Inactive

DESCRIPTION With more than 60,000 employees, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is one of the world's largest law enforcement organizations charged with keeping terrorists and their weapons out ... DESCRIPTION With more than 60,000 employees, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is one of the world's largest law enforcement organizations charged with keeping terrorists and their weapons out of the U.S. while facilitating lawful international travel and trade. As the United States’ first unified border entity, CBP takes a comprehensive approach to border management and control, combining customs, immigration, border security, and agricultural protection into one coordinated and supportive activity. As one of four operational CBP offices with direct reporting responsibility to the CBP Commissioner, the Office of Trade (OT) consolidates the trade policy, program development, and compliance measurement functions of CBP into one office. OT provides uniformity and clarity for the development of CBP’s national strategy to facilitate legitimate trade and manages the design and implementation of results-driven strategic initiatives for trade compliance and enforcement. CBP directs national enforcement responses through effective targeting of goods crossing the border as well as strict, swift punitive actions against companies participating in predatory trade practices. Through coordination with international partners and other U.S. government agencies, CBP directs the enforcement of intellectual property rights, the identification of risks to detect and prevent the importation of contaminated agricultural or food products, and the enforcement of free trade agreement eligibility. By promoting trade facilitation through partnership programs, OT streamlines the flow of legitimate trade and fosters corporate self-governance as a means of achieving compliance with trade laws and regulations. As part of its mission to track and target inbound and outbound trade, CBP uses a multitude of identifiers related to crew, conveyance, cargo, country of origin, destination, regulatory and statutory requirements, and many other data essential trade elements. With the increasingly interdependent nature of effective trade facilitation and enforcement, CBP requires the capability to identify entities involved in supply chains for international trade as well as robust entity resolution capabilities vital to combat illegal trade practices. The requirement has gained significant prominence with the passage of recent trade statutes such as the Trade Enforcement and Facilitation Act of 2015 (TFTEA), The Enforce and Protect Act of 2015, and the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) in 2020. Accordingly, CBP began an Evaluative Proof of Concept (EPOC) in 2021, now referred to as the Global Business Identifier (GBI) Test, to explore and test identifier solutions for a variety of supply chain visibility purposes. The GBI Test examines the functionality and effectiveness of identifiers as a tool to improve U.S. government visibility into imports and facilitate supply chain traceability amid a trading system that is increasingly complex, globalized, and comprised of multiple actors. As outlined in the latest GBI Test Federal Register Notice (FRN), published on February 12, 2024, voluntary trade industry participants can transmit supply chain identifiers with their entry filings as a means to provide verifiable, unique, and valuable data on certain supply chain parties (manufacturer, shipper, seller, exporter, distributor, and packager) associated with goods entering the U.S. The attached DRAFT Statement of Work (SOW) describes the requirements for the Contractor who shall provide all support services outlined in the DRAFT SOW. Should the Government prioritize and fund this work in the future, the Government will further define specific tasks and deliverables in a subsequent formal solicitation. THIS IS A REQUEST FOR INFORMATION/SOURCES SOUGHT ANNOUNCEMENT. It is for informational purposes only. A solicitation is NOT being issued. This Request for Information (RFI) from industry will allow the Government to identify interested sources capable of meeting all requirements. The information sought will be used for planning purposes only. THIS IS NOT A REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL (RFP). The Government will not award a contract on the basis of this RFI. The Government will not pay for any information submitted by respondents. All proprietary or sensitive corporate information shall be clearly marked. This RFI in no way obligates or commits the Government to acquire any product or service. There shall be no basis for claims against the Government as a result of information submitted in response to this RFI. BACKGROUND The objective of the GBI Test is to evaluate the value of third-party entity verification data voluntarily provided to CBP when processing the entry of merchandise into the United States. Once transmitted, the third-party data is captured in CBP’s Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) and will be evaluated based on its ability to be utilized by CBP and other Partner Government Agencies (PGAs) to improve segmentation of low-risk and highly compliant imports—potentially resulting in enhanced predictability, reduced costs, and additional benefits for compliant trade actors. GBIs can currently be voluntarily provided for the following parties at entry; manufacturer, shipper, seller, exporter, distributor, and packagers, established in the initial December 2, 2022 FRN. Subsequent FRNs have updated and changed the GBI Test parameters. On July 21, 2023 a FRN was published modifying the original requirement for providing all three GBI numbers for any party, to one or more identifiers. On February 12, 2024, a FRN was published that extended the GBI Test for three (3) years until February 23, 2027 and removed previous restrictions on the countries of origin and product categories. Through the Global Business Identifier (GBI) Test, CBP seeks to examine the