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Importantly, to prevent unfair competitive advantages, HHS requires that any unsolicited proposal submitted to that Department contain a warranty by the Proposer that: With its newly delegated authority under the Defense Production Act (see Defense Production Act: Government Contractor Cheat Sheet), the Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) is likely to be on the forefront for awarding competitive and sole source contracts related to COVID-19.
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24, 2017).Ĭompanies with innovative solutions that have not been the subject of procurement contracts or grants can use this vehicle to offer their goods or services to the federal government on this exclusive basis. Recent case law has established that the government has a legal obligation to fairly evaluate unsolicited proposals, so in effect, submission of an unsolicited proposal creates an implied contract with the government that obligates the government to evaluate the firm’s proposal fairly (but not necessarily to award a contract to the firm). An unsolicited proposal can result in a sole source contract if the firm’s proposed solution is unique enough to support a Contracting Officer’s sole source Justification and Approval. One such vehicle is the unsolicited proposal. Although firms that offer coronavirus COVID-19 solutions can use many routes to access the federal marketplace, very few of these routes can lead to a sole source contract.
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