(a) Before issuing a solicitation for subsistence, the contracting officer must determine whether:
(1) Representatives of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) or the Department of Commerce will inspect for specification compliance before shipment; or
(2) Personnel of the purchasing activity will inspect for specification compliance at the time of delivery.
(b) The contracting officer must indicate the time and place of inspection in the solicitation.
(c) Because the requirement for USDA or Department of Commerce inspections and certifications result in additional contractor costs that may be ultimately reflected in bid prices, the contracting officer, in consultation with the Chief, Nutrition and Food Service, must evaluate the need for such inspections. The evaluation must include the following:
(1) The quality assurance already provided by other mandatory inspection systems.
(2) The proposed suppliers’ own quality control system.
(3) Experience with the proposed suppliers.
(4) The pre-qualifying of the suppliers’ quality assurance systems and subsequently waiving inspections and certifications for future solicitations.
(5) The cost of the inspections.
(d) When the contracting officer indicates that either the USDA or the Department of Commerce will conduct the inspection, the contracting officer must also provide in the solicitation that the contractor is responsible for all of the following:
(1) Arranging and paying for inspection services.
(2) Obtaining from the inspectors a certificate indicating that the product complies with specifications.
(3) Assuring that the certificate, or copy, accompanies the shipment or is furnished to the receiving installation before shipment, or notifying the installation when the certificate is not immediately available.
(4) Seeing that acceptable products are covered by an inspection agency checkloading certificate or stamped by the inspector as prescribed by the contracting officer.
(5) Furnishing samples for inspection at the contractor’s expense.
(6) Indicating the address where inspection will occur.
(e) The contracting officer must furnish a copy of the purchase document to the inspecting activity.
