TENDER FILE / TERMS OF REFERENCE

(Competitive bidding procedure / Framework Contract)

Purchase of in-country transportation services 

The Council of Europe is currently implementing several projects, with different end dates (between December 2023 and mid 2024). In that context, it is looking for Provider(s) for the provision of a Framework Contract for in-country transpoetation services to be requested by the Council on an as needed basis.

A.    TENDER 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 €5,000 for intellectual services) and €55,000 tax exclusive.

This specific tender procedure aims at concluding a framework contract for the provision of deliverables described in the Act of Engagement (See attached). A tender is considered valid for 120 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.

The tenderer must be a legal person.

Tenders shall be submitted by email only (with attachments) to the email address indicated in the table below, with the following reference in subject:  Transportation Services Moldova. Tenders addressed to another email addresswill be rejected.

The general information and contact details for this procedure are indicated on this page. You are invited to use the CoE Contact details indicated below for any question you may have. All questions shall be submitted at least 5 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 - Transportation Services

Type of contract ►	Framework contract
Duration ►	Until 31 December 2023
Deadline for submission of tenders/offers ►	20 August 2022
Email for submission of tenders/offers ►	[email protected]
Email for questions ►	[email protected]
Expected starting date of execution ►	01 September 2022

B.    EXPECTED DELIVERABLES

Background of the Project

The Council of Europe Office in Chisinau (Republic of Moldova) organises numerous events and missions annually and currently administers eleven (11) projects, funded by European Union and other CoE member States. Additional regional projects, with activities carried out in the Republic of Moldova, are managed by the HQ in Strasbourg.

The Council of Europe is looking for a maximum of three (3) providers (provided enough tenders meet the criteria indicated below) in order to support the implementation of the project with a particular expertise on in-country transportation services.

This Contract is currently estimated to cover up 25 activities, to be held by December 2023, or December 2024, given the possibility to extend of one year. This estimate is for information only and shall not constitute any sort of contractual commitment on the part of the Council of Europe. The Contract may potentially represent a higher or lower number of activities, depending on the evolving needs of the Organisation.

The total amount of the object of the present tender shall not exceed 55,000 Euros tax exclusive for the whole duration of the Framework Contract. This information does not constitute any sort of contractual commitment or obligation on the part of the Council of Europe.

Scope of the Framework Contract

Throughout the duration of the Framework Contract, pre-selected Providers may be asked to provide the deliverables listed in the Act of Engagement (See Section A – Terms of reference). This list is considered exhaustive.

The Council of Europe is looking for a maximum of three (3) providers (provided enough tenders meet the criteria indicated below). The Provider will not in any manner be entitled to represent the Council of Europe, or to act on its behalf. The Provider will remain the sole and unique liable contractor in its relationship with the Council of Europe, irrespective of its relationship with subcontractors and other interested third parties. The selected Provider shall appoint one (1) or more staff/account manager/contact point to ensure the delivery of the requested services. Also, this/these person(s) (key interlocutor) are to manage the overall framework contract, including responding to order forms (see Article 4.1 of the legal terms and conditions, as reproduced in the Act of Engagement). The key interlocutor(s) on behalf of the Provider must be available for frequent communication concerning any element of the events and at least one staff member of the Provider acting as contact point must be present in Chisinau for the duration of the contract to facilitate communication and organisation. This person must be available on request during business hours and during the event itself, to ensure the smooth running of the activity concerned and deal with any problems that arise.

In terms of the scope of this Framework Contract, it covers all events/activities/missions, which are to be organised on the territory of the Republic of Moldova by the Council of Europe.

In addition to the orders requested on an as needed basis, the Provider shall keep regular communication with the Council to ensure continuing exchange of information relevant to the project implementation. This involves, among others, to inform the Council as soon as it becomes aware, during the execution of the Contract, of any initiatives and/or adopted laws and regulations, policies, strategies or action plans or any other development related to the object of the Contract (see more on general obligations of the Provider in Article 3.1.2 of the Legal Conditions in the Act of Engagement).

Security Requirements

All Providers must ensure the following requirements are met when providing transportation services:

-        All passengers are insured in case of an accident;

-        All drivers shall have a valid driving licence for the respective vehicle class as prescribed by the applicable national legislation;

-        All drivers shall have at least 5 (five) years of professional driving experience. The drivers are selected via a testing process;

-        The vehicles are no more than 7 (seven) years old and must have had annual technical check-ups;

-        All drivers shall be aware of and observe professional ethics in dealing with clients.

In exceptional circumstances, the Council may accept a driver with less professional experience or an older vehicle provided all other requirements are met, and the unavailability of services meeting the standard requirements has been explicitly brought to the attention of the Council of Europe prior to the performance of the services.

