TERMS OF REFERENCE

Related to contracts to supply and update data for the European Commission's Export

Helpdesk database & website:

Lot 1: Contract for supply and regular update of the general and specific import

requirements within the Export Helpdesk database & website of DG Trade

Lot 2: Contract for supply and regular update of the EU internal taxes and excise duties

within the Export Helpdesk database & website of DG Trade.

Reference prior information notice: OJ 2015/S 056-096717 of 20/03/2015

Content:

1. Background information

2. Project focus

3. Objectives of the project

4. Services to be rendered

5. Timing

6. Budget

7. Payment

8. Contractual conditions

9. Checklist on what the tender must include

10. Quotation of prices

11. Exclusion criteria

12. Selection criteria

13. Award criteria

Annex 1: Technical requirements

Annex 2: Tender submission form

Annex 3: Quotation forms

Annex 4: Model contract

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1. BACKGROUND INFORMATION OR MISSION STATEMENT OF THE DIRECTORATE

GENERAL FOR TRADE (DG TRADE):

DG Trade is in charge of conducting the Union's commercial policy in accordance with

the objectives set out in Articles 206 and 207 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU.

DG Trade helps through the EU's trade policy to secure prosperity, solidarity and security

in Europe and around the globe. We support the EU's Trade Commissioner and the whole

of the European Commission in shaping a trade environment that is good for people and

for business.

We are committed to helping world trade and development, thereby boosting

competitiveness, jobs and growth in the process.

We have a full agenda: negotiating bilateral and multilateral trade agreements, ensuring

that the rules we agree are actually applied, and working closely with the WTO and other

multilateral institutions. This allows us to tackle international trade and customs barriers,

backed up where needed with EU legislation. Our aim is to meet the challenges posed by

globalisation and to ensure that as many people as possible can seize the opportunities it

offers.

We cover all areas of activity from manufactured goods to services, intellectual property

and investment. We ensure that our businesses can operate fairly in the EU and across the

world and are ready to make full use of our powers to tackle unfair competition and

dumping. We work closely with many other services of the Commission - both those

shaping our external agenda and those making sure our internal market works - in order

to deliver joined up, coherent policies that strengthen Europe's voice in the world and

allow people to learn from our experience of integration.

Our success in Europe is inextricably bound up with the success of our trading partners,

both in the developed and developing world. For this reason, sustainable development

and development policy in general are central to our overall approach. And as the EU's

negotiator in most areas our success is equally dependent on our close working

relationship with the other European Institutions and with the Member States.

See also: http://ec.europa.eu/trade/whatwedo/work/index_en.htm

2. THE PROJECT FOCUS OR CONTEXT OF THE PROJECT

The Export Helpdesk website and database is an important operational tool for the

implementation of bilateral trade agreements and to the EU trade policy in general. It is an

online service that offers companies in trade partner countries practical assistance in

taking better advantage of the existing and future opportunities to access the EU market.

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The Export Helpdesk database, available via internet (http://exporthelp.europa.eu/), has

been set up and progressively developed in order to provide access to information of

interest to trade partner countries' economic operators on how to export to the EU market.

Today the Export Helpdesk provides the following service online in four languages

(English, French, Spanish, Portuguese).

– A website with narrative content about the European Union as an internal market as

well as about its general import conditions for products, the tariffs, the EU preferential

arrangements with their basic descriptions of rules of origin and a communication

section servicing Delegations and other multipliers. The website contains a

o "What's new section" which provides import related news items. (suggested

draft texts for this section are subject to this call for tenders)

o Contact form for direct enquiries (assisting with complex, product-specific

enquiries is subject to this tender)

– A searchable database which gives direct access to the following elements of

information on a single webpage:

o general import requirements for the EU and for each Member State (subject to this call for tenders),

o product specific requirements (subject to this call for tenders),

o Member States taxes and excise duties including their footnotes (subject to

this call for tenders),

o Tax- and excise duty related information for the EU and for each Member

State (subject to this call for tenders),

o the competent authorities in charge of the implementation of general and

product-specific requirements in the EU member states (subject to this call

for tenders),

o ERGA OMNES tariffs and preferential tariffs (NOT subject to this call for

tenders),

o rules of origin under the trade agreements and preferential schemes (NOT

subject to this call for tenders),

o trade statistics for import and export in value and quantity (NOT subject to this

call for tenders).

– The database also includes the product classification tree of the combined

nomenclature (CN) which needs to be updated once a year. (subject to this call for

tenders)

– The database also includes the connection between product classification codes and

EU product specific requirements which needs to be updated each time the

Combined Nomenclature changes and/or the EU product specific requirements are

being amended. (subject to this call for tenders)

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The key features of the Export Helpdesk are the following :

- Access to the information is free of charge,

- The database covers trade in goods (not services),

- The database is based on the research of the product code and provides 'real-life' data

with regard to requirements, (preferential) tariffs, rules of origin, Member State taxes

and trade statistics

- The essential elements of information are provided on a single webpage with direct

links to the EU legislation

- User guides, a glossary, a video tutorial and printable information material are

provided in separate sections

- A news section brings topic related recent information

- Users can send product-specific enquiries via a contact form

Cooperation

DG Trade collaborates with other DGs, notably with DG Economic and Financial Affairs,

Taxation and Customs for the daily import of tariff data into its Export Helpdesk database,

with Eurostat for the import of trade statistics, with DG Agriculture and Rural

Development, Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs, Health and Food

Safety, Environment, Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, International Cooperation and

Development for the exchange of information on applicable legislation or legislation in

preparation.

In addition, the Export Helpdesk has established collaborations with other European

institutions and with international organisations to exchange data, build synergies, and

guide 'clients' to complementary and additional information sources.

