RJH Supply, LLC (635-485)

B-421043 Oct 20, 2022 Jump To VIEW DECISION DOWNLOADS RELATED PAGES GAO CONTACTS Highlights RJH Supply, LLC (RJH Supply), a small business of Davidsonville, Maryland, protests the agency's actions relating to the procurement conducted under request for quotations (RFQ) No. 635-485 (also referred to as Jacket 635-485), issued by the Government Publishing Office (GPO) for trail signage for the National Park Service (NPS). The protester contends that the signage should have been procured from Federal Prison Industries, Inc. (UNICOR), in accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) part 8. We dismiss the protest on the basis that the protester is not an interested party. View Decision Decision Matter of: RJH Supply, LLC File: B-421043 Date: October 20, 2022 Robert Hoffman, RJH Supply, LLC, for the protester. James Goodman, III, Esq., Government Publishing Office, for the agency. Michael P. Price, Esq., and John Sorrenti, Esq., Office of the General Counsel, GAO, participated in the preparation of the decision. DIGEST An authorized sales agent is not an interested party to pursue a protest with our Office on its own behalf where the agent is not itself a prospective bidder or offeror and lacks a direct economic interest in the procurement, as required by our Bid Protest Regulations. DECISION RJH Supply, LLC (RJH Supply), a small business of Davidsonville, Maryland, protests the agency’s actions relating to the procurement conducted under request for quotations (RFQ) No. 635-485 (also referred to as Jacket 635-485), issued by the Government Publishing Office (GPO) for trail signage for the National Park Service (NPS). The protester contends that the signage should have been procured from Federal Prison Industries, Inc. (UNICOR), in accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) part 8.[1] We dismiss the protest on the basis that the protester is not an interested party. On July 20, 2022, NPS sent a requisition to GPO for trail signage for use along the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail. Req. for Dismissal, exh. B, SF-1 Printing and Binding Requisition at 1-2. On September 7, GPO issued an RFQ for the signage with a closing date for receipt of quotations of September 8 at 2:00 p.m. Eastern Time. Req. for Dismissal, exh. A, Jacket (RFQ) at 1. The RFQ required vendors to submit quotations using GPO’s online portal. Id. On September 8 at 9:53 a.m., RJH Supply, an authorized sales and marketing agent for UNICOR, submitted a quotation containing UNICOR’s pricing via an email sent directly to NPS.[2] Req. for Dismissal, exh. D, Protester Correspondence with Government at 2‑3. In an email response acknowledging receipt of the UNICOR quotation, NPS copied GPO, which in turn sent an email asking the protester whether it submitted UNICOR’s quotation using GPO’s online portal. Id. at 2. At 11:17 a.m., the protester responded that it had not submitted UNICOR’s quotation using the GPO portal, but argued that UNICOR was the named source for the signage and therefore could submit its quotation directly to NPS, in accordance with the FAR. Id. at 1. Following the 2:00 p.m. deadline for receipt of quotations, the agency issued the abstract of the quotations received. Req. for Dismissal at 2; Req. for Dismissal, exh. E, Abstract for Jacket 635-485 at 1. The UNICOR quotation was not included in the abstract.[3] Id. On September 12, RJH Supply filed a protest with our Office. Under the bid protest provisions of the Competition in Contracting Act of 1984, 31 U.S.C. §§ 3551-3557, only an “interested party” may protest a federal procurement. That is, a protester must be an actual or prospective bidder or offeror whose direct economic interest would be affected by the award of a contract or the failure to award a contract. Bid Protest Regulations, 4 C.F.R. § 21.0(a)(1). Determining whether a party is interested involves consideration of a variety of factors, including the nature of issues raised, the benefit or relief sought by the protester, and the party’s status in relation to the procurement. RELM Wireless Corp., B-405358, Oct. 7, 2011, 2011 CPD ¶ 211 at 2. GPO requests that our Office dismiss the protest, arguing that RJH Supply is not an interested party because: (1) the protester is not an actual or prospective bidder, because it did not properly submit a quotation through the GPO portal in accordance with the RFQ; and (2) the protester does not have a direct economic interest that would be affected by the award of this contract. Req. for Dismissal at 2-3. In its response, RJH Supply confirms that it is protesting on its own behalf, and not that of UNICOR, and does not contest that it did not submit a quotation in accordance with the RFQ’s instructions. See Resp. to Req. for Dismissal at 1. Instead, the protester maintains that it had the right to submit a quotation to NPS directly. Id.