, B-289134.3;

, B-289134.3; TITLE: , B-289134.3; B-289134.4, April 29, 2002 BNUMBER: B-289134.3; B-289134.4 DATE: April 29, 2002 ********************************************************************** DOCUMENT FOR PUBLIC RELEASE The decision issued on the date below was subject to a GAO Protective Order. This redacted version has been approved for public release. [Text Box: DOCUMENT FOR PUBLIC RELEASEThe decision issued on the date below was subject to a GAO Protective Order. This redacted version has been approved for public release.]Decision Matter of: Alatech Healthcare, LLC--Protest; Custom Services International, Inc.--Costs File: B-289134.3; B-289134.4 Date: April 29, 2002 David B. Dempsey, Esq., and Kelly A. Sherrill, Esq., Holland & Knight, and Robert Sonenthal, Esq., Sonenthal & Overall, for the protester. John S. Pachter, Esq., and Jonathan D. Shaffer, Esq., Smith Pachter McWhorter & Allen, and Ron Schlager, Custom Services International, Inc. for Custom Services International, Inc., an intervenor. John K. Scales, Esq., Agency for International Development, for the agency. Scott H. Riback, Esq., and John M. Melody, Esq., Office of the General Counsel, GAO, participated in the preparation of the decision. DIGEST 1. Protest against agency's post-award corrective action that includes opportunity to revise cost proposals is denied where record shows that agency made change to requirements that will affect field of firms that may be able to meet agency's requirements. 2. Protest that agency was required under Federal Acquisition Regulation sect. 15.507 to provide original awardee with information relating to unsuccessful offeror proposal prior to obtaining revised proposals is denied; regulation requires only that agency provide a successful offeror information relating to its own proposal in situations where the agency reopens an acquisition as a consequence of a protest. 3. Request for protest costs is denied where record shows that agency did not unduly delay implementation of corrective action proposed prior to submission of agency report. DECISION Alatech Healthcare, LLC, protests the actions of the U.S. Agency for International Development (AID) in connection with request for proposals (RFP) No. M/OP-01-1283, issued to acquire a quantity of condoms. Alatech maintains that the agency has improperly sought price proposal revisions after its prices have been exposed. Custom Services International (CSI) requests that we recommend that it be reimbursed the costs associated with an earlier protest filed in connection with this acquisition. We deny Alatech's protest and CSI's request for costs. BACKGROUND The agency originally issued the subject solicitation on August 8, 2001, calling for fixed-price offers to provide an indefinite quantity of condoms for a base year, with two 1-year options.[1] The solicitation provided that the agency would evaluate proposals to determine technical acceptability and would make award to the firm submitting the low-priced, technically acceptable proposal. After receiving two proposals by the September 17 deadline, the agency made award to Alatech as the firm submitting the lowest-priced, technically acceptable proposal. After the award, CSI (the current intervenor) protested to our Office, maintaining that Alatech was technically unacceptable for several reasons. Chief among its bases for protest was the assertion that Alatech did not meet the RFP's requirement for offerors to have, at the time of proposal submission, a particular U.S. Food and Drug Administration certification for the condoms to be supplied, as well as International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 9000 approval for each facility where the condoms would be manufactured. Thereafter, AID advised our Office that it would take corrective action in response to CSI's protest. Specifically, the agency advised that it would relax the RFP's terms to require only that offerors provide an ISO 9000 certificate of registration as a general demonstration of the firm's adoption of quality systems in the manufacture of the condoms; thus, offerors now would not be required to furnish ISO 9000 certificates of registration for each facility to be used during contract performance when submitting their offers. Agency Letter, Jan. 23, 2002; RFP amend. No. 3. The agency advised that it would solicit revised technical and price proposals from Alatech and CSI. ALATECH'S PROTEST Revised Prices Alatech objects to the agency's solicitation of revised price proposals. According to the protester, providing offerors an opportunity to submit revised pricing is prejudicial to it, and therefore improper, because its prices in response to the initial solicitation were revealed to CSI in an earlier post-award debriefing.