Request for Quotation (RFQ) for the Procurement and Delivery of Agriculture Equipment and Seeds.

RFQ No: 2009411

Issue date: April 9, 2026

Issuing organization: Catholic Relief Services in Liberia.

Closing date: April 24, 2026, at 4.00 pm

Evaluation Method: Quality-Based Cost Selection. Supplier with the highest combined score for a given lot wins the lot.

Submission method: Sealed envelope

Type of agreement: Contract

Section I: Request for Quotation

1. Introduction

CRS is kindly inviting competitive tenders from specialized qualified supplier for purchasing and distribution of Agriculture seeds / input for 10 schools, nine

communities demo plot, individual gardeners in Margibi and Montserrado counties.

Post-qualification Actions

• Verification of accuracy, correctness, and authenticity of the information provided by the bidder on the administrative, technical, and financial documents submitted.
• Inquiry and reference checking with the entity that may have done business with the bidder.
• Inquiry and reference checking with other previous clients on the quality of performance of ongoing or previous contracts completed.
• Physical inspection of the bidder’s branches or other places where business transpires, with or without notice to the bidder.

2. Instructions to Bidders

Bidders are required to submit their proposals in two separate sealed envelopes (Seeds) (technical and financial proposals) enclosed with an outer sealed envelope with the reference number addressed to:

Catholic Relief Services, Liberia Program

16^th Street Gardner Avenue

Seaside, C-140 Building,

Sinkor Monrovia, Liberia

Subject: RFQ No: 2009411

Note:

Bids must be received no later than April 24, 2026, at 4.00 pm

Failure to comply with these instructions may result in disqualification.

Expected delivery time: 15 days after signing of Purchase Order

Softcopy of this RFQ and softcopy of the ledger, additional information or request for clarification can be requested at liberiarfq@crs.org.

3. Administrative Criteria (Pass/Fail)

• Submit bids no later than April 24, 2026, at 4.00 pm
• Submit a valid business registration
• Submit a valid tax clearance
• Complete pricing for ALL items — no missing line items

4. Minimum Technical Requirements (Pass/Fail)

• Submit a signed quotation submission form (Annex I)
• Submit a signed experience form (Annex II)
• Sample Required: Yes, for all 14 items.
• Labeling: Must have: Variety, Lot number, Germination %, Expiry date
• Germination rate per seed: At least 10 out of 14 seed samples provided MUST the minimum germination rate which is 80%.

CRS tests all 14 seed samples. Each seed sample is marked: Pass = germination ≥80%; Fail = germination <80%

CRS counts how many samples passed. If 10 or more samples pass → bid passes this requirement. If 9 or fewer samples pass → bid is technically non‑compliant

CRS will conduct a germination test for all seeds sample received over a period of 10 days using the paper towel petri dish (simple testing method). Photo evidence of the result will be provided.

Section II: Technical Specifications

The inputs, quantities, and specifications will be verified by CRS. Bidder to fill this out and provide Declaration or Warehouse photos or Stock list) as proof.

Table 1: Bidder Declaration

5. Specific Requirement for Delivery

Contractual Obligation and Future Disqualification

• The selected vendor will be contractually obligated to deliver the full quantity of Goods as per the accepted sample by the delivery date 15 days after signing the Contract.
• Failure to meet this obligation without written notice may result in penalties and contract termination.

Section III: Proposals Content

Bidder MUST 3 envelopes as described below:

6. Technical proposal envelope

• Valid Business registration
• Valid Tax Clearance
• Bid Submission Form (Annex I)
• Submit a signed experience form (Annex II)
• Table 1: Bidder Declaration

7. Seed envelope

• Seeds Samples (14 in total all clearly labelled with the seed types/variety and specifications). Bidders are required to submit simple seeds in an envelope labeled with each category of seeds. The seeds will be used for germination testing.

8. Financial Proposal envelopes

• Bill of Quantities (Annex III): Price Quote which complies with the specifications provided. Failure to quote for all items may result in the rejection of the bid. However, CRS reserves the right to accept a bid that is missing minor items, provided that the missing value does not exceed 10% of the total bid price, by applying the highest quoted price from other bidders for that item for evaluation purposes. CRS will consider a bid non-responsive if the missing items exceed 10% of the total number of items or 10% of the total estimated value of the lot.

Section IV: Terms and Conditions

• Delivery Location for Equipment and seeds: Catholic Relief Services – 16th street Sinkor and Gardiner Avenue, Seaside, C-140 Building
• Latest Delivery Date: 15 days after signing the Contract.
• Payment terms: N30.
• Currency: USD.

