TENDER FILE / TERMS OF REFERENCE

(Competitive bidding procedure/ One-off contract)

Purchase of catering and venue services

Contract N° BH8808/2024/N09

The Council of Europe is currently implementing the project “Supporting the implementation of the Istanbul Convention in the Republic of Moldova”. In that context, it is looking for a Provider for the provision of [deliverables] (see Section A of the Act of Engagement).

A.    TENDER PROCEDURE RULES

This tender procedure is a competitive bidding procedure. In accordance with Rule 1395 of the Secretary General of the Council of Europe on the procurement procedures of the Council of Europe[1], the Organisation shall invite to tender at least three potential providers for any purchase between €2,000 (or €6,000 for intellectual services) and € 55,000 tax exclusive.

This specific tender procedure aims at concluding a one-off contract for the provision of deliverables described in the Act of Engagement (See attached). A tender is considered valid for 180 calendar days as from the closing date for submission. The selection of tenderers will be made in the light of the criteria indicated below. All tenderers will be informed in writing of the outcome of the procedure.

Tenders shall be submitted by email only (with attachments) to the email address indicated in the table below, with the following reference in subject: Tender - Venue and Catering Services Offer – 27 November 2024. Tenders addressed to another email address will be rejected.

The general information and contact details for this procedure are indicated on this page. You are invited to use the Council of Europe Contact details indicated below for any question you may have. All questions shall be submitted at least 5 (five) working days before the deadline for submission of the tenders and shall be exclusively addressed to the email address indicated below with the following reference in subject: Questions - Venue and Catering Services Offer.

Type of contract ►	One-off contract
Duration ►	Until complete execution of the obligations of the parties (see Article 2 of the Legal conditions as reproduced in the Act of Engagement)
Deadline for submission of tenders/offers ►	24 September 2024 23h59 CET
Email for submission of tenders/offers ►	[email protected]
Email for questions ►	[email protected]
Expected starting date of execution ►	27 November 2024

B.    EXPECTED DELIVERABLES

The expected deliverables are described in Section A of the Act of Engagement (see attached).

C.    FEES

All tenderers are invited to fill in the table of fees as reproduced in Section A of the Act of Engagement.

Tenderers subject to VAT shall also send a quote (Pro Forma invoice) on their letterhead including:

-     the Service Provider’s name and address;

-     its VAT number;

-     the full list of services to be provided;

-     the fee per type of deliverables (in the currency indicated on the Act of Engagement, tax exclusive);

-     the total amount per type of deliverables (in the currency indicated on the Act of Engagement, tax exclusive);

-     the total amount (in the currency indicated on the Act of Engagement), tax exclusive, the applicable VAT rate, the amount of VAT and the amount VAT inclusive.

D.    ASSESSMENT

Exclusion criteria and absence of conflict of interests

(by signing the Act of Engagement,^[2] you declare on your honour not being in any of the below situations)

Tenderers shall be excluded from participating in the tender procedure if they:

• have been sentenced by final judgment on one or more of the following charges: participation in a criminal organisation, corruption, fraud, money laundering, terrorist financing, terrorist offences or offences linked to terrorist activities, child labour or trafficking in human beings;
• are in a situation of bankruptcy, liquidation, termination of activity, insolvency or arrangement with creditors or any like situation arising from a procedure of the same kind, or are subject to a procedure of the same kind;
• have received a judgment with res judicata force, finding an offence that affects their professional integrity or serious professional misconduct;
• do not comply with their obligations as regards payment of social security contributions, taxes and dues, according to the statutory provisions of their country of incorporation, establishment or residence;

·         are an entity created to circumvent tax, social or other legal obligations (empty shell company), have ever created or are in the process of creation of such an entity;

·         have been involved in mismanagement of the Council of Europe funds or public funds;

·         are or appear to be in a situation of conflict of interest;

·         are retired Council of Europe staff members or are staff members having benefitted from an early departure scheme;

·         are currently employed by the Council of Europe or were employed by the Council of Europe on the date of the launch of the procurement procedure;

Eligibility criteria

• Being registered as a company for at least 2 years (company’s registration certificate).
• At least 2 years of experience in providing venue and catering/restaurant services for business/high-level specific events of varying formats.

Award criteria

·         Quality of the offer (70%), including:

- Technical capacity to guarantee that the requirements of the Council will be met as described in Section A of the Act of Engagement.

- Provider’s characteristics (location, quality of facilities (the proposed hall for the event/workshop, restaurant hall, adequate to the number of expected participants) and quality of services

• Financial offer (30%).

Multiple tendering is not authorised.

E.     NEGOTIATIONS

The Council reserves the right to hold negotiations with the bidders in accordance with Article 20 of Rule 1395.

F.     DOCUMENTS TO BE PROVIDED

Tenderers are invited to submit:

• A completed and signed copy of the Act of Engagement3 (see attached)

• For tenderers subject to VAT only: a quote, describing their financial offer, in line with the requirements of section C of the Tender File (see above);

• A document certifying the registration of the company.

• A document describing the tenderer’s capacity to meet the requirements of the tender, including technical capacity (photos of the premises, of the hall for the workshop for up to 55 people), number of staff proposed for the events, working experience with businesses, international and national organisations, and number of events organised over the last 2 years.

• Proposed menus for the lunch, dinner buffet;

• A description of the cancellation policy which the service provider intends to apply to each deliverable.

All documents shall be submitted in English, failure to do so will result in the exclusion of the tender.

If any of the documents listed above are missing, the Council of Europe reserves the right to reject the tender.

The Council reserves the right to reject a tender if the scanned documents are of such a quality that the documents cannot be read once printed.

* * *