B-295455.3; B-295455.4, OTI America, Inc., August 10, 2005

B-295455.3; B-295455.4, OTI America, Inc., August 10, 2005 TITLE: B-295455.3; B-295455.4, OTI America, Inc., August 10, 2005 BNUMBER: B-295455.3; B-295455.4 DATE: August 10, 2005 ********************************************************** B-295455.3; B-295455.4, OTI America, Inc., August 10, 2005 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. Decision Matter of: OTI America, Inc. File: B-295455.3; B-295455.4 Date: August 10, 2005 William M. Weisberg, Esq., and Jeffrey H. Francis, Esq., Sullivan & Worcester LLP, for the protester. Jennifer R. Seifert, Esq., U.S. Government Printing Office, for the agency. Henry J. Gorczycki, Esq., and James A. Spangenberg, Esq., Office of the General Counsel, GAO, participated in the preparation of the decision. DIGEST 1. Where agency uses contract options under parallel contracts to include or exclude contractors from continuing consideration for the development and production of electronic passport covers, the agency is conducting a limited competition between the multiple contractors, so that a protest of the agency's determination to eliminate a firm from the competition is within GAO's jurisdiction. 2. Agency has a reasonable basis to eliminate protester from competition where the electronic passport covers it delivered to the agency for testing did not meet material contract requirements. DECISION OTI America, Inc. protests agency action under request for proposals (RFP)/contract No. EP-2004, issued by the U.S. Government Printing Office (GPO) for electronic passport book covers and related materials. OTI protests its elimination from a limited competition that the agency has been conducting among the firms that previously had been awarded contracts. We deny the protest. The Department of State (DOS), in cooperation with the GPO and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), intends to issue a new type of passport to enhance the security of passports and to facilitate movement of travelers at ports of entry. The new "electronic passport" cover will contain an embedded contactless integrated circuit (IC) that will electronically store the personal information of the traveler to whom a passport is issued. The passport cover will also have an embedded antenna that together with the IC will permit wireless transmission of the traveler's personal information to electronic readers that will be located at border inspection stations, which can speed the movement of travelers through the border inspection process. RFP sect. C1.1. The electronic passport program is being implemented consistent with principles of international reciprocity so that United States passports will comply with the same requirements that the United States will impose by October 2005 on citizens of foreign nations traveling to the United States. RFP, Abstract of Concept of Operations for the Integration of Contactless Chip in the U.S. Passport, at 1. The IC and antenna will be embedded in "inlays," which will be adhered to cover stock to form a laminated passport cover. Inner pages are subsequently adhered to the laminated cover to produce a complete electronic passport that retains the appearance of a traditional passport book. GPO is tasked with providing DOS with complete electronic passports. GPO will do this by procuring electronic passport covers from contractors in "cover sheets" consisting of three laminated covers per sheet. At its own facilities, GPO will use its "UNO book fabrication process" to adhere inner pages to a contractor's laminated cover sheets using contractor-supplied adhesive. The assembled sheets are then cut into three complete electronic passport books per sheet and delivered to DOS. Agency Report at 2-3. GPO issued the RFP on July 12, 2004, contemplating the award of multiple combined fixed-price, cost-reimbursable, time-and-materials contracts for a base period with 4 option years. The awards were to be made on a "best value" basis with price and technical considerations being equally important. The base period has 11 contract line item numbers (CLIN). Four of the CLINs are "mandatory," and the government is obligated to purchase at least the minimum prescribed amount. The remainder of the base period CLINs as well the option period CLINs are "optional." The electronic passports were to undergo four stages of testing. Stage 1 was to determine whether technical proposals are compliant with the solicitation requirements. Stage 2 begins after the contract awards and involves a number of tests by several agencies.