RETORT POUCHES - PRE-QUALIFICATION

Public Works and Government Services Canada (PWGSC) is
implementing a pre-qualification
process in order to establish a list of Pre Qualified Retort
Contractors for its annual procurement to supply Entrées,
Fruits and Desserts in accordance with Department of National
Defence (DND) D-85-001-069/SF-002 dated 92-06-26, Specification
for Meat, Poultry, Fruit and Baked Dessert Products in Retort
Pouches.

Items are required for the production of an operational meal
pack for Canadian Forces Personnel serving overseas as well as
in Canada. There are typically 6 breakfast items, 6 lunch
items, 6 supper items, 8 fruit items and 4 dessert items.

In order to pre qualify in participating in the Combat Ration
Program, contractors will be required to demonstrate that their
products conform to the three year shelf life requested in
specification D-85-001-069/SF-002 dated 1992-6-26, Specification
for Meat, Poultry, Fruit and Baked Dessert Products in Retort
Pouches. The products will then have to successfully undergo
the accelerated shelf life testing performed by/for DND prior to
their acceptance.

The heat seal and the ultrasonic seal are both acceptable.

Closure seal of the thermoprocessed pouch: The closure seal
width must be a minimum of 3mm for conventional heat seals or a
minimum of 1mm for ultrasonic seals. The closure seal must be
free of impression or design on the seal surface that would
conceal or impair visual detection of seal defects. The closure
seal must be free of wrinkles, occluded matter, or evidence of
entrapped moisture or grease that reduces the closure seal width
to less than 1.5mm at any location along its continuous path for
conventional heat seals or reduces the closure seal width to
less than 1.0 mm for ultrasonic seals.

Once the products have successfully completed the accelerated
shelf life testing, the products will be presented during field
trials for soldier tasting sessions for organoleptic evaluation
to establish product acceptability by the users. Also, until a
contractor reaches a satisfactory level of confidence with its
production, any new products will have to undergo accelerated
shelf life testing before being included in the soldier tasting
session. Satisfactory level of confidence with the production
means that a contractor has developed a minimum of 10 accepted
products and has demonstrated during the product development
process that it can rapidly develop a new formula. The
contractor will also have to demonstrate to DND that it has or
will have the capability to produce effectively a minimum of one
million pouches of entrées and fruit pouches totaling two
million pouches within a six (6) to eight (8) month period.

The registration of a contractor on the list of Pre Qualified
Retort Contractors will enable it to tender for future retort
contracts.

Trade Agreement Exemptions - This requirement falls under
Federal Supply Classification (FSC) Code 89 and is exempt from
the provisions of WTO-AGP and NAFTA (as per General exceptions
WTO-AGP Agreement and Annex 1001.lb-1, Section B of NAFTA
respectively) but is subject to AIT. However, this procurement
is subject to the National Security Exception and is excluded
from the trade agreements in accordance with Article 1804 of the
Agreement on Internal Trade (AIT) in support of Canada's
military operations.

All requests for information concerning the pre-qualification
process must be addressed to:

Alain Papineau
Public Works and Government Services Canada
Commercial and Consumer Products Directorate
Place du Portage, Phase III, 6B3
11 Laurier Street
Gatineau, Québec
K1A 0S5
Tel: (number on the official notice)
Fax: (number on the official notice)
E-mail: alain.papineau @tpsgc-pwgsc.gc.ca

Requests for information may be submitted in either official
language of Canada.

Delivery Date: Above-mentioned

The Crown retains the right to negotiate with suppliers on any
procurement.

Documents may be submitted in either official language of Canada.