The Export Helpdesk uses the services of the Commission's Europe Direct contact centre

to respond to user requests as swiftly as possible. The past years have shown that 90% of

incoming requests (averaging 600 per year) can be treated within 3 working days.

Communication and training activities

In order to ensure the publicity and hence visibility of the Export Helpdesk in its trade

partner countries, DG Trade informs and trains colleagues at EU Delegations and other

multipliers. A set of information material is available for printing and distribution.

DG Trade continuously monitors the numbers of visits to the Export Helpdesk website.

By end of 2014 we counted an average daily number of visits of 2600, with an average

time spent on the site of around 5 minutes. Continuous monitoring of the most visited

sections of the website allows for adaptations and improvements.

Important Note: During the second half of 2015 the Export Helpdesk website will be

revamped. The user interface will be adapted for better usability on mobile devices. The

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content might be restructured to better serve this purpose. The changes concern the

presentation of the information and are not expected to have any impact on the content of

the data subject to the present call for tenders.

3. OBJECTIVES OF THE PROJECT

The objectives of the current project, which is tendered by DG Trade, are:

a) To procure data on the "general requirements" for imports into the EU, as well as on

“EU and Member States’ product-specific import requirements and internal taxes” for

goods exported from EU trade partner countries to the European Union,

b) To procure data in an electronic format compatible with the Export Helpdesk

database (http://exporthelp.europa.eu/) and website. See Annex 1: technical

requirements.

c) To keep the data procured updated over the total duration of the contracts.

d) Suggest draft texts for the "What's New" section of the website, whenever important

details of the EU import requirements change.

e) To assist with the handling of product-specific inquiries.

4. SERVICES TO BE RENDERED

4.1. Data content and format

4.1.1. Content

The following data updates and services will need to be provided for the year 2016 (and for

the years 2017 and 2018 if the contract(s) is (are) renewed):

A. Lot 1: Supply and update data on import requirements

“Overview of import procedures”: EU and Member State level. To be provided

by the tenderer in English, French, Spanish and Portuguese.

"General requirements applicable to all products”. To be provided by the

tenderer in English, French , Spanish and Portuguese.

“Product-specific requirements” at EU and Member State level. To be

provided by the tenderer in English only.

Include translated "titles of requirements" in the dataset of the Export

Helpdesk.

Suggest draft texts for the "What's New" Section of the website for important

changes in the import requirements. To be provided in English, French,

Spanish and Portuguese.

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Provide ad-hoc assistance to DG Trade on general or product-specific import

requirements, eg. on EU or Member State import restrictions or temporary

import bans, upon request.

B. Lot 2: Supply and update data on internal taxes and excise duties

Overview of internal taxation: EU and Member State level. To be provided by

the tenderer in English, Spanish, French and Portuguese.

Internal taxes: VAT, excise and other duties applicable to a number of products

(mineral oil products, tobacco, alcoholic beverages, etc.): Member State level.

To be provided by the tenderer in English, French, Spanish and Portuguese.

Include translated texts of footnotes relating to internal taxes into the dataset of

the Export Helpdesk.

Suggest draft texts for the "What's New" Section of the website for important

changes in the internal taxes and excise duties. To be provided in English,

French, Spanish and Portuguese.

Provide ad-hoc assistance to DG Trade on questions related to legislation on EU

and Member States taxes and excise duties upon request.

4.1.2. Format

The following information is available on the Export Helpdesk website in four languages:

a) Product classification codes and descriptions according to the Combined

Nomenclature

b) Overview of import procedures: EU and Member States

c) General requirements for all products

d) Overview of internal taxation: EU and Member States

e) The titles of all product-specific EU requirements

The following information is available in English only. DG Trade reserves the option to

have this information translated into the other three languages (French, Spanish,

Portuguese)

Explanatory sheets for product-specific requirements

Footnotes for Member States taxes and excise duties

In all cases, data have to contain a reference to the “latest revision date DD/MM/YYYY”

of the data displayed (the latest date until which the contractor has checked the validity of

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the data and made the necessary changes). The date of the “Latest revision date” has to be

included in all html files so as to be visible for the users.

The type of information and the structure of the data for both Lot 1 and Lot 2 are those

available in the Export Helpdesk database. They can be retrieved with any product-specific

search under "My export" and should be used as a model. DG Trade, being the owner of

the data, reserves the right to revise the way the result pages are being displayed on screen.

A. Lot 1: EU and Member States’ import requirements

The deliverables for Lot 1 include all information concerning EU and Member States’

import requirements:

a) Overview of import procedures,

b) General requirements (including models of forms to be used to export goods into

the EU),

c) Specific requirements, explanatory texts and information to link the explanatory

texts to both the eight-digit CN codes and the country of origin of the product

(including possible exceptions), relevant competent authorities in the EU Member

States

d) Suggested draft texts on important changes to the import and marketing

requirements for the "What's new" section of the Export Helpdesk website

e) Assistance with the handling of product-specific requests for information

For the purpose of these terms of reference, "explanatory text" (for the overview of

import procedures, general requirements for all products, overview of internal taxation,

and specific requirements) means the summary of the subject matter. For example the

"explanatory text" for the Specific Requirement "Health control of products of animal

origin for human consumption" will contain an explanation of the conditions to be

fulfilled for such products to be imported into the EU, including references to sources of

information, applicable legislation, etc. and the contact details of the competent

authorities in each Member State.

The explanatory texts’ titles have to be delivered in English, French, Spanish,

Portuguese since these document titles appear in the "list of requirements" of the result

page of a product-specific search on the Export Helpdesk database.

