Renewal of Annual License Fee for the CERS J6530 software

United States Department of Agriculture

Limited Source/Brand Name Justification

FAR 13.106-1(b)(1) – Simplified Acquisitions

Identification of the agency and the contracting activity.

Agency Name

USDA, AMS, COTTON & TOBACCO PROGRAM

3275 APPLING ROAD, ROOM NO. 8 (IT Division)

MEMPHIS, TN 38133

Contracting Activity

USDA/APHIS/MRPBS/AAMD

250 Marquette Plaza Ste 410

Minneapolis, Minn 55401

Description of supply or service required to meet the agency’s needs.

Firm Fixed Priced Purchase Order for Renewal of Annual License Fee for the CERS J6530 software which includes maintenance, technical support, and product updates. All cost to include but not limit to: overhead, general and administrative, profit, insurance, and any transportation.

Renewal Period is one year: 1/1/2024 - 12/31/2024

The rationale or circumstances for limiting competition.

In accordance with FAR 13.106-1(b)(1)(i) and FAR 13.106-3(b)(3)(i). the Contracting Officer may solicit from one source only if the Contracting Officer determines that the circumstances of the contract action deem only one source reasonably available (e.g., urgency, exclusive licensing agreements, brand name, etc.).

Customers of the Cotton and Tobacco Programs National Database use the J6530 program for web access to their cotton classification data. The J6530 application that their customers use was custom written by ComForte. No other vendor would be able to support it because it is a proprietary piece of software. According to Government Point of Contact for ComForte Inc - Jeff Skinner; “Comforte owns the intellectual property of this product” (per email dated 11/27/23).