for the remaining period of the contract".
Question 5a
Can you please clarify the following in this regard: Can Riga meeting materials be made available to the potential tenderers (as it looks like it's essential to base the proposal on the results of the meeting)
Answer
The results of the meeting in Riga are relevant for developing the workplan of the first 12 months of the project which will be included in a specific contract. The results of the Riga meeting are not needed for the development of a proposal for the Framework Service Contract. The proposal for the Framework Service Contract should take into account the areas listed in the call for tender (TB surveillance, TB laboratory services, TB prevention and care, and Health communication including behaviour change in TB) and the type of activities (Consultancy – short term experts, Training, Exchange visits for transferring knowledge and skills).
Question 5b
Does it mean that only general statements and plans could be included in the proposal (since "deadlines, milestones, responsibilities and priorities for subsequent requests for specific contracts" can opnly be adoptged during the kick-off meeting at the beginning of the project)
Answer
The proposal should include a technical proposal that contains the following information to allow evaluation of the tender according to the technical criteria mentioned in section 4.1:
A paper (maximum 20 pages) describing the general services offered, its relevance to ECDC, the proposed team describing roles and responsibilities for each team member to execute activities, and the system for ensuring quality control and custom orientation service as well as their suggestions to answer the questions raised in the award criteria (section 4.2); Case studies on how the tenderer would deliver a specific project for ECDC. A case study shall not be longer than 3 pages per project and shall include: a description of the approach proposed and proposed methods to be applied; means to be used to meet the objectives of the terms of reference and assessment of the main issues, limitations, risks of the analysis to be carried out as well as the proposed mitigation measures. For the purpose of the evaluation and in order to provide detailed figures, tenderers are invited to formulate prices for each of the case studies. Each case study should include explanations for the rationale for allocating staff and explain each of the functions listed.
Question 5c
Can you please clarify what exactly is meant by "subsequent requests for services for specific contracts" in the current context
Answer
The call for proposals is for a Framework Service Contract. The work will be conducted under specific contracts (see section 1.12 at page 8). ECDC will send requests for services and the services offered will determine the specific contracts to be implemented.
Question 6
May I kindly ask you the following: We need the governmental contacts that you (ECDC) have already approached (political commitment from these countries to tackle MDRTB). Could you send me a list with the governmental contacts that you (ECDC) have discussed this proposal with and from whom an initial agreement has been obtained
Answer
Stakeholders of the capacity building support in the five high priority MS were informed about the proposal and participated in a meeting of which the aim was to identify and prioritise needs that experts in these countries have in the area of this Framework Contract. These stakeholders are from Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Romania and they represent the health sector, organisations of persons affected by (MDR) TB and a civil society organization.