The explanatory texts shall be delivered in English only, in the electronic format

described in the technical requirements described in Annex 1, and to be kept

continuously updated during 2016 and, provided the contract is prolonged, also during

2017 and 2018.

The “Latest revision date” will have to be included in the files for each update delivery.

a) Overview of import procedures

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The overview of import procedures shall contain horizontal information generally

applicable to all goods imported to the EU and its Member States and/or information

which cannot be linked to specific goods or CN codes.

The EU Overview includes basic information, presented in a user-friendly manner,

concerning

the concept of free circulation of goods within the EU single market and the EU

Customs Union;

the principle of mutual recognition;

the harmonisation of legislation and technical requirements;

the logic of the EU´s new and old approach directives;

the conformity assessment methods;

references to CEN and CENELEC standards;

veterinary and phyto-sanitary controls;

all horizontal legislation applicable to all goods imported to the EU market;

specific information regarding EU legislation, which cannot be linked to specific

goods or CN codes; and

any further topics that may constitute key information elements for successful

market penetration for potential third country exporters.

The Member States' overviews shall contain horizontal information generally

applicable to all goods imported into a specific Member State. This includes inter alia

information on accredited certification bodies and the description of points of entry

specialised in the clearance of specific product groups. In addition, it shall contain any

specific information relating to relevant legislation, which cannot be linked to specific

goods or CN codes as contained in the EU Overview where appropriate. The specific

documentation requirements need to be enumerated in this section, but not further

described as they are dealt with in more detail in the following sections.

b) General Requirements applicable to all products

This section refers to documents which are needed for all goods, such as commercial

invoices, customs value declarations, freight insurance, and any other documents that

may be required to access the EU market. Certificates of origin establishing the

qualification of a product for preferential tariff treatment shall not be presented in this

section. It may be necessary, however, to include further topics.

Each general requirement shall mention its purpose, indicate whether it is needed for

customs clearance or for putting the goods on the market, further indicate the

responsible authority with address (postal, website and email), telephone number, the

language in which it has to be filled in, how to obtain it, the entity who may apply for it,

the costs and duration of issuing the document, if possible, and any other information

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considered to be useful for the exporter. Explanation of forms to be used shall be

provided in addition, as appropriate.

c) EU and Member States’ Specific Requirements

This section contains EU and Member States’ Specific Requirements (product-specific

import conditions and documents) necessary for putting the goods on the EU market:

these concern among others, applicable technical requirements, conformity assessment

procedures, veterinary and phyto-sanitary controls, labelling, etc.). It does not matter

whether such requirements have to be met (and the related documents have to be

produced) for customs clearance or for putting the goods on the market.

The specific requirement (SR) must be analysed at EU and Member States level,

summarising in detail:

the scope/content/definition;

the applicable legislation and related regulations (including links to the

regulations);

all import restrictions regarding the origin of a given product;

the English translation/explanation of documents or forms to be used, or if no

special document or form is prescribed, the minimum content required, the

language in which it has to be filled in, how to obtain it, the entity who may apply

for it, the costs and duration of issuing the document as well as any further

information considered to be useful for the exporter;

the competent authority with address (postal, website and email addresses) and

telephone number, and

any other information considered to be useful for users, including upcoming

changes within the scope of the described requirement.

There will be cases where a specific requirement is not applicable to all goods covered

by the eight digit CN code or applies only to a few of them. In that case, a list of

inclusions ("only required for") or exclusions ("not required for") must be provided. In

some cases these remarks on inclusions or exclusions are mentioned on the result page

of the database.

B. Lot 2 : EU and Member States' internal taxation

The deliverables for Lot 2 include all information concerning EU and Member States’

internal taxation:

a) Overview of internal taxation including the contact details of the competent

authority of each Member State and any other information considered useful for

the users.

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b) Specific internal taxes applicable in each of the EU Member State for goods

imported from trade partner countries as identified by their eight-digit CN code.

These data include

i. VAT rates,

ii. excise and other duties applicable to a number of products (as, for

example, excise duties for tobacco, mineral oil products, alcoholic

beverages, etc).

c) Suggested texts on important changes in the area of taxation for the "What's new"

section of the Export Helpdesk website should be submitted in a separate

document.

The information is expected to be delivered in English, French, Spanish and Portuguese,

in the electronic format described in the technical requirements described in Annex 1,

and to be kept continuously updated during 2016, and provided the contract is

prolonged, also for 2017 and 2018.

The “Latest revision date” will have to be included in the files for each update delivery.

a) Overview of internal taxation

This section will contain horizontal information on applicable EU and Member States'

internal taxation, which cannot be linked to specific goods (e.g. definition/scope of the

tax, applicable legislation, taxable amount, taxable products, etc.). It shall describe

general features on the application of the respective tax regimes (e.g. procedure to

obtain a tax refund) and the dutiable basis of the internal tax to allow the calculation of

a “landed cost”.

b) Specific internal taxes

This section contains all internal taxes applicable in the individual Member States. Tax

rate tables shall be submitted for each Member State and indicate the applicable VAT

rate and any other duty rate applicable to each product identified by its eight-digit CN

code.

In a number of Member States, the internal tax rate (VAT, excise and other duties)

might not be linked directly to the eight digit CN code. In this case, the information

shall be delivered in a clear and user-friendly format.

4.2. Technical Requirements

The technical requirements are those described in Annex 1.

Although great care has been given to the definition of the technical requirements, DG

Trade reserves the right to make changes to them during the period of the contract. The

occurrence of such modifications will in no case modify the price.

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4.3. Reporting Requirements

Under the present Terms of Reference, "reporting requirements" are intended as the

regular supply and update of the dataset as per the timetable to be provided by the

contractor. Each update shall be accompanied by an updated list of updates and a report

on the updates delivered. These lists of updates shall mention the due date of the update,

the date it was delivered, when it was approved by DG Trade as well as a list of which

requirements and which taxes have changed in the given period.

