How to Become a Certified USDA Vendor

Andrea Lang and Diana Dau David

New Vendor/Small Business Specialists

Commodity Procurement Program

Good Morning and thank you for joining us today! My name is Diana, and I am one

of the two new vendor and small business specialists for Commodity Procurement

Program within Agricultural Marketing Services at the U.S. Department of

Agriculture or USDA.

Today my counter part, Andrea and I will be presenting on how to become an

approved vendor for the USDA Foods Program.

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What is Commodity Procurement?

Each year, we purchase over $3 billion in American‐grown

food. These purchases support American agriculture and

feed millions of school children, families, and other

qualified individuals through USDA’s nutrition assistance

programs and international food aid programs.

AMS purchases over 300 different products including:

• Beef, pork, turkey, chicken, fish, and eggs

• Fruits, vegetables, beans, and tree nuts

• Dairy, grain, and oilseed products, including peanut

butter

So, let’s first begin with what this Commodity Procurement Program is all about.

USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Services or AMS purchases over $3 billion of Americangrown food in various forms and pack sizes from livestock, poultry, fruits, vegetables,

dairy, grain and oilseed. These purchases not only support American agriculture but

feed millions of school children, families, and other qualified individuals through

USDA’s nutrition assistance and international food aid programs.

All the products we purchase must be 100% domestically produced and processed.

Supporting American agriculture is central to our program mission, so AMS will only

purchase products which can be sourced domestically. We purchase truckload

quantities for delivery to destinations and the commodities we purchase must be

available in sufficient volume to meet the needs of national programs.

Now, let’s go more in depth into learning the process of becoming an approved

vendor.

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Get Started: 7 Steps

1. Review AMS Master Solicitation - contract

clauses, provisions, and requirements

2. Review Product Specifications to determine

what you can supply

3. Get Administrative Paperwork Approved

4. Get Technical Portion Approved

5. Receive Solicitation and “Sharpen Your Pencil”

6. Submit Offer in WBSCM

7. Get Awarded, Perform, Get Paid

The new vendor process can be broken down into 7 steps. We will briefly go over the

AMS Master Solicitation, review Product Specifications, and what happens after you

become an approved vendor. Our focus; however, will be on Step 3 and what AMS

requires of our new and potential vendors and exactly what you need to do to get

your vendor application approved.

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Step 1. Review Master Solicitation

Resource: AMS Master Solicitation

Link: https://www.ams.usda.gov/selling-food/solicitations

The Master Solicitation for Commodity Procurements contains things like:

• Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) Clauses & Provisions

• e.g., (https://sam.gov/content/home), Small Business Subcontracting Plans, Prompt

Payment Act

• Ag. Acquisition Regulations (AGAR) Clauses & Provisions

• e.g., Domestic Origin/Traceability

• AMS Policies

• Plant Surveys; GHP/GAP; Food Defense Plans/Audits

• Grading/Inspection/Certification

• Use of the Web-Based Supply Chain Management (WBSCM) System

• Transportation and Delivery Requirements

• Invoicing, etc.

The “AMS Master Solicitation for Commodity Procurements” is the main body of

every contract awarded by AMS. It details the Federal Acquisition Regulation

commonly referred to as FAR and includes clauses and provisions governing federal

procurements such as financial capabilities, small business subcontracting, pre-bid

certifications, product traceability, and more. This is the contract document, please

know what it says and be aware that by submitting an offer to AMS, you are

confirming that you meet all the requirements laid out in this Master Solicitationread it, understand it, and if you have questions, please contact the Contracting

Officer to receive clarification.

Additionally, you will notice throughout this presentation that we list in red the FAR

clauses that support why we request certain items for your vendor application

package.

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Step 2. Review Product Specifications

Resource: https://www.ams.usda.gov/selling-food/product-specs

Specifications are referred to as “Commodity Specifications” or “Commodity

Requirements Documents” or “Technical Requirement Supplements”

(All are linked to on the above “Product Specs” page)

• USDA Specifications include things like:

• Product Descriptions

• Grades/Standards; Commercial Item Descriptions (CIDS)

• Harvest/pack season – current production

• Formulation/Fabrication requirements (fat, sodium, sugar)

• Packaging/packing/labeling

• USDA inspection, grading, and/or auditing requirements

• Food Safety Requirements for Suppliers; Good Agricultural Practice/Good

Handling Practice Audits

• Review any amendments to the specification

A good way to find out if Commodity Procurement is a good fit for your company is

by thoroughly reviewing the USDA Commodity Specifications. These are located on

our website. It is critical that you understand the technical requirements before you

begin the new vendor process.

USDA takes product integrity very seriously, and we expect that our vendors supply

product that consistently meet the quality and safety expectations of our customers.

