Total Procurement Services, Inc.

Total Procurement Services, Inc. BNUMBER: B-274272; B-274342; and B-274343. DATE: August 29, 1996 TITLE: Total Procurement Services, Inc. ********************************************************************** Matter of:Total Procurement Services, Inc. File: B-272343.2 et al.[1] Date:August 29, 1996 Richard Snyder for the protester. Rowena H. Conkling, Esq., Department of Transportation, and Michael Colvin, Department of Health and Human Services, for the agencies. Charles W. Morrow, Esq., and James A. Spangenberg, Esq., Office of the General Counsel, GAO, participated in the preparation of the decision. DIGEST Value-Added Network (VAN) is not an interested party under the Bid Protest Regulations eligible to protest the purchase item descriptions contained in request for quotations (RFQ) issued through the Federal Acquisition Computer Network where there is no evidence that the VAN does or intends to do anything other than provide communication services, and the remote possibility that it might or could submit quotes does not make it an actual or prospective offeror with a sufficiently direct interest in the RFQs to be considered an interested party. DECISION Total Procurement Services, Inc. (TPS) protests a number of requests for quotations (RFQ) issued by the John A. Volpe National Transportation Systems Center, United States Department of Transportation (DOT), and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The HHS RFQs are for various medical and other equipment for use at NIH and the DOT RFQs are for a variety of computer equipment and supplies. TPS alleges that the RFQs contain inadequate and/or defective purchase item descriptions. We dismiss the protests because the protester is not an interested party. These RFQs were issued through the Federal Acquisition Computer Network (FACNET). FACNET is a government-wide electronic data interchange systems architecture that provides for electronic data interchange of acquisition information between the government and the private sector, employs nationally and internationally recognized data formats, and provides universal user access. 41 U.S.C. sec. 426(a), (b)(3) (1994); Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) sec. 4.501. It creates an electronic market place for procuring supplies and services in which agencies can post notices of and receive responses to solicitations, post notices of contract awards, and issue orders where practicable; and private sector users can access notice of solicitations, receive orders, and access information on contract awards. 41 U.S.C. sec. 426(b)(1), (2). A contracting agency enters solicitation data into FACNET through a business application program on its computer. The data is then electronically transmitted to a government gateway, which is a computer/communications system performing a variety of data management functions, such as converting business application program data into the proper data format for subsequent transmission. After processing by the gateway, the information is transmitted to a network entry point, which is also government operated, and relayed to Value-Add Networks (VAN).[2] VANs, which are private sector entities, then provide information obtained from FACNET to their customers, who have registered to do business with the government and are known as trading partners. Trading partners can submit quotations through FACNET to the contracting agency in reverse order to that described above. Both DOT and HHS contend that TPS does not qualify as an interested party eligible to maintain these protests because it is not an actual or prospective supplier or trading partner that could or would submit quotes on its own behalf in response to the RFQs, but rather is a VAN used to submit quotes by trading partners via FACNET. In this regard, DOT notes that TPS has not previously submitted quotes on its own behalf to the Volpe Center for computer equipment or supplies and there is no suggestion that TPS intends to do so here. HHS also notes that TPS has not registered as a trading partner to submit quotes via FACNET, as required by FAR sec. 4.503(a), which suggests that TPS does not intend to submit quotes on its own behalf via FACNET. DOT further asserts, and has provided documentation that evidences, that TPS is not a manufacturer or vendor of computer equipment or supplies, and that it lacks the capacity and experience to bid and supply the computer equipment to be acquired under the RFQs. Pursuant to section 21.3(c) of our Bid Protest Regulations, 4 C.F.R. sec.