Biosecurity Contingency Plans

Reference number: PROC-9177152

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Release date:: Tuesday 19 November 2024
Closing time:: Thursday 19 December 2024, at 05:00 PM ACT local time
Enquiry deadline:: Thursday 12 December 2024, at 05:00 PM ACT local time

Summary

Contingency Plans (CPs) are of importance for biosecurity risk mitigation to maintain Australia's high plant health status, which is crucial for continued trade and market access. These plans play a role in preparing for incursion response activities to Emergency Plant Pest (EPP) detections and the management of exotic plant pests and disease arrivals in Australia. They act as a reference document that can be either pest specific, or at a higher order, and contain technical and operational information that supports efficient decision-making early in an emergency response.

A recent gap analysis document commissioned by GRDC reiterates the critical role of CPs in biosecurity preparedness and the need for ongoing investment in creation and updates of these documents. Consequently, 26 CPs are required to be developed and/or updated so that all current grains high priority plant pests are addressed.

Offer period

Offers will remain open for acceptance by the GRDC for a period of 6 months after the Closing Time.

Document contact and enquiries

Attention: Wendy Bosci
Grains Research and Development Corporation
Email: brtenders@grdc.com.au

Make all requests for further information or clarification in relation to this procurement in writing (email) prior to 12 December 2024.

GRDC will publish all requests and responses to requests on the GRDC website under Questions and Answers at the bottom of this webpage.

Consortia response

GRDC will not accept Tenders from Consortia.

Lodgement of Tender

Submit your Tender response electronically through the Grains Investment Portal.

AusTender

https://www.tenders.gov.au/Advert/Show/546cefd0-668a-45fa-8a99-d0149e180d56

Description

Incursions of new/exotic grains pests can have a significant and rapid impact on grain grower profitability as evidenced by the recent emergence of Fall Armyworm in the Northern and Western cropping regions. Timely decision making and responses are key to addressing new pest incursions so that they can be found and eradicated before they can establish in Australia.

A Contingency Plan is a reference document that can be pests specific or at a higher order and contains technical and operational information that supports efficient decision-making early in an emergency response to an exotic incursion of that pest. It also contributes to the development of a Response Plan under the Emergency Plant Pest Response Deed (EPPRD) if this is required.

It is an important resource for industry Representative Organisations (ROs) biosecurity leads to have in contributing to the consultative process when the response activities are being considered and negotiated with government. 29 exotic pests and diseases have been identified as being of a high threat level to the Australian grains industry. If any were to arrive and establish, they would have a significant impact on production yield, additional costs for management and implications on international and domestic trade and market access.

Contingency Plans for three of the aforementioned 29 exotic pests and disease are already in place and this co-investment would update or develop plans for the remaining 26 species specific or higher order target groups. These plans will include decision support considerations or factors to support feasibility of containment and / or eradication decisions and will conform to the nationally consistent standard structure.

Additionally, while they will still be focused on risk assessments for exotic pests, they will also allow for greater focus on continuity planning for the arrival of the subject pests if they are deemed likely to be unable to be eradicated. A gap analysis that provides guidance to update or develop the 26 targets identified can be made available to applicants upon request under confidentiality.

Outcome

Outputs

Proposed Budget

Proposed Contract & Term

GRDC will contract under the terms of the Services Contract.

The schedule(s) attached to the contract will detail the project details: the outcomes, outputs, milestones, budget, participating personnel and required intellectual property.

The template contract containing the proposed Terms and Conditions is available on the Application resources page on the GRDC website.

It is anticipated that any resultant contract in relation to this procurement will commence with a proposed term of 30 months.

Conditions for Participation

The following are mandatory conditions with which a Tenderer must comply to participate in this procurement process:

The Tenderer must be a single legal entity or recognised firm of partners
The Tenderer and any proposed subcontractor must be compliant with the Workplace Gender Equality Act 2012, the Modern Slavery Act 2018 and any other applicable labour laws and standards in the jurisdiction in which they operate.
The Tenderer and any subcontractor must not have a judicial decision against it (not including decisions under appeal) relating to employee entitlements and who have not paid the claim.
The Tenderer and any subcontractor must not be named on the Consolidated List, being the list of persons and entities who are subject to targeted financial sanctions or travel bans under Australian sanction laws, as maintained by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

Minimum Form and Content Requirements

The following are the mandatory content and format requirements that the Tenderer must complete and provide to participate in this procurement process:

Submit Tenders using the Grains Investment Portal.
Write Tenders in English and express any measurements in Australian legal units of measurement.
Budget details must be submitted on the ‘GRDC Budget Template’ provided in the Grains Investment Portal.

