Support for domestic certification bodies for accreditation scheme on ISO/IEC 17065.
Call for Proposals
Project Unit: RisiAlbania – Partner for Growth
Sector: Agribusiness
Location: All locations in Albania
Deadline: 11th March 2022, 14:00
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- Background
RisiAlbania Project is supported by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), in partnership with the Ministry of Finance and Economy, and implemented by a consortium consisting of HELVETAS Swiss Intercooperation and Partners Albania. The overall goal of the project is to contribute to an increase in employment opportunities for young women and men (age 15-29) in Albania. This goal will be achieved through:
- enhanced growth and job creation by the private sector in three selected subsectors: agribusiness, tourism, and ICT (labour demand),
- improved access to job opportunities and labour market information and services (intermediation), and
- improved skills of young people by improving the offer of private training providers in the three selected sectors (labour supply).
Under its agribusiness portfolio, Risi’s interventions aim to create jobs and increase investments in the fruits and vegetable sector, and in the medicinal and aromatic plants (MAPs) sector. Both sectors have a potential for increasing exports to high value markets. Research supported by RisiAlbania identified that there is no accredited domestic certification body in Albania for GlobalG.A.P standard. In many cases Albanian exporters faced delays and high costs especially during the Covid 19 due to high dependence on foreign certification bodies.
- Objective of the call for proposals
The objective of this call is to support domestic certification bodies that aim to be accredited on ISO/IEC 17065 for the conformity assessment of agricultural product for GlobalG.A.P. The accreditation of domestic certification bodies in GlobalGAP standard will help to scale up the adoption of the GlobalG.A.P standards by Albanian exporters and farmers. Accredited domestic accreditation bodies will offer exporters services on time and with affordable prices.
Eligible applicants include:
Private certification bodies for standards registered in Albania who have experience with standards and preferably with previous experience in the agribusiness sector.
- Consortium or joint ventures between Albanian / foreign certification bodies with the condition that the certification body that will get the accreditation scheme on ISO/IEC 17065 should be registered in Albania.
- Content of the proposals
Applicants should submit the proposals using the attached template. Applicants should include a concise list of services and activities they will provide to businesses in the field of GlobalG.A.P certification, submit a detailed plan with the options of accreditation in GlobalGAP including individual and group certification and timelines.
Your proposal must provide the following information:
- An overview of potential beneficiaries of the services you plan to pilot and if possible, a draft market segmentation.
- Your strategy to reach exporters, farmers, consultants specifying your long-term plans to expand geographically and in the number of customers beyond the support from RisiAlbania.
- A business model outlining the commercial viability and sustainability of the services you will provide, and the affordability of the costs for exporters/farmers, since to ensure long term viability applicants are encouraged to charge clients for the services. Your business model will be presented in the financial plan and you will need to cover at least 50% of the cost for activities.
Financial support and matching funds: applicants should ensure matching funds contribution of at least 50% of the total project costs. We do NOT support operational costs (e.g, rent, salaries, utilities, etc).
Priority will be given to the applicants with a higher share of investment.
- Submission of the proposals
We expect proposals to be submitted in English vie e-mail by 11th March 2022, at 14:00. Proposals handed after this deadline will not be accepted.
The email must be addressed to [email protected] with the subject line “Support for domestic certification bodies”. Proposals should be sent as .pdf documents and should be signed in all pages.
- Documents to be included in the offer submission.
- Business proposal (Word format) in English, no longer than 5 pages, (available at risialbania.al)
- Financial proposal (Excel format) (available at risialbania.al) linked to the business proposal clearly presenting the costs that will be covered by your company, and those that you expect Risi to cover, as well as revenue sources from the companies that will buy the services. The financial proposal will specify for how long Risi support will be required.
- CVs of the proposed team, maximum 3 pages each.
Please use the templates provided by RisiAlbania for a) and b).
- Selection process
The selection of the winning company / companies will be done based on the evaluation criteria below:
| Evaluation criteria | Rating |
| Viability of the proposals (including financial sustainability and affordability of service for clients) | 30 |
| Quality of business proposal
|
20 |
| Experience working with agribusinesses | 15 |
| Gender and Social Inclusion considerations | 10 |
| Value for money**, including a financial plan and the amount of cost sharing with RisiAlbania requested in the proposal | 25 |
| Total Points | 100 |
Shortlisted companies may be invited for an interview where certain aspects of the proposals may be discussed prior to confirming a final selection.
** If the company is subject to taxation, the company alone is responsible for paying taxes/custom duties and other expenses including VAT. For services provided by third parties who are subject to VAT the company shall make a pre-tax deduction.
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