4.4. Other conditions

Please note that the European Commission reserves the right to enlarge the present

contract to include Candidate Countries for EU accession when "Candidate Country

status" is granted by the European Council. Any such extension would not involve any

additional payments by the Commission under this contract.

5. TIMING

The contract for each lot will start on the date on which it is signed by the last

contracting party. Execution of the tasks, as defined in the model contract (Annex 4),

shall start from the date the contract is signed by the last contracting party and will be

ended on 31/12/2016. The contract(s) may be renewed up to two times for a period of 12

months with the expressed prior written agreement of both parties.

The contractor(s) will deliver and update the data for the year 2016. In order to guarantee

the continuity of the service and to ensure that the data will be available in the Export

Helpdesk website as from January 2016 the data must be technically adjusted and ready

before 15 January 2016 in order to be validated for the Export Helpdesk database no later

than 31 January 2016.

Updates need to be provided on a regular basis for the total duration of the service

contract. The proposed methodology for checking the validity of the data and making the

necessary updates is a part of the award criteria. The purpose of the update is to ensure

that the data provide an accurate and an up-to-date view of the import requirements as

well as the internal taxes applicable to products accessing the EU market as well as a set

of updated contact details of competent authorities in the EU Member States with

addresses (postal, website and email addresses) and telephone numbers.

The tenderers should take note that in case of late delivery of the data compared to the

working plan set out in their offer, the Commission may impose liquidated damages

according to the provisions of article II.16 of the contract.

6. BUDGET

The budget is divided into two lots, includes all costs and is estimated not to exceed EUR

1,200,000 for Lot 1 and EUR 300,000 for Lot 2 for the whole period of the three years,

2016, 2017 and 2018. For the year 2016 the budget is estimated not to exceed:

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EUR 400,000 for Lot 1

EUR 100,000 for Lot 2

The above amounts are maximum amounts.

The tenderer should however be aware that the contract award criteria are based on the

most economically advantageous tender.

The price offer of the tender must be complete. The tenderer must not include in the

price offer expenses for items that cannot be itemized and specified as requested (see

Annex 3); otherwise, the tender will be rejected.

7. PAYMENT

The payments shall be made in two instalments, on submission to the contracting

authority, by the contractor of duly established invoices.

1) First payment: 30% of the contracted amount upon acceptance by the Commission of

the initial data delivery

2) Final payment: 70% of the contracted amount upon acceptance by the Commission of

the final update and approval of the report giving a summary of the updates delivered

throughout the year.

Payments shall be made in Euro (€).

8. CONTRACTUAL CONDITIONS

In drawing up their bid, the tenderers should bear in mind the provisions of the standard

contract attached to this invitation to tender (see Annex 4). This contract will be

proposed to the successful tenderer. By submitting an offer, the tenderer accepts the

conditions of this contract.

The tenderer must not include in the offer conditions or clauses that are not specified in,

or that modify, these Terms of Reference, on pain of his/her tender being rejected.

Initiation of a tendering procedure imposes no obligation on the Commission to award

the contract. The current tender covers two lots, and the Commission reserves the right to

award a contract for only one of them. The Commission shall not be liable for any

compensation with respect to tenderers whose tenders have not been accepted. Nor shall

it be so liable if it decides not to award the contract.

9. THE TENDER MUST INCLUDE (SEE ANNEX 2 AND ANNEX 3 FOR THE STANDARD FORMS TO

BE USED):

– All the information and documents required by the authorising department for the

appraisal of tenders on the basis of the exclusion, selection and award criteria set out at

points 11, 12 and 13 (please see these points for more details);

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A. Tender submission form and tenderer’s declaration;

B. A duly completed legal entity form 1;

Wherever the tenderer is a consortium of firms or groups of service

providers the legal entity form should be provided for each member or

group.

C. A duly completed banking reference form 2;

Wherever the tenderer is a consortium of firms or groups of service

providers, the banking reference form must be provided for each firm or

group

D. A duly signed and dated solemn declaration certifying that the tenderer

is not in any of the situations which would disqualify him from taking part

in a contract awarded by the European Union (see Annex 2 to the Terms of

Reference). Wherever the tenderer is a consortium of firms or groups of

service providers, the above mentioned information must be provided for

each firm or group.

E. Proof of economic and financial capacity (such as financial statements,

statements of overall turnover, statements from banks or the annual budget

in the case of semi-public or non-profit organisations).

Wherever the tenderer is a consortium of firms or groups of service

providers, the above mentioned information must be provided for each

firm or group.

F. The technical offer, including:

A description of the general approach to the objectives and scope and

understanding of the tasks and services to be rendered.

A description of the proposed planning and organisation of the work,

1 The tenderer is not required to submit a legal entity form if he has already submitted such a legal entity form

in the context of a contract signed with the European Union since 01.01.2004 and if the information recorded

on this form has remained unaltered since the date of such submission.

2 The tenderer is not required to submit a banking reference form if he has already submitted such a banking

reference form in the context of a contract signed with the European Union since 01.01.2004 and if the

information recorded on this form has remained unaltered since the date of such submission.

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including quality control measures.

A description of the contractual arrangements established or in place to

access sources of information, and on the quality of an appropriate

network of information sources in the Member States of the EU.

A description of the methodology of the data collection and how quality

assurance is carried out (including the guarantee of compliance with

the technical requirements), containing the list of steps and/or checks

performed to ensure the data content is correct, complete and in

compliance with the technical infrastructure of the database.