Evaluation Criteria

In the table below are the Evaluation Criteria that the Tender Evaluation Team will use to assess the value for money of all Tenders.

No	Type	Weighting
1	Technical – Qualitative evaluation criteria related to non-price factors such as methodology, project plan, track record, experience.
1a	A detailed plan to deliver the investment outcome and outputs, specifying the: specific information, products and/or services to be delivered key tasks/milestones, responsible parties and indicative timeframes project team structure and management arrangements, including collaborations with organisations, commercial companies and/or other projects with relevant data.	40%
1b	A list of all key personnel, including proposed sub-contractors, detailing relevant: knowledge experience, including collaborating with industry personnel and stakeholders achievements of the project lead in providing effective leadership, management and timely delivery of high quality outputs.	40%
1c	Evidence of the ability and experience to deliver similar investment outcomes and outputs, including details of previous relevant project/s where the organisation has: met contractual obligations managed sub-contractors collaborated with relevant organisations and industry (national and/or international) to build on the work already undertaken in this area.	20%
2	Price - The tendered budget.	N/A
3	Risk - Risks inherent in the application including the degree of compliance with the draft contract and any actual or perceived conflict of interest.	N/A

Lodging a Tender

Questions and Answers

Q1. We would be interested in undertaking contingency plans for pests/pathogens on the HPPP list, how many of the 26 would fall under this?

A1. All HPPP are covered under the 26 CPs or under recently updated CPs. Some will be directly covered by a species-specific CP (either developed or revised) while others will be covered under the consolidated or generic CPs (e.g. Exotic sap-sucking insects).

Q2. Are you able to inform of the 26 exotic pests/pathogens that you would be targeting.

A2. There are 16 consolidated or generic CPs that have been identified for development, consolidation or revision and there are 10 species specific CPs for development or revision. Although a couple of the latter cover a small number of species, not one. These are all detailed in the Gap Analysis (Elliot report) on pages 6-7, and in the associated Pest Assessment List spreadsheet which are available from GRDC upon request following the signing of a Confidentially agreement (see response to question below).

Q3. I am aware that Plant Health Australia have a catalogue for a range of contingency plans that relate to exotic grains pests/pathogen, would these be part of the updates?

A3. Yes, some CPs were developed earlier and are in need of revision and updating rather than completely new development. These are identified in the Gap Analysis. All will need to follow the new national standards structure.

Q4. Along with this, where would the final contingency plans be stored, and would they be public or private? As mentioned, there are a number on Plant Health Australia, however there is also the Biosecurity Portal held by the Commonwealth, where contingency plans are also kept, which is not accessible to the public.

A4. They would be stored on the Contingency Planning Portal, which is restricted in its access and not open to the public.

Q5. Are you able to provide a copy of the Elliot report (if not already public), which details the minimum standard requirements for contingency plans and how they may now differ from already published ones?

A5. The Elliot Report (Gap Analysis and associated Pest Assessment List) is a confidential document and as such a GRDC Confidentially agreement is to be signed prior to the report being provided to you, for the sole purpose of informing the tender submission determination. The Confidentiality Agreement can be requested via brtenders@grdc.com.au

Q6. With reference to the spreadsheet (Pest Assessment List), there appears to be a few horticultural pests unrelated to the grains industry. Why are they included given that the funding comes from grain growers?

A6. Some of the pests listed, are there because grains are an affected industry or there are linkages with grain HPPs that would make them fit well with one of the consolidated or generic CPs that are listed.

Q7. Can a tender be submitted for completion of some but not all of the 29 CP’s eg. insects or viruses or fungi only?

A7. GRDC is expecting applications to address all 26 CPs.

Q8. Will the successful applicants of Proc-9177152 Biosecurity Contingency Plans, have access to the Elliot report for the duration of the project?

A8. As per the terms and conditions of the confidentiality agreement, all copies of the report and associated excel spreadsheet are to be destroyed on submission of your application.

The successful applicant, however, will enter into a GRDC contract that will cover the access and use of the confidential information for the term of the project.