Background
The Australian chicken meat industry is facing an unprecedented period of biosecurity threat. Understanding the industry’s level of preparedness to manage disease incursions is vital.
At a national level, the industry is involved in benchmarking to identify and address gaps in the biosecurity landscape. A critical deficiency from this exercise is the lack of independent on-farm data to verify the industry’s risk and implementation of biosecurity.
This Request for Quote is seeking a provider to engage with existing industry service suppliers to provide visibility on the degree of on-farm implementation of biosecurity practices from broiler rearing to primary processing, including people, transport and equipment along the supply chain.
The provider will use the National Farm Biosecurity Manual for Chicken Growers, amongst other available sources documenting biosecurity standards relevant to industry best practice, including feed delivery, catching and live bird transport, to prepare materials for use by industry service suppliers. The industry service suppliers will gather and return data to the provider to identify areas of production where on-farm implementation of biosecurity practices presents a higher risk of initial introduction of biosecurity threats or to horizontal spread between farms.
Key activities undertaken by the successful provider will include:
- Engagement with industry to ensure awareness and access to relevant documents to inform project activities
- Engagement with industry to ensure project activities and outputs over the course of the project align with intended objectives and outcomes
- Development of a structured approach (such as checklists using the National Farm Biosecurity Manual and National Biosecurity Manual for Feed Mills as a minimum basis) assessing the effectiveness of on-farm implementation of biosecurity best practice standards to be used by industry service suppliers
- Consideration of any gaps in the developed structed approach
- Analysis of data returned from the on-farm verification
- Development of outputs identifying areas of production where on-farm implementation of biosecurity practices presents a higher risk of initial introduction of biosecurity threats or to horizontal spread between farms
- Recommendations to address any risks identified
- Any other relevant deliverables to support communication and extension of project outcomes
The indicative timeframe of completion of the project from commencement is 24 months.
Applications close at 1pm AEDT on Monday, 17 February 2025
Timeline
Activity |
Date |
RFQ – applications open |
Friday, 20 December 2024 |
End of period for questions or requests for information |
Monday, 10 February 2025 |
RFQ – applications close |
Monday, 17 February 2025 |
Intended completion date of evaluation of respondents responses |
Monday, 3 March 2025 |
Negotiations with respondents (if applicable) |
Friday, 7 March 2025 |
Expected execution of contract or issue of agreement |
Friday, 28 March 2025 |
Evaluation criteria
A respondent’s response will be evaluated against:
- The evaluation criteria identified in the table below; and
- The overall proposition presented in the respondent’s response.
Mandatory Requirements |
Weighting |
Adherence to the RFQ: Meets indicative timeframe, included all required information and all relevant sections of the application complete |
20% |
Demonstrated technical capability and relevant experience |
30% |
Value for money |
20% |
Project plan |
30% |
Desirable Requirements |
Complies |
Provide examples of your Organisation’s ability to provide a similar service. |
Yes/No |
Other Evaluation Criteria |
|
(a) Professional Expression of Interest Proposal |
|
(b) Organisation’s capability and resources |
|
(c) History of providing similar service |
|
Submitting an application
Applications for this Request for Quote must be submitted online using the application in K2.
Respondent’s will be expected to provide:
- A detailed project plan describing how the proposal will meet the requirements of the RFQ – including;
- The process/methodology to describe how the project will be conducted
- A project timeline
- Indicative consultation with key industry stakeholders and a project steering committee
- Clear articulation of the final output(s) and their dissemination to industry, this may include tools, communication materials and summaries of report findings
- Delivery of any draft outputs from the project to allow modification and refinement based on stakeholder feedback
- A detailed budget – attachments may be included.
- Examples of similar work the respondent has completed.
- Capability and relevant experience.
The resultant contract is expected to commence on 28 March 2025.
It is expected that a contract will be awarded based on how well a respondent addresses the objectives of the open tender. Selection will be based on the evaluation criteria. A detailed response will be beneficial. There is the opportunity to include additional attachments if necessary with your application in K2.
Applications for this Request for Quote must be submitted online using the application in K2.
Users must create a K2 account before submitting a proposal. To set up a secure account before submitting a proposal, please visit the login page below to access our new user or new company request forms.
Usernames and passwords will only be issued while the applicable round is open.
Terms of Reference
AgriFutures Australia uses standard form contracts and agreements for projects and research procured by AgriFutures Australia (please refer to https://agrifutures.com.au/contracts-and-agreements/). These contracts and agreements set out the terms on which AgriFutures Australia will engage successful applicants to carry out the project.
Applicants must be familiar with the contracts and agreements before submitting a response, and are advised to seek legal advice beforehand.
These contracts and agreements have been developed to reflect AgriFutures Australia’s statutory and other procurement responsibilities.
If you require any amendments to the standard agreement please complete the statement of non-compliance for each of the relevant clause. AgriFutures will then assess those requests.
Applicants will be taken to have agreed to all clauses in the Research Agreement that are not referred to in a statement of non-compliance. The extent of any non-compliance will be a factor in AgriFutures Australia’s evaluation of the application.
If you require further information regarding these contracts and agreements please contact:
Contact
Should you have any questions about the Open Call, please direct all enquires to Sarika Pandya, Manager Chicken Meat Program prior to Monday, 10 February 2025 (for questions relating to making a submission in K2, please email ).
The Manager will take questions via email. Individual responses to questions relating to the Open Call will not be provided by the Manager. A response, along with the question, will be posted in the Frequently Asked Questions section, below, within 24 hours of receival.
Please contact:
Sarika Pandya
Manager, Chicken Meat Program
Email:
Phone: 0419 787 219