A description of the methodology/approach to update the data, in

particular the proposed frequency of checks and updates (minimum of

four per year) and concrete examples which would trigger

extraordinary updates of a dataset.

Detailed information on the approach to be used to respond to

information requests related to the data supplied, in particular a

detailed description of the handling of such enquiries.

A description of the approach to select topic-related news amongst the

important changes in the areas "requirements" and "internal taxes &

excise duties"

All other relevant information related to the technical offer.

G. Description of the tenderer’s technical capacity to perform the tasks

involved in this contract notice:

The details (CVs) of educational and professional qualifications of the

proposed experts and of the persons providing the service.

For the proposed experts, this should clearly indicate their expertise

and knowledge in the customs tariffs and duties area, as well as the

capacity to perform in English.

A list of the principal related projects that were carried out under the

applicant’s direct responsibility during the past 3 years proving merit

and experience in similar studies.

H. The price offer, using the quotation form in Annex 3 to the Terms of

Reference

It should be a fixed price. Using the quotation forms in Annex 3, the

Contractor shall provide a total cost for the implementation of the

project.

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Tenders can be submitted by groupings of service providers who will not be required to

adopt a particular legal form prior to the contract being awarded, but may be required to

do so after the award. However, a grouping of firms must nominate one party to be

responsible for the receipt and processing of payments for members of the grouping, for

managing the service administration, and for coordination. Each member of the grouping

assumes a joint and several liability towards the Commission.

Wherever the tenderer is a consortium of firms or groups of service providers with a

distinct legal personality, the tender should clarify the legal status of the consortium and

specify the role, qualifications and experience of each member or group. The above

mentioned legal entity form and tenderer’s declaration should be provided for each

member or group.

Candidates or tenderers and, if they are legal entities, persons who have powers of

representation, decision-making or control over them, are informed that, should they be

in one of the situations mentioned in:

­ the Commission Decision of 16.12.2008 on the Early Warning System (EWS) for the

use of authorising officers of the Commission and the executive agencies (OJ, L 344,

20.12.2008, p. 125), or

­ the Commission Regulation of 17.12.2008 on the Central Exclusion Database – CED

(OJ L 344, 20.12.2008, p. 12),

their personal details (name, given name if natural person, address, legal form and name

and given name of the persons with powers of representation, decision-making or

control, if legal person) may be registered in the EWS only or both in the EWS and

CED, and communicated to the persons and entities listed in the above-mentioned

Decision and Regulation, in relation to the award or the execution of a procurement

contract.

Participation in tendering procedures is open on equal terms to all natural and legal

persons from one of the EU Member States and to all natural and legal persons in a third

country which has a special agreement with the European Union in the field of public

procurement on the conditions laid down in that agreement.

Where the Plurilateral Agreement on Government Procurement (GPA) concluded within

the WTO applies, the contracts are also open to nationals of the countries that have

ratified this Agreement, on the conditions it lays down. In that connection, it should be

noted that the services under Annex IIB to Directive 2004/18/EC and the R&D services

listed in category 8 of Annex IIA to that Directive are not caught by the Agreement.

The parties to the GPA can be consulted on the following web page:

http://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/gproc_e/memobs_e.htm#parties.

Operators in third countries which have signed a bilateral or multilateral agreement with

the European Union in the field of public procurement must be allowed to take part in the

tendering procedure on the conditions laid down in this agreement.

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10. QUOTATION OF PRICES

Prices must be quoted in Euro (€) using the conversion rates published in the C series of

the 'Official Journal of the European Union' on the day when this invitation to tender was

published.

Prices must be fixed amounts that are non-revisable.

Prices shall be quoted free of all duties, taxes and other charges, including VAT, as the

European Union is exempt from such charges under Articles 3 and 4 of the Protocol on

the Privileges and Immunities of the European Union annexed to the Treaty of the

European Union and to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. Exemption

is granted to the Commission by the governments of the Member States, either through

refunds upon presentation of documentary evidence or by immediate exemption. The

successful tenderer shall be given the necessary instructions by the Commission.

The tenderers shall quote separately for each item or lot for which they are tendering.

Tenderers may indicate any price reduction they are prepared to grant in the event of

being awarded a contract either for all the items or lots or for a specified group of items

or lots. They may also make their tender conditional on being awarded the entire contract

or a specified part thereof.

11. EXCLUSION CRITERIA:

Tenderers shall be excluded from participation in this procurement procedure if:

a) they are bankrupt or being wound up, are having their affairs administered by the

courts, have entered into an arrangement with creditors, have suspended business

activities, are the subject of proceedings concerning those matters, or are in any

analogous situation arising from a similar procedure provided for in national

legislation or regulations;

b) they have been convicted of an offence concerning their professional conduct by a

judgement which has the force of res judicata;

c) they have been guilty of grave professional misconduct proven by any means

which the contracting authority can justify;

d) they have not fulfilled obligations relating to the payment of social security

contributions or the payment of taxes in accordance with the legal provisions of

the country in which they are established or with those of the country of the

contracting authority or those of the country where the contract is to be

performed;

e) they have been the subject of a judgement which has the force of res judicata for

fraud, corruption, involvement in a criminal organisation or any other illegal

activity detrimental to the Union's financial interests;

f) they have been the subject of an administrative penalty for being guilty of

misrepresentation in supplying the information required by the contracting

authority as a condition of participation in the procurement procedure or failing to

supply an information, or being declared to be in serious breach of his obligation

under contract covered by the budget.

17

Contracts may not be awarded to tenderers who, during the procurement procedure:

(a) are subject to a conflict of interest;

(b) are guilty of misrepresentation in supplying the information required by the

contracting authority as a condition of participation in the contract procedure or

fail to supply this information;

(c) find themselves in one of the situations of exclusion, referred to at the beginning

of point 11 (letters (a) to (f)).

