(a) General. All USAID/Washington proposed contract actions in excess of the simplified acquisition threshold shall be screened by SDB, with the exception of:
(1) Class set-asides and those unilaterally set-aside by contracting officers (719.271-3(f));
(2) Those where the contracting officer certifies in writing that the public exigency will not permit the delay incident to screening (719.271-7(b));
(3) “Institution building” contracts (contracts for development of a counterpart capability in the host country) with educational or nonprofit institutions; or collaborative assistance contracts pursuant to AIDAR 715.370-2.
(4) Those involving the payment of tuition and fees for participant training at academic institutions; and
(5) Personal services contract requirements (see 719.270).
(b) Preparation of Form USAID 1410-14 (the Small Business/Minority Business Enterprise Procurement Review Form).
(1) The contracting officer shall prepare the subject form in an original and 3 copies and forward the original and 2 copies to SDB within one working day of receipt by the contracting activity of a procurement requisition.
(2) The contracting officer will attach to his/her transmittal a complete copy of the procurement request and a copy of the recommended source list as furnished by the technical office and supplemented by him/her.
(3) The contracting officer shall complete blocks 2, 3, 4, 5, 9, and 10 (when appropriate) prior to submittal to SDB.
(c) Screening of Form USAID 1410-14 by SDB.
(1) SDB will screen the contracting officer’s recommendations on set-aside potential, small business subcontracting opportunities, and section 8(a) subcontracting, and furnish him/her with either a written concurrence in his/her recommendations or written counter-recommendations on the original and duplicate copy within five working days from receipt of the form from the contracting officer.
(2) SDB will complete Blocks 1, 6, 7, 8, 11, and 12 (when appropriate) prior to returning the screened form to the contracting officer.
(d) Concurrence or rejection procedure.
(1) The contracting officer shall complete Block 13 upon receipt of the original and duplicate copy of the screened form from SDB.
(2) If the contracting officer rejects the SDB counter-recommendation, he/she shall return the original and duplicate forms with his/her written reasons for rejection to SDB within two working days.
(3) Upon receipt of the contracting officer’s rejection, SDB may: (i) accept, or (ii) appeal, the rejection. In the case of acceptance of the contracting officer’s rejection, SDB shall annotate Block 14 when it renders a decision and return the original form to the contracting officer within two working days.
(e) Appeal procedure.
(1) When informal efforts fail to resolve the set-aside disagreement between the contracting officer and SDB, the latter official may appeal the contracting officer’s decision to the head of the contracting activity. Such an appeal will be made within five working days after receipt of the contracting officer’s rejection.
(2) In the case of an appeal, SDB will send the original and duplicate form, with the appeal noted in Block 14, directly to the head of the contracting activity with its written reasons for appealing. The contracting officer will be notified of SDB’s appeal by means of a copy of the written reasons for appealing.
(3) The head of the contracting activity shall render a decision on the appeal (complete Block 15) within three working days after receipt of same and return the original to SDB and the duplicate to the contracting officer.