Section V: Proposals Submission

9. Submission instructions

Bids are to be delivered to CRS office before 4:00 PM no later than April 24 2026.

Envelopes Labeling:

• Technical Proposal: Clearly labeled as “Envelope 1: Technical Proposal -Tender for purchasing Agriculture Seeds.
• Technical Proposal: Clearly labeled as “Envelope 2: Seed Sample for all 14 seed varieties -Tender for purchasing Agriculture Seeds.
• Financial Proposal: Clearly labeled as “Envelope 3: Financial Proposal – Tender for purchasing Agriculture seeds.

Both envelopes should be enclosed in an outer sealed envelope labeled:

RFQ Number: 2009411

RFQ Name: Purchasing of Agriculture Seeds

Bidder’s Name and Contact Information

10. Important Notes

• Late submissions will not be considered.
• Incomplete or improperly labeled submissions may result in disqualification.
• Bidders may be required to provide additional information or participate in a clarification meeting.
• CRS reserves the right to accept or reject any quotation and annul the bidding process and reject all quotations at any time prior to the award of the contract, without thereby incurring any liability to the affected bidder or bidders.

Section VI: Selection Process

CRS will review received proposals within the deadline through a three-step process:

• Determination of eligibility and minimum technical requirements.
• Technical review of eligible proposals.
• Scoring and ranking of the eligible proposals based on the assessment criteria outlined in the Evaluation Methodology section to identify the highest-ranking proposal.

Section VII: Evaluation Methodology

The methodology of evaluation will be based on “Quality and Cost-Based Selection (QCBS)” as follow:

• Technical quality and cost are both considered.
• Weighting is applied to quality and cost scores to determine the overall score.
• The proposal with the highest combined score is selected.

QCBS was applied due to the quality‑critical nature of agricultural seeds, particularly germination performance.

Section VIII: Evaluation Criteria

Only submissions that meet the eligibility criteria (administrative evaluation and minimum technical specifications) will be considered for technical and financial evaluation.

11. Technical Evaluation – Weight: Tech Weight is 60% (Evaluation will be based on the submitted sample

Technical Pass mark is 60 points

12. Financial Evaluation – Weight: Fin Weight is 40%

Arithmetical errors will be rectified on the following basis:

• If there is a discrepancy between the unit price and the total price that is obtained by multiplying the unit price and quantity, the unit price shall prevail and the total price shall be corrected.
• If the Supplier/Vendor does not accept the correction of errors, its quote will be rejected.
• If there is a discrepancy between words and figures, the amount in words will prevail.

Offers that are found technically compliant shall be evaluated based on the lowest offer.

Financial scores are assigned to each proposal based on the cost evaluation, using the following formula: the lowest cost proposal receives the highest score PointLowestFin, and other proposals are scored relative to the lowest cost. The supplier with the lowest total price will receive a score of 100

Illustration: X and Y represent the lower offer and the offer for which the score needs to be calculated, respectively: Score = (X/Y)* 100 (PointLowestFin)

13. Combining Score Calculation

The total score for each bidder will be the sum of the weighted technical score and weighted price.

• Technical score and financial score are combined using the predetermined weights.
• Combined Score = (Technical Score x TechWeight) + (Financial Score x FinWeight).

Section IX: Award Criteria

The contract will be awarded to the bidder with the highest combined score, calculated based on the weighted technical score and the financial score. The evaluation committee will consider both technical and financial criteria to determine the bidder that offers the best overall value for money, ensuring the required technical specifications are met while achieving cost-effectiveness.

Section X: Rejection of Award

CRS may reject any quote that is not substantively responsive to the terms and conditions of the RFQ.

CRS is not bound to accept the lowest or any quote and reserves the right to accept any quote in whole or in part and to reject any or all quotes without assigning any reason therefore and to Contract on any of the terms offered or on different terms.

CRS will send a Notice of Award to the winning bidder. The winning bidder agrees to acknowledge the purchase order or contract by email upon award within one (1) business day under the terms and conditions stated herein.

Section XI: Cost of Providing Quotes

Bidders shall bear all costs associated with the preparation and submission of the quote, and CRS will not be liable for those costs, regardless of the conduct or outcome of the solicitation.

Section XII: Clarification and Amendments of Request for Quotation

To assist in the examination, evaluation and comparison of Quotes, CRS may, at its discretion, ask the Supplier/Vendor for clarification of its Quote. The request for clarification and the response shall be in writing and no change in price or substance of the Quote shall be sought, offered, or permitted.

CRS may, for any reason, whether at its own initiative or in response to a clarification requested by a prospective supplier/vendor, amend the