Tenderers must provide a declaration on honour that they are not in one of the above-

mentioned situations.

Only the tenderer to whom the contract is to be awarded shall be required to submit,

before signing the Contract, evidence confirming his declaration on honour, by

providing:

for points (a), (b) or (e): a recent extract from the judicial record or, failing that,

an equivalent document recently issued by a judicial or administrative authority

in the country of origin or provenance showing that those requirements are

satisfied.

for point (d), a recent certificate issued by the competent authority of the State

concerned.

Where no such documents or certificates are issued in the country concerned, they may

be replaced by a sworn or, failing that, a solemn statement made by the interested party

before a judicial or administrative authority, a notary or a qualified professional body in

his country of origin or provenance.

Depending on the national legislation of the country in which the tenderer or candidate is

established, the documents referred to in the above two paragraphs shall relate to legal

persons and/or natural persons including, where considered necessary by the contracting

authority, company directors or any person with powers of representation, decision-

making or control in relation to the candidate or tenderer.

Wherever the tenderer is a consortium of firms or groups of service providers, the above-

mentioned information must be provided for each member or group.

However, the obligation for a candidate or tenderer to submit documentary evidence is

waived if such evidence has already been submitted for another procurement procedure

and provided the documents were issued not more than one year earlier and are still

valid. In such cases, the candidate or tenderer must declare on his honour that the

documentary evidence has already been provided in a previous procurement procedure,

provide reference to that procedure, and confirm that there has been no change in the

situation.

Please refer to the e-Certis website, which provides the possibility of determining the

exact certificates and attestations required: http://ec.europa.eu/markt/ecertis/login.do

18

12. SELECTION CRITERIA – MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS REQUIRED

A. FINANCIAL AND ECONOMIC CAPACITY

o Sufficient economic and financial capacity to guarantee continuous and

satisfactory performance throughout the envisaged lifetime of the

contract.

o Reliability of the mitigating measures presented to cover possible

deficiencies in the evidence presented for the above criteria.

Proof of economic and financial capacity may in particular be furnished by one or

more of the following documents:

a) appropriate statements from banks or where appropriate, evidence of relevant

professional risk indemnity insurance;

b) financial statements for the last 3 years for which accounts have been closed;

c) a statement of overall turnover and turnover concerning the services covered by

the contract during a period of the last three financial years available.

The Commission may waive the obligation of a candidate or tenderer to submit

the documentary evidence above if such evidence has already been submitted to it

for the purposes of another procedure and it is still valid.

If, for some exceptional reasons which the Commission considers justified, the

tenderer or candidate is unable to provide the references requested, he may prove

his economic and financial capacity by any other means which the Commission

considers appropriate.

If the economic and financial selection criteria are fulfilled by relying on a third

party, the Commission may demand, if that tender wins the contract, that this

party signs the contract (becomes a contractor) or, alternatively, provides a joint

and several first-call guarantee. If the third party chooses to sign the contract it

should prove that it is not in an exclusion situation and that it has access to the

market.

B. TECHNICAL AND PROFESSIONAL CAPACITY

For both Lots 1 and 2, the team must include substantial expertise and professional

experience in the following areas:

o Substantial experience and up-to-date expertise in handling data processing

and website applications,

o Thorough knowledge of non-tariff measures harmonised at EU level and the

ability to describe, in a reader-friendly way, EU legislation applying to import

procedures and to specific product groups.

o Capability to produce written material in English to a very high standard.

19

The following information, concerning the service provider's own position and the

information and formalities necessary for an appraisal of the minimum technical

standards required, should be supplied:

1. Details of educational and professional qualifications of the proposed experts

providing the services by including detailed CV´s:

o For Lot 1 : This should clearly indicate their expertise in, and their knowledge

of (1) trade measures affecting imports into the EU and customs procedures at

EU and Member States’ level, (2) the European Union’s coding system for

classifying products (Combined Nomenclature), including practical experience

with the classification of goods.

o For Lot 2 : This should clearly indicate their expertise in, and their knowledge

of (1) VAT and other internal taxes’ related legislation, (2) the European

Union’s coding system for classifying products (Combined Nomenclature),

including practical experience with the classification of goods.

and

2. A list of the principal similar projects that were carried out under the applicant’s direct

responsibility during the past 3 years proving merit and experience in:

o For Lot 1 : (1) trade measures affecting imports into the EU and other related

legislations at EU and Member States’ level, (2) the European Union’s coding

system for classifying products (Combined Nomenclature), including practical

experience with the classification of goods.

o For Lot 2 : (1) VAT and other internal taxes’ related legislation, (2) the European

Union’s coding system for classifying products (Combined Nomenclature),

including practical experience in classification of goods.

3. A description of the technical equipment and tools to be employed by the firm for

performing the requested service;

4. A description of the measures employed to ensure the quality of the services to ensure

that the data delivered are correct.

Where tenderers wish to sub-contract or otherwise rely on the capacities of other entities,

they must in that case prove that they will have at their 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 their disposal.

Where the successful tenderer is an individual, a partnership of individuals, or a sole trader,

it will be expected to demonstrate that continuity of service can be guaranteed. The

Commission will consider, inter alia, the risk to successful project completion that would be

occasioned by the death or resignation of one or more of the individuals involved.

Only those proposals which meet all the Selection Criteria will be carried forward for

assessment under the Award Criteria.

20

13. AWARD CRITERIA FOR THE CHOICE OF THE CONTRACTOR

The contract will be awarded to the “most economically advantageous tender”.