The Council of Europe can refuse the services of a particular driver if there is concern that his/her ability to carry out his/her duties safely may have been impaired, affected or influenced by illness, fatigue or injury or any other reason.

Where the Council considers necessary, it may request a higher or lower level of security than listed above. In such cases, the order form for the relevant services will provide details of specific security measures valid only for the event(s) concerned. If no specific measures are provided in the order form concerned, the above list remains valid.

C.    FEES

Tenderers are invited to indicate their fees, by completing and sending the table of fees, as attached in Section A to the Act of Engagement. The prices shall be revised on a semester basis based on Consumer Price Index for the Republic of Moldova(CPI)[2].

The Provider is responsible for sending every 6 months (starting from the date of signature) a revised price list calculated as follows:

  - Previous semester price + average % variation of the CPI Moldova during previous semester.

An Excel table (annex 1) is added to this Tender in order for the Provider to properly follow this index and price variation.

The new prices will be reflected in orders placed by the Council of Europe during the semester following the adjustment. The Provider is responsible for sending the revised price list as soon as possible in order for the Council of Europe to be able to apply those prices in its new orders.

The Council will indicate on each Order Form (see Section D below) the number of units ordered, calculated on the basis of the unit fees, as agreed by this Contract, and based on the revisions on six-month basis.

D.    HOW WILL THIS FRAMEWORK CONTRACT WORK? (Ordering PROCEDURE)

Once the selection procedure is completed, you will be informed accordingly. Deliverables will then be delivered on the basis of Order Forms submitted by the Council to the selected Provider (s), by post or electronically, on an as needed basis (there is therefore no obligation to order on the part of the Council).

Pooling

For each Order, the Council will choose from the pool of pre-selected tenderers the Provider who demonstrably offers best value for money for its requirement when assessed – for the Order concerned – against the criteria of: 

-          quality (including as appropriate: capability, expertise, past performance, availability of resources and proposed methods of undertaking the work);

-          availability (including, without limitation, capacity to meet required deadlines and, where relevant, geographical location); and

-          price.

Each time an Order Form is sent, the selected Provider undertakes to take all the necessary measures to send it signed to the Council within 2 (two) working days after its reception. If a Provider is unable to take an Order or if no reply is given on his behalf within that deadline, the Council may call on another Provider using the same criteria, and so on until a suitable Provider is contracted.]

Providers subject to VAT

The Provider, if subject to VAT, shall also send, together with each signed Form, a quote[3] (Pro Forma invoice) in line with the indications specified on each Order Form, and including:

-     the Service Provider’s name and address;

-     its VAT number;

-     the full list of services;

-     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 .

Signature of orders

An Order Form is considered to be legally binding when the Order, signed by the Provider, is approved by the Council, by displaying a Council’s Purchase Order number on the Order, as well as by signing and stamping the Order concerned. Copy of each approved Order Form shall be sent to the Provider, to the extent possible on the day of its signature.

E.     ASSESSMENT

Exclusion criteria and absence of conflict of interests

(by signing the Act of Engagement, you declare on your honour not being in any of the below situations)^[4]

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 or if their owner(s) or executive officer(s), in the case of legal persons, are included in the lists of persons or entities subject to restrictive measures applied by the European Union (available at www.sanctionsmap.eu).

Eligibility criteria

Tenderers shall demonstrate that they fulfil the following criteria (to be assessed on the basis of all supporting documents listed in Section G):

·         Being registered as a company;

·         License to provide in-country transportation services;

·         Having a Third Party Liability insurance policy;

·         At least 3 (three) years of experience in providing transportation services in the Republic of Moldova;

·         Sufficient human resources to execute the contract, namely at least 2 (two) drivers available;

Award criteria

·         Criterion 1: Quality  (70%), including:

-       Technical and financial capacity to meet the requirements of the tender file;

-       Number and models of cars available.

·         Criterion 2: Financial (30%), including:

-        Financial offer.

Multiple tendering is not authorised.

F.     NEGOTIATIONS

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

G.    DOCUMENTS TO BE PROVIDED

·         A signed and scanned copy of the Act of Engagement;[5] (See attached);

·         A list of all owners and executive officers, for legal persons only;

·         Company registration document and license for the provision of transportation services;

·         Brief description of the company (including number of drivers and respective years of experience) including examples of work with international organizations and/or public institutions and capacity to meet the requirements of the tender;

·         Company’s list of vehicles (model and production year);

·         Copy of the Third Party Liability insurance policy;

All documents shall be submitted in English or Romanian, 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.

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