The specifications detail technical requirements for the product and production,

including raw materials, formulation, packaging and packing, inspection and

certification requirements, and much more. These detailed specifications ensure

USDA gets the same quality end-product under every contract, regardless of which

supplier is awarded. Sometimes, we make changes to our technical requirements for

our products. These are called amendments, which we link under the specification.

Please take the time to review any associated amendments included with the product

specification.

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New Vendor Qualification Requirements

Checklist

While you may not be able to see it well on the slide, I would be remiss if I didn’t

mention the new “New Vendor Qualifications Requirement” Checklist. This checklist

has been revised to include all of the administrative and technical requirements

needed to become approved. It also includes two addendums: a list of products and

material codes that Commodity Procurement purchases and a Directory for the

various program areas you will need to contact to schedule any audits or inspections

needed to fulfill the technical requirements.

To receive a copy of the checklist, please email the New Vendor email:

NewVendor@usda.gov.

Now that we’ve gone over Steps 1 and 2, I’m going to have my counterpart, Andrea,

we are going to delve more into the administrative process of becoming a vendor.

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Step 3: New Vendor Administrative Application

“Qualifications Requirements for Prospective Contractors”- Responsible Prospective

Contractor’s Documentation (FAR 9.104-1 and FAR 9.104-3)

System for Award Management Registration (https://www.sam.gov/SAM/), in

accordance with FAR Part 4.11

Notarized Letter

SAM HelpDesk: 1-866-606-8220 Option 1

Business Status-www.sba.gov

Help Tab on SAM

Procurement Technical Assistance Centers (PTACs)

WBSCM Vendor Registration Form

Step 3 focuses on the Administrative paperwork, which begins with the System for

Award Management or SAM. SAM is a Federal-government-owned and operated

free website. Every vendor who wants to participate in a federal government

procurement must be registered in SAM. You can also register your company in SAM

as a small business, service-disabled veteran owned small business, HubZone or 8(a).

Please note that if you are interested in receiving Small Disadvantaged Business,

HUBZone, or 8(a) certifications, you will need to refer separately to the Small

Business Administration to complete that process.

While SAM registration is only needed to be done once, you must update or renew

your registration annually. There is no fee to register your company into SAM. This

system is free, so please be aware of similar systems that will charge a hefty fee.

If you run into some trouble registering in SAM, there is a Help Tab on SAM’s main

page, which features FAQs, User Guides, and Helpful Hints. You can also contact the

SAM HelpDesk: 1-866-606-8220. And select option 1.

A great contact to help you register your company in SAM are Procurement Technical

Assistance Centers or PTACs. PTACS provide free counseling and training for vendors

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that want to do business with the government. If we go to the PTAC website, you will

see that PTACs are located all over the country.

One of the great things about PTACs is their free help with SAM registration, they

even have a webpage highlighting their assistance with SAM, general tips, and videos.

Next in your package is the WBSCM vendor registration form, which is needed to

create a user-profile and grant access to the WBSCM system once you are approved

as a Vendor. Please select only one commodity group on the form as there is a new

vendor probationary period where a new vendor is only awarded up to ten truckloads

in their first contract.

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Step 3: New Vendor Administrative Application

“Qualifications Requirements for Prospective Contractors”- Responsible Prospective

Contractor’s Documentation (FAR 9.104-1 and FAR 9.104-3)

Company Letter certifying capability to perform

Three (3) Letters of Reference

 No need to submit financials, as a Contractor Responsibility

Assessment (CRA) Report will be pulled

CRA Report pulled from FedDataCheck

Company must be registered in SAM and have an Unique Entity Identifier

(UEI)

You must also include a company letter certifying the company’s performance, telling

us about your company and what products you are interested in selling to the USDA.

Your letter should include a brief history of the company, mention of satisfactory

record of integrity, business ethics and list the material code, pack size, and your

company’s capacity on the letter. The material and material code can be found on the

Commodity Procurement website on the Purchase Programs: Awards and

Solicitations webpage. The letter must be signed and on company letterhead. A

sample letter can be provided upon request.

We will also need three letters of references from satisfied customers on letterhead,

signed with a phone number and address for verification purposes, and a statement

mentioning how satisfied your client was with the product(s) or service(s) you sold

them. A sample letter can be provided upon request.

For determining contractor responsibility, the Contracting Officer will pull a

Contractor Responsibility Assessment Report or CRA from FedDataCheck. A vendor

must have a Unique Entity Identifier and must be active on SAM to pull the CRA

report, which is why it is ESSENTIAL for your company to be successfully registered

in SAM.

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An important reminder is that we require the legal company name on every piece of

documentation. Your legal company name should match the company name

registered with your state. And you can verify your company name by visiting your

secretary of state’s website.