Criteria to be applied are:

price (price of the tender measured as a ratio compared to the lowest tender3),

(40%) and

quality in terms of technical quality of the offer (60%) assessed on the basis of the

following sub-criteria:

No Qualitative award criteria Weighting

(maximum points)

1. A description of the quality of data sources, including

quality, existence and strength of contractual arrangements

used to access sources of information, and on the quality of

an appropriate network of information sources in the

relevant competent authorities in the Member States of the

EU.

20

2. A description of the data collection and the quality

assurance methodology (including the guarantee of

compliance with the technical requirements), containing the

list of steps and/or checks performed to ensure the data

content is correct, complete and technically exact.

30

3. A description of the methodology and approach to update

the data, in particular the proposed frequency of checks and

delivery of updates (minimum of four per year) and a

concrete list of situations triggering a check and necessary

update of the dataset.

30

4. A description of the approach to following up information

requests related to the data supplied to be assessed on the

basis of a detailed procedural description of the handling of

such enquiries.

10

5. A description of the approach to select topic-related news

amongst the important changes in the areas "requirements"

and "internal taxes & excise duties"

10

Total number of points …./100

3 By using the formula: Price of the lowest tender

* fixed percentage = … % for the criterion ‘price’

Price of the tender

21

The evaluation board will compare the offers based on this score, it being clear that the

Commission cannot be required to accept an offer the quality of which does not reach the

minimum standard of 65%.

A minimum threshold of 50% will also be applied per criterion, meaning that the Commission

will only assess further offers that obtain 50 % or more on a single criterion.

The sum of the price and quality criteria will result in a numerical score (e.g. 75%).

Enclosures of the Terms of reference:

Annex 1: Technical requirements

Annex 2: Tender submission form including tenderer’s declaration, statement of exclusivity and

availability, banking references form and legal entities form

Annex 3: Quotation forms for Lot 1 and Lot 2

Annex 4: Model contract, which will be proposed to the selected Contractor.

22

ANNEX 2.

TENDER SUBMISSION FORM

TENDERER'S DECLARATION(S)

STATEMENT OF EXCLUSIVITY AND AVAILABILITY

BANKING REFERENCES FORM

LEGAL ENTITIES FORM

23

(preferably on headed notepaper of the tenderer)

TENDER SUBMISSION FORM

To be completed by the authorised signatory of the tenderer. One signed original and two

copies of this form and each of the documents mentioned in it must be supplied.

Contract to […]

Publication reference: _______________________________________________________

1 SUBMITTED by

Tenderer name

*

* In the case of a consortium, insert the agreed name of the consortium

2 STATEMENT

I, the undersigned, being the authorised signatory of the above tenderer (including all

consortium partners, in the case of a consortium), hereby declare that we have examined and

accept without reserve or restriction the entire contents of the tender dossier for the tender

procedure referred to above.

We offer to provide the services requested in the tender dossier on the basis of the following

documents, which comprise our technical and financial offer, which is submitted in a sealed

envelope:

Tenderer's declaration (see below) and all documents as specified in the tender

specifications (including one from every consortium partner, in the case of a consortium)

Statements of exclusivity and availability signed by each of the key experts

Description of the organisation & methodology

Key experts (comprising a list of the key experts and their CVs)

Unit prices quote, using the model in Annex 2 of the Terms of Reference.

[If applicable: We undertake to guarantee the eligibility of the sub-contractor(s) for the parts

of the services for which we have stated our intention to sub-contract in the Organisation and

Methodology.]

This tender is subject to acceptance within the validity period stipulated in the “Invitation to

tender”.

Signed on behalf of the tenderer.

Name

Signature

Date

24

(preferably on headed notepaper of the tenderer)

TENDERER'S DECLARATION(S)

Declaration of honour on exclusion criteria and absence of conflict of interest

To be completed and signed by the tenderer (including one from each consortium partner, in

the case of a consortium).

Contract(s) to […]

Publication reference:______________________________________________________

(Complete or delete the parts in grey italics in parenthesis)

[Choose options for parts in grey between square brackets]

The undersigned (insert name of the signatory of this form):

in [his][her] own name (for a natural person)

or

representing the following legal person: (only if the economic operator is a legal person)

full official name:

official legal form:

full official address:

VAT registration number:

declares that [the above-mentioned legal person][he][she] is not in one of the

following situations:

a) is bankrupt or being wound up, is having its affairs administered by the courts, has entered

into an arrangement with creditors, has suspended business activities, is the subject of

proceedings concerning those matters, or is in any analogous situation arising from a

similar procedure provided for in national legislation or regulations;

b) has been convicted of an offence concerning professional conduct by a judgment of a

competent authority of a Member State which has the force of res judicata;

c) has been guilty of grave professional misconduct proven by any means which the

contracting authorities can justify including by decisions of the European Investment

Bank and international organisations;

d) is not in compliance with all its obligations relating to the payment of social security

contributions and the payment of taxes in accordance with the legal provisions of the

country in which it is established, with those of the country of the contracting authority

and those of the country where the contract is to be performed;

25

e) has been the subject of a judgement which has the force of res judicata for fraud,

corruption, involvement in a criminal organisation, money laundering or any other illegal

activity, where such activity is detrimental to the Union's financial interests;

f) is a subject of an administrative penalty for being guilty of misrepresentation in supplying

the information required by the contracting authority as a condition of participation in a

procurement procedure or failing to supply this information, or having been declared to be

in serious breach of its obligations under contracts covered by the Union's budget.

