Division 5.3 Obligations for the submission of a tenderF1

The tender notice shall specify the form and the deadline according to which the tenderer’s bid must be made.

All requests to participate and tenders declared as satisfying the requirements must be evaluated and ranked by an evaluation committee on the basis of the exclusion, selection and award criteria announced in advance. This committee must have an odd number of members, at least three, with all the technical and administrative capacities necessary to give an informed opinion on the tenders.

One single tender may be submitted for each lot. It shall be valid only if it relates to a complete lot. Where a lot is subdivided into part lots, the tender shall be established as an average thereof. Where the invitation to tender relates to the supply of more than one lot, a separate tender shall be submitted per lot. The tenderer is not obliged to present a tender for all the lots.

Tenders shall provide:

• the tenderer’s name and address,

• the reference numbers of the invitation to tender, lot and action,

• the net weight of the lot or the specific monetary amount to which the tender relates,

• the proposed price per net metric tonne of product at the place of delivery as specified and in accordance with the conditions laid down in the request for tenders; or where the invitation to tender is for a contract to supply a maximum quantity of a given product for a specific monetary amount, the net quantity of products offered,

• the transport costs from the place of loading to the place of delivery for the specified delivery stage,

• the delivery deadline or delivery timeframe.

The tender shall be valid only if it is accompanied by evidence that a tendering guarantee has been lodged. The amount of the tendering guarantee, expressed in the currency of the payment, and the period of validity, shall be laid down in the tender notice. The guarantee shall represent minimum 1 % of the total amount of the bid, and the period of validity shall be at least one month.

The guarantee shall be lodged in favour of the NGO in the form of a security from a credit establishment recognised by a Member State or accepted by the NGO. The guarantee shall be irrevocable and capable of being called at first request.

In case of purchase in the country which is itself the beneficiary of the food aid, the NGO may define in the tender notice other conditions for the guarantee taking account of the customs of the country.

The guarantee shall be released:

• by a letter or a fax by the NGO where the tender has not been accepted or has been rejected, or where no contract has been awarded,

• where the tenderer, designated as the supplier, has lodged the delivery guarantee.

The guarantee shall be forfeited if the supplier fails to provide the delivery guarantee within a reasonable deadline following the award of the contract and also if the tenderer withdraws his tender after it has been received.

A tender which is not submitted in accordance with these provisions or contains reservations or conditions other than those laid down for in the invitation to tender shall be rejected.

No tender may be changed or withdrawn after it has been received.

The award shall be made to the tenderer who submitted the lowest tender respecting all the conditions of the invitation to tender, in particular the characteristics of the products to be mobilised. Where the lowest tender is presented simultaneously by a number of tenderers, the contract shall be awarded by the drawing of lots.

When the contract is awarded, both the supplier and the unsuccessful tenderers shall be duly notified by letter or fax.

The NGO may decide not to award the contract on the expiry of the first or of the second dead-line, in particular where the tenders submitted are outside the range of normal market prices. The NGO shall not be required to give reasons for its decision. Tenderers shall be informed of the decision not to award the contract by written notice, within three working days.