functionality and effectiveness of identifiers as a tool to improve U.S. government visibility into imports and facilitate supply chain traceability amid a trading system that is increasingly complex, globalized, and comprised of multiple actors. In an effort to acquire supply chain traceability information, CBP leverages entity identifiers to develop a systematic, accurate, and efficient method for the trade to report, and the U.S. Government to uniquely identify, legal business entities, their different business locations and addresses, and their various functions and supply chain roles. Through a multi-year and OT funded programming effort, CBP currently leverages three existing entity identifiers for the GBI Test: The Data Universal Numbering System (DUNS), the Legal Entity Identifier (LEI), and the Global Location Number (GLN). To actualize the vision of the GBI Test, CBP is interested in entity identifier partners that: Possess system capabilities to regularly and consistently transmit supply chain traceability information at the entry line level such as, Business entities by legal name(s), Entities’ locations and addresses (physical and mailing), and Supply chain role(s), function(s) (e.g. manufactures, shippers, sellers); Provide standardized, easily verifiable data in a universally compatible trade/digital language; Allow importers to manage and update information captured by their identifiers; Allow for transmission via the Automated Broker Interface (ABI) in the Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) at time of Entry (currently entry types 01 and 11 only) Possess existing clientele; Capture and communicate changes pertaining to embedded identifier data, including an accessible change history log (e.g. changes in name, location, role, date of change); Maintain historical information associated with a supply chain parties’ identifier and provide such records to CBP upon request; and Allow CBP to evaluate the merits of traceability solution, optimally, at no cost to the U.S. Government REQUESTED INFORMATION CBP seeks information from vendors that can provide commercially available capabilities and services to satisfy the attached the attached DRAFT SOW requirements. Citing one (1) specific example, please describe your capabilities and experience meeting requirements outlined in the scope and complexity to the requirements of the attached DRAFT SOW. In addition to a description of capabilities and experience, CBP seeks responses to the following questions: What are your current system capabilities to regularly and consistently transmit supply chain traceability information at the entry line level such as, Business entities by legal name(s), Entities’ locations and addresses (physical and mailing), Supply chain role(s), function(s) (e.g. manufactures, shippers, sellers), Provide standardized, easily verifiable data in a universally compatible trade/digital language? What data elements are importers and other supply chain parties allowed to manage and update that is currently captured by your identifier? Do you currently transmit data via the Automated Broker Interface (ABI) into the Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) at time of Entry? Alternatively, provide details of any previous experience linking or sharing your data directly with CBP systems. What is the size of the pool of your existing clientele and identifying IDs? Describe how you capture and communicate changes pertaining to embedded identifier data and describe any accessible change history logs (e.g. changes in name, location, role, date of change). Describe and provide policies regarding maintenance of all historical information associated with a supply chain parties’ identifier, and your ability to provide such records to CBP upon request. Would your firm be willing to participate in a no-cost product demonstration agreement to provide access to your traceability solution to the Office of Trade for a short period of time (approximately 30 days) solely for the purpose of conducting market research to gain information about market capabilities and further define products and services to satisfy future needs? What is your experience level and expertise supporting complex Federal forensic investigations involving trade-based money laundering, illegal narcotics trafficking, and import/export trade-based crimes? RESPONSE FORMAT AND LIMITS Interested parties should submit a written response, no more than eight (8) pages in length using one (1) inch margins with Times New Roman font size 12, that: Demonstrates the respondent’s ability to meet or exceed the attached DRAFT SOW requirements; Addresses each of the questions; Provides the company name, company physical/mailing address, point of contact (POC) name, POC phone number, POC e-mail, business size, Unique Entity Identifier (UEI), and available contracting vehicles; Cost/price estimates; Any other pertinent information such as assumptions made relating to the ability to satisfy specific requirements or questions regarding ambiguous or poorly defined requirements; and All responses shall be submitted electronically (Adobe PDF format). Responding to this RFI is not a pre-requisite to bid on a subsequent RFP. If a RFP is issued, responses may include links to available product demonstration websites or videos. Responses are due no later than 10am ET, Monday, January 13, 2025. Responses shall be submitted via e-mail to the Contracting Officer, jared.a.tritle@cbp.dhs.gov . SUMMARY THIS IS ONLY A REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI). The information derived from this RFI will assist CBP in identifying sources that can satisfy the requirements of the attached DRAFT SOW. The information and specifications provided in the RFI are subject to change and are not binding on the Government. CBP has not made a commitment to procure any of the items presented, and release of this RFI should not be construed as a commitment or authorization to incur cost for which reimbursement would be required or sought. All submissions become Government property and will not be returned.