(Only for legal persons other than Member States and local authorities, otherwise

delete) declares that the natural persons with power of representation, decision-making

or control4 over the above-mentioned legal entity are not in the situations referred to in

b) and e) above;

declares that [the above-mentioned legal person][he][she]:

g) has no conflict of interest in connection with the contract; a conflict of interest could

arise in particular as a result of economic interests, political or national affinity, family,

emotional life or any other shared interest;

h) will inform the contracting authority, without delay, of any situation considered a

conflict of interest or which could give rise to a conflict of interest;

i) has not granted and will not grant, has not sought and will not seek, has not attempted

and will not attempt to obtain, and has not accepted and will not accept any advantage,

financial or in kind, to or from any party whatsoever, where such advantage constitutes an

illegal practice or involves corruption, either directly or indirectly, inasmuch as it is an

incentive or reward relating to award of the contract;

j) provided accurate, sincere and complete information to the contracting authority

within the context of this procurement procedure ;

acknowledges that [the above-mentioned legal person][he][she] may be subject to

administrative and financial penalties5 if any of the declarations or information

provided prove to be false.

In case of award of contract, the following evidence shall be provided upon request and

within the time limit set by the contracting authority:

For situations described in (a), (b) and (e), production of a recent extract from the judicial

record is required or, failing that, a recent equivalent document issued by a judicial or

administrative authority in the country of origin or provenance showing that those

requirements are satisfied. Where the tenderer is a legal person and the national legislation of

the country in which the tenderer is established does not allow the provision of such

documents for legal persons, the documents should be provided for natural persons, such as

the company directors or any person with powers of representation, decision making or

control in relation to the tenderer.

4 This covers the company directors, members of the management or supervisory bodies, and cases

where one natural person holds a majority of shares.

5 As provided for in Article 109 of the Financial Regulation (EU, Euratom) 966/2012 and Article

145 of the Rules of Application of the Financial Regulation

26

For the situation described in point (d) above, recent certificates or letters issued by the

competent authorities of the State concerned are required. These documents must provide

evidence covering all taxes and social security contributions for which the tenderer is liable,

including for example, VAT, income tax (natural persons only), company tax (legal persons

only) and social security contributions.

For any of the situations (a), (b), (d) or (e), where any document described in two paragraphs

above is not issued in the country concerned, it may be replaced by a sworn or, failing that, a

solemn statement made by the interested party before a judicial or administrative authority, a

notary or a qualified professional body in his country of origin or provenance.

If the tenderer is a legal person, information on the natural persons with power of

representation, decision making or control over the legal person shall be provided only upon

request by the contracting authority.

Full name Date Signature

27

STATEMENT OF EXCLUSIVITY AND AVAILABILITY6

I, the undersigned, hereby declare that I agree to participate exclusively with the tenderer <

tenderer name > in the above-mentioned service tender procedure. I further declare that I am

able and willing to work for the position for which my CV has been included in the event that

this tender is successful.

(the expert should select one of the two options underneath and delete the other one)

[I confirm that I am not engaged in another EU-funded project or contract, in a

position for which my services are required beyond the expected starting date of my

services under this tender.]

[I confirm that I am engaged in the following EU-funded project(s) or contract(s), in a

position for which my services are required beyond the expected starting date of my

services under this tender.

Title + reference of the project(s) + DG concerned (if applicable): …..

Nevertheless, I confirm that this other engagement will not impair my availability to carry

out the tasks for which my CV has been included in this tender.

Furthermore, I declare that there will not, by reason of my involvement in both this

project under tender and the other aforementioned EU project(s), be any double-financing

of time spent or work carried out under any of these projects.

I also confirm that my involvement in other EU-funded projects as well as in the project

currently tendered will present me with no conflict of interest and will not prevent, or tend

to prevent, me from carrying out my tasks under any of the EU-funded contracts with due

impartiality.]

Name

Signature

Date

6

To be completed by all key experts

28

BANKING REFERENCES FORM AND LEGAL ENTITY

FORM

Please complete and sign:

the banking references form, which can be downloaded from this address

http://ec.europa.eu/budget/contracts_grants/info_contracts/financial_id/financial_id_e

n.cfm. Once completed, it must be printed, signed and attached to the tender.

the form providing details on the “legal entity”: select either the public entity form, the

private entity form or the form for individuals. The form can be downloaded from this

address:

http://ec.europa.eu/budget/contracts_grants/info_contracts/legal_entities/legal_entities

_en.cfm. Once completed, it must be printed, signed and attached to the tender.

You are not required to submit a legal entity form or a banking reference form if you have

already submitted these forms in the context of a contract signed with the European Union

since 01.01.2004 and if the information recorded on these forms has remained unaltered since.

In the case of the banking reference form, please submit such a form if you have used more

than one bank account with your previous contracts with the European Union.

29

ANNEX 3. QUOTATION FORM FOR PRICE8

Tenderers are required to quote a rate for the following tasks:

Lot 1: Contract for data supply and regular update the general and specific import

requirements within the "requirements and taxes section" of the Export Helpdesk database of

DG Trade

Amounts

in €

INITIAL DELIVERY

[2016/ 2017/ 2018]

(30% of total amount)

UPDATES

[2016/ 2017/ 2018]

(70% of total amount)

TOTAL

Lot 1

30

ANNEX 3. QUOTATION FORM FOR PRICE7

Tenderers are required to quote a rate for the following tasks:

Lot 2: Contract for data supply and regular update of the EU internal taxes and excise duties

within the "requirements and taxes section" of the Export Helpdesk database of DG Trade.

Amounts

in €

INITIAL DELIVERY

[2016/ 2017/ 2018]

(30% of total amount)

UPDATES

[2016/ 2017/ 2018]

(70% of total amount)

TOTAL

Lot 2

7 Listing of other costs will render the tender inadmissible.

31

ANNEX 4. MODEL CONTRACT