NOTICE OF INTENT TO SOLE SOURCE: NIST International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (ILAC) Membership

The Department of Commerce; National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), intends to negotiate a firm fixed price purchase order, on a sole source basis, with International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (ILAC) under Other Than Full and Open competition by the authority of FAR subpart 13.1 using the authority in FAR 13.106-1(b) Not Exceeding Simplified Acquisition Threshold.NIST’s National Voluntary Laboratory Accreditation Program (NVLAP) provides third-party accreditation to testing and calibration laboratories in response to legislative actions or requests from government agencies or private-sector organizations in accordance with ISO/IEC 17011 and is involved in the accreditation of conformity assessment bodies including calibration laboratories and testing laboratories (using ISO/IEC 17025).ILAC PO BOX 7507; 2128 SILVERWATER NSW, AUSTRALIA is an international cooperative arrangement among laboratory accreditation bodies. ILAC is not an organization. The annual

membership fee covers for services to the signatories (international members including NVLAP).The ILAC enhances the acceptance of products across national borders. By removing the need for additional calibration, testing, medical testing and/or inspection of imports and exports, technical barriers to trade are reduced. In this way the ILAC promotes international trade and the free-trade goal of “accredited once, accepted everywhere” can be realized. The ILAC Arrangement provides significant technical underpinning to international trade. The key to the Arrangement is the global network of accredited testing and calibration laboratories and inspection bodies that are assessed and recognized as being competent by ILAC Arrangement signatory accreditation bodies.The signatories have, in turn, been peer-reviewed and shown to meet ILAC’s criteria for competence. Now that the ILAC Arrangement is in place, governments can take advantage of this Arrangement to further develop or enhance trade agreements. The ultimate aim is increased use and acceptance by industry as well as government of the results from accredited laboratories and inspection bodies, including results from facilities in other countries. In this way, the free-trade goal of product tested or inspected once and accepted everywhere can be realized.This is a sole source requirement as ILAC is the designated entity administering services to the signatories (international members including NVLAP) and collecting the annual fee. The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code for this acquisition is 813920, and the size standard is $16.5 Million.No solicitation package will be issued. This notice of intent is not a request for competitive quotations; however, interested persons may identify their interest and capability to respond to this requirement. The Government will consider responses received by 4:00 p.m. (EST) on December 8, 2021. Inquiries will only be accepted via email to Harry.Brubaker@NIST.gov. No telephone requests will be honored.A determination by the Government not to compete the proposed acquisition based upon responses to this notice is solely within the discretion of the Government. Information received will normally be considered solely for the purpose of determining whether to conduct a competitive procurement in the future.