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Step 3: New Vendor Administrative Application

“Qualifications Requirements for Prospective Contractors”- Responsible Prospective

Contractor’s Documentation (FAR 9.104-1 and FAR 9.104-3)

If you are a non-manufacturer, you will also need to

provide:

Supplier Letter

Complaint and Dispute Resolution Proposal

Before becoming approved, your supplier must meet

our technical requirements.

If you are a non-manufacturer, we will require some additional information from you.

Non-manufacturers that use suppliers or manufacturers must submit a supplier letter.

This is a letter from the manufacturer and supplier stating it is willing to provide

product that meets the commodity specifications. The letter must be on your

supplier’s letterhead and include the material code and description of the product.

The letter should be signed by both you, the non-manufacturer, AND your supplier.

Non-manufacturers will also need to submit a Complaint and Dispute Resolution

Proposal Agreement. This is an agreement between yourself and your supplier that,

should something happen to the product, for example, if we need a replacement or

reimbursement, then the proposal will list out what both parties have agreed to do in

order to resolve the issue.

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Step 3: New Vendor Administrative Application

 Application sent to New Vendor Specialists at NewVendor@usda.gov

 Approving Contracting Officer (CO) will pull a CRA report

 Application then sent to AMS CO for approval

May require additional information such as: FDA Registration, Food

Defense Audit Plan, PDFs of product labels

Once you’ve gone down the list and checked each item off, please send in the

completed administrative paperwork via email at NewVendor@usda.gov. We process

all new vendor applications and work with the approving Contracting Officer in

reviewing the vendor qualifications.

After the administrative paperwork package is submitted to the approving

Contracting Officer, they will pull a CRA report in FedDataCheck to determine

contractor responsibility.

If any documents are missing or incomplete, we will inform you via email or phone.

So please make sure your contact information is current and correct.

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Step 4: Technical Requirements

 Please make sure your company has passed the necessary

inspections, food defense audits, and plant surveys prior to

submitting a bid.

 Contact information for AMS Auditing Services, AMS Inspection

Services, and links to our product specifications, etc. can be found on

our New Vendor Qualification Checklist.

 Remember the vendor must contact the Program Area to schedule

audits and inspections.

Once your administrative paperwork has been submitted, you will receive an email

from the Senior Contracting Officer. The email will detail that your paperwork is being

reviewed, and you will now need to complete the technical requirements for your

commodity.

Please note, it is the vendor’s responsibility to contact the respective program area to

schedule any audits or inspections, and all requirements must be met PRIOR to the

bid opening date.

AMS Auditing and Inspection point of contacts are listed in the New Vendor Checklist.

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Next Steps

 Your WBSCM Vendor Registration form will be

uploaded

 Receive an email from the WBSCM Support Branch

 Fill out excel user registration

 Please review the “WBSCM CVA-Roles and

Responsibilities” document

 Links to WBSCM training on how to submit a bid

 WBSCM HelpDesk:

WBSCMAMSHelpDesk@usda.gov

 Sign up for GovDelivery in order to receive

notifications on upcoming solicitations, etc.

Once you have completed the administrative AND the technical requirements, you

will receive an additional email from our Senior Contracting Officer stating that you

are now an approved vendor.

Next, we will have the WBSCM team upload your form into the system. Once that

occurs you will receive another email, this time from the WBSCM HelpDesk, asking

for additional information to be filled out and submitted.

PLEASE READ THIS EMAIL! It is your lifeline into our system and if the information

requested by our WBSCM team is not submitted in a timely manner, it may hold up

the process for you to submit bids.

If you have any WBSCM questions or need assistance, feel free to contact the

WBSCM HelpDesk: WBSCMAMSHelpDesk@usda.gov.

In the handy email the WBSCM team sends you there is a description on how to sign

up for “GovDelivery.” Gov Delivery is our emailing list, and by subscribing to our email

updates, you will receive information on solicitations, any specification changes we’ve

made, and so on. It is the best way to stay up to date on our contracts.

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If you have more technical questions or questions on the contract itself, please refer

to the appropriate contracting specialist, which can be found on the bid invitation.

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Points of Contact

NewVendor@usda.gov

Diana Dau David Andrea Lang

New Vendor Specialist New Vendor Specialist

Domestic Purchases: Fruit, Domestic Purchases: Dairy,

Vegetables, and Tree Nuts Grain, Oilseeds, Livestock, and

Poultry International Purchases: Bulk

Commodities International Purchases:

Packaged Commodities

If you have any questions on the information presented today, please feel free to

contact myself or my counterpart at the New Vendor email, which is:

NewVendor@usda.gov

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Questions?

And now we are going to open the floor for frequently asked questions regarding this

presentation and how to become a new vendor.

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