SERVICE PROCUREMENT NOTICE

Institutional Strengthening of the State Audit and Administrative Control Bureau

Location - Occupied Palestinian Territories, West Bank and Gaza Strip

1.    Publication reference

EuropeAid/128098/C/SER/PS

2.    Procedure

Restricted

3.    Programme

ENPI

4.    Financing

Financing agreement "PEGASE: Governance and Social Development" (2009 / 021-835) between the Palestine Authority and the European Commission, signed on 23/12/2009 

5.    Contracting Authority

European Union, represented by the European Commission Technical Assistance Office on behalf of and for the Palestinian Authority / West Bank and Gaza Strip

CONTRACT SPECIFICATION

6.    Nature of contract

Fee-based

7.    Contract description

The Palestinian State Audit and Administrative Control Bureau (SAACB) is the Palestinian National Authority External Audit Institution. This contract aims at supporting the SAACB in becoming an institution fully independent and in line with INTOSAI (International Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions) standards. This contract will, inter alia, include the following activities:

-Development of the SAACB's auditing skills

-Enhancing the SAACB's management skills

-Strengthening of the SAACB's Planning and Capacity Development Unit

-Advise on SAACB's (Legal framework for public sector auditing and anti-corruption).

-Reinforce anti-corruption department.

8.    Number and titles of lots

1 single lot

9.    Maximum budget

EUR 4.000.000

10. Scope for additional services

The Contracting Authority may, at its own discretion, extend the project in duration and/or scope subject to the availability of funding, up to a maximum not exceeding the length and value of the initial contract. Any extension of the contract would be subject to satisfactory performance by the Contractor.

CONDITIONS OF PARTICIPATION

11. Eligibility

Participation is open to all legal persons participating either individually or in a grouping (consortium) of candidates which are established in a Member State of the European Union or in a country or territory of the regions covered and/or authorised by the specific instruments applicable to the programme under which the contract is financed (see also item 30 below). Participation is also open to international organisations. The participation of natural persons is governed by the specific instruments applicable to the programme under which the contract is financed.

12. Candidature

All eligible natural and legal persons (as per item 11 above) or groupings of such persons (consortia) may apply.

A consortium may be a permanent, legally-established grouping or a grouping which has been constituted informally for a specific tender procedure. All members of a consortium (ie, the leader and all other members) are jointly and severally liable to the Contracting Authority.

The participation of an ineligible natural or legal person (as per item 11) will result in the automatic exclusion of that person. In particular, if that ineligible person belongs to a consortium, the whole consortium will be excluded.

13. Number of applications

No more than one application can be submitted by a natural or legal person whatever the form of participation (as an individual legal entity or as leader or member of a consortium submitting an application). In the event that a natural or legal person submits more than one application, all applications in which that person has participated will be excluded.

14. Shortlist alliances prohibited

Any tenders received from tenderers comprising firms other than those mentioned in the short-listed application forms will be excluded from this restricted tender procedure. Short-listed candidates may not form alliances or subcontract to each other for the contract in question.

15. Grounds for exclusion

As part of the application form, candidates must submit a signed declaration, included in the standard application form, to the effect that they are not in any of the exclusion situations listed in Section 2.3.3 of the Practical Guide to contract procedures for EC external actions

16. Sub-contracting

Not allowed

17. Number of candidates to be short-listed

On the basis of the applications received, between 4-8 candidates will be invited to submit detailed tenders for this contract. If the number of eligible candidates meeting the selection criteria is less than the minimum of 4, the Contracting Authority may invite the candidates who satisfy the criteria to submit a tender.

PROVISIONAL TIMETABLE

18. Provisional date of invitation to tender

15/03/2010

19. Provisional commencement date of the contract

15/07/2010

20. Initial period of implementation of tasks and possible extension of the contract

-Initial period of implementation 36 months

(For possible extension, see point 10.)

