Expression of Interest (EOI) - Provision of Multimodal Freight Forwarding Services at the United Nations Secretariat

The United Nations Secretariat is one of the six major organs of the United Nations, with the others being the General Assembly, the Security Council, the Economic and Social Council, the defunct Trusteeship Council, and the International Court of Justice. The secretariat is the UN's executive arm.

Applications are invited for:

Title: Expression of Interest (EOI) - Provision of Multimodal Freight Forwarding Services for Movement of Contingent Owned Equipment in Support of UN Operations Worldwide

EOI Number: EOIUNPD19647

Description of Requirements
TThis Request for Expression of Interest (EOI) is issued for the provision of Multimodal (Sea/Surface) Freight Forwarding Services procured through the United Nations Procurement Division (UNPD) for the movement of the Contingent Owned Equipment (COE) in support of UN operations worldwide.

Responding companies will be evaluated against the established pre-qualification criteria for transporters of COE. Succesful vendors will be added to UNPD's roster of COE freight forwarders and invited to participate in solicitations for COE cargo movement.

Mandatory Criteria
In order to be added to the UNPD'Sroster of COE freight forwarders, vendors must respond to this EOI with documentary evidence showing that they meet the below mandatory criteria:

• Demonstrated experience in transporting COE or other cargo of a military nature i.e. arms, ammunition, armored personnel vehicles, teargas, explosives (Class 1 Dangerous cargo [DG]), etc.;
• Demonstrated experience in liaising with national governments, including Departments of Defense Ministries of Internal Affairs, Ministries of Finance, etc.;
• Detailed knowledge of documentation requirements, legislation, local customs and rules for the transportation of goods of a military nature in different countries where UN cargo transits through and is delivered to/from;
• Demonstrated experience in expediting cargo through ports to avoid delays, port storage and demurrage charges;
• Demonstrated successful experience in the last five years in transporting cargo for the United Nations Family of Organizations. If vendors did not work previously with United Nations Family of Organizations, demonstrated succesful experience in the last five years transporting cargo for other multinational organizations and Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) in the regions around and within DR Congo, Central African Republic, Mali, South Sudan, Sudan, Cameroon, Kenya, Namibia, South Africa, Uganda, Rwanda, Zambia, Malawi, Senegal, Ivory Coast, Tanzania, Mozambique, Ghana, Nigeria, Somalia and Lebanon;
• Experience and detailed knowledge of local rules, customs and requirements of the local transport associations in countries UN cargo transit through e.g. BARC in Central African Republic, BGFT in Cameroon, etc.;
• Knowledge of the best routes for shipping military hardware from Nepal, India, Bangladeshi, Pakistan, Senegal, Sri Lanka, Ghana, Nigeria, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Egypt, Morocco, Norway, Sweden, Senegal, Ethiopia, Zambia, Malawi, and South Africa, among other troop contributing countries to the UN;
• Experience in Ship Charter and detailed knowledge of different types of vessels suitable for shipping different configurations of UN cargo (vehicles and earth moving equipment, break bulk and containers) and understanding concept of Direct Shipment and LIFO;
• Experience in operating in hostile environments and areas in which the UN operates;
• Worldwide network of offices and agents, especially in regions where UN peacekeeping operations are located;
• Ability to send representatives to the UN Peacekeeping Mission areas to resolve problems with performance, sub-contractors, documentation, accidents, etc.;
• Use of reputable and experienced local sub-contractors for the inland leg for countries mentioned in mandatory criterion 5, above;
• Unconditional acceptance of United Nations General Terms of Conditions of Contract (UNGCC);
• Unconditional Acceptance of UN payment terms i.e. 30 days payment. Vendors must confirm ability to pay for costs while cargo is in transit i.e. port and storage fees, Terminal Handling Fees, customs clearance, demurrage, truck detention etc., without demanding immediate reimbursement or reliance on UN progress payments;
• Unconditional acceptance of UN liquidated damages clause;
• Ability to provide Performance Bonds when requested (10% of contract value). Please note that contract values range between $200,000 to $5,000,000;
• Qualification for UNGM Registration Level 1 with possibility for upgrade to Level 2. For details on UNGM registration, please see: help.ungm.org;
• Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) Capability for Supply Chain Event Management;
• Agreement to use the UN SAP Transport Management Carrier Collaboration Portal (CCP).

Important
The UNPD is in the process of creating a new list of COE transporters. We require that all interested vendors respond to this EOI by 31 December 2022, including those companies that are on the said list.

Therefore:

• If your company is already on the list of UN freight forwarders for COE freight requirements, please respond to this EOI.
• Companies that are not receiving COE tenders but are interested in COE freight requirements, please respond to this EOI.
• Companies that have responded to UNPD's previous EOIs for COE freight requirements, please respond to this EOI.
• Before responding to this EOI, your company MUST have an accepted status with the United Nations Global Marketplace (www.ungm.org) with "UN Secretariat" at the Level 1, or above.
• All freight service providers responding to this EOI MUST ensure that they have selected the following UNSPSC Code under their UNGM account: 78101700 (Marine Cargo Services), 78101800 (Road Cargo Transport), 78141500 (Freight Forwarding).
• Interested companies should complete the attached form and send the requested supporting documentation by 31 December 2022 to forwarding@un.org. However, early submissions are very encouraged as successful vendors will be invited to participate in solicitations for COE cargo movement as soon as they demonstrate compliance with the above 19 mandatory criteria
• Should you have any questions on the above please address them to ortegaa@un.org

Application Closing Date
31st December, 2022.

Submission of Documents
Interested vendors/organizations should Click Here to express interest to this EOI electronically.

Click Here (PDF) for more clarifications on the EOI.