Requests for Clarification and Responses by the Special Bidding Committee

On 1 September 2025, BLS International submitted requests for clarification regarding the interpretation of the Notice of Bidding and its Annexes. These requests were submitted in a timely manner.

The Committee first recalls that the Notice of Bidding and its annexes were amended and republished on the official website of the Embassy of Brazil on 2 September 2025, and that the date of the public envelope opening session was rescheduled accordingly. The Committee proceeds to address BLS International’s queries in turn:

Query 1: “Clause 3.12. of Notice of Bid – RFP responses may be submitted by e-mail. Is there any sort of restriction on the Commission’s email server to accept emails with substantially sized documents as attachments? If yes, can you please specific the file size (in MB) permitted / allowed per email, to be received at your end?”

Response: The e-mail address indicated in items 3.1, 3.12 and 14.13 of the Notice of Bidding (admin.beijing@itamaraty.gov.br) is hosted on Microsft 365/ Microsoft Outlook, which imposes a maximum attachment size limit of 20 MB per message. If the total size of the annexes exceeds 20 MB, bidders may submit the documents in more than one email, provided that all are sent in the required format and within the deadline specified in item 3 of the Notice of Bidding, particularly item 3.12.1.

Query 2: “Clause 3.12. of Notice of Bid - RFP responses may be submitted by e-mail by 6PM local time on 9th Sept.  The Commission will confirm receipt of the documents in writing. Post receiving the email with the proposal from Bidders, within how much time will the Commission confirm the receipt? Kindly request to mention the ETA for receipt confirmation.”

Response: The Committee will issue written confirmation of receipt for documents submitted under item 3.12 of the Notice of Bidding. Confirmation receipts will be sent by email no later than 23:59 China Standard Time on 16 September 2025.

Query 3: “Clause 6.6 – Notice of Bid and Clause 3.6.1 – Annex I - Bidders shall include in the Financial Proposal documents a Quality Assurance Plan (QAP) as part of their proposal, and bidder must provide a Plan for Commencement of Activities together with their financial proposal respectively. Our understanding is in the Financial proposal, we will append the QAP and Plan of Commencement, in the sections below the Pricing section. Is that a correct understanding? Or does the Financial proposal needs to be a single document ONLY containing the pricing? And the QAP and Plan of Commencement can be included in a 3rd response document, along with 1) Qualification Documents 2) Financial Proposal?”

Response: In accordance with items 3.2, 3.3, and 6.1 of the Notice of Bidding, bidders must submit Financial Proposal documents “in a single document, which must contain all the information required in the format established in Annex VI of this Notice”. As stated in items 6.6 and 6.7 of the Notice of Bidding, the Quality Assurance Plan (QAP) and the Plan of Commencement of Activities (PCA) must be included within the Financial Proposal Documents (item 3.3(I) of the Notice of Bidding) and must not be submitted as separate envelopes or standalone documents. The Committee confirms that the QAP and the PCA may be appended after the pricing section, as integral parts of the single Financial Proposal document.

Query 4: “Clause 4.3. Subcontracting – Annex I – Clause 4.3.1. Partial subcontracting of the object will be permitted, under the following conditions. And Clause 4.3.1.1. Complete subcontracting of the object of this tender is prohibited; - While we understand core objects of the tender are prohibited for subcontracting, requesting the Commission to clarify if the Partial subcontracting includes vendors who provides services like 1) Courier Services, 2) Internet Service Providers, 3) IT Supplier etc? If that is the case, we need to submit the operating licenses of any such vendor whom the Contracted party is using. Please confirm if our understanding above is correct?”

Response: Subcontracting is permitted only under the conditions outlined in item 4.3 of Annex I and Clause 12 of Annex VII to the Notice of Bidding. Specifically, item 4.3.1.2 prohibits subcontracting of “any of the two main components of the object of this contract.” Subcontracting of ancillary services that do not violate this restriction - such as courier services - is allowed. Contrarily, subcontracting the “development and operation of a specific technological solution for handling electronic visa requests” is not permitted.

The Committee also recalls that, under item 7.1.1 of the Notice of Bidding, and other applicable provisions, “bidders must submit documentation proving compliance with all legal requirements to work with activities related to this bidding process, including copies of the operating license, the list of partner companies and subcontractors, if any, and copies of the operating licenses of the partner companies and subcontractors. The bidders shall be responsible for the authenticity and legality of the submitted documents.”