SELECTION AND AWARD CRITERIA

21. Selection criteria

The following selection criteria will be applied to candidates. In the case of applications submitted by a consortium, these selection criteria will be applied to the consortium as a whole:

1)    Economic and financial capacity of candidate (based on item 3 of the application form). In case of applicant being a public body, equivalent information should be provided.

·       a) the average annual turnover of the candidate in the past 3 years must exceed €1,5M; and

·       b) the averages of cash and cash equivalents at the beginning and end of year are positive.

2)      Professional capacity of candidate (based on items 4 and 5 of the application form)

·       a) at least 15 staff currently work for the applicant in fields related to this contract; and

·       b) at least 10% of all staff working for the candidate this year in fields related tot his contract are permanent.

3)  Technical capacity of candidate (based on items 5 and 6 of the application form)

·      a) the candidate has worked successfully on at least one project with a budget of at least € 2 Million in fields related to this contract in the past three years

An economic operator may, where appropriate and for a particular contract, rely on the capacities of other entities, regardless of the legal nature of the links which it has with them. It must in that case prove to the Contracting Authority that it will have at its disposal the resources necessary for performance of the contract, for example by producing an undertaking on the part of those entities to place those resources at its disposal. Such entities, for instance the parent company of the economic operator, must respect the same rules of eligibility and notably that of nationality, as the economic operator.

If more than 8 eligible candidates meet the above selection criteria, the relative strengths and weaknesses of the applications of these candidates must be reexamined to identify the eight best applications for the tender procedure. The only factors which will be taken into consideration during this re-examination are:

1)  The number of projects compliant with criteria 3a)

2)  The total value of the projects referred to in criteria 3a)

The two comparative criteria listed above will be applied in order of precedence, i.e. all the applicants

meeting the selection criteria as per 21.1), 21.2) and 21.3) will first be assessed against the

comparative criterion 1) and ranked accordingly. The comparative criterion 2) will only be applied if

some applicants at the bottom edge of such list will score equally against comparative criterion 1), and will only concern such applicants.

22. Award criteria

Best value for money.

APPLICATION

23. Deadline for receipt of applications

01 March 2010, 16:00 Jerusalem Time

Any application received after this deadline will not be considered.

24. Application format and details to be provided

Applications must be submitted using the standard application form (available from the following Internet address: http://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/work/procedures/implementation/services/index_en.htm), whose format and instructions must be strictly observed.

Any additional documentation (brochure, letter, etc) sent with an application will not be taken into consideration.

25. How applications may be submitted

Applications must be submitted in English exclusively to the Contracting Authority:

·         EITHER by recorded delivery (official postal service) to :

European Commission Technical Assistance Office for the West Bank and Gaza Strip P.O.Box  22 207, Mount of Olives, JERUSALEM

·         OR hand delivered (including courier services) directly to the Contracting Authority in return for a signed and dated receipt to:

Mr. Christian Berger: (+972 2) 541 58 88

European Commission Technical Assistance Office for the West Bank and Gaza Strip      5 George Adam Smith Street, JERUSALEM

The Contract title and the Publication reference (see item 1 above) must be clearly marked on the envelope containing the application and must always be mentioned in all subsequent correspondence with the Contracting Authority.

Applications submitted by any other means will not be considered.

26.  Alteration or withdrawal of applications

Candidates may alter or withdraw their applications by written notification prior to the deadline for submission of applications. No application may be altered after this deadline.

Any such notification of alteration or withdrawal shall be prepared and submitted in accordance with Item 25. The outer envelope (and the relevant inner envelope if used) must be marked 'Alteration' or 'Withdrawal' as appropriate.

27. Operational language

All written communications for this tender procedure and contract must be in English.

28. Additional information

_

29. Date of publication of contract forecast

14/02/2009

30. Legal basis

European Neighbourhood and Partnership instrument (Regulation (EC) N° 1638/2006 of the EP and of the Council - OJ L 310/1 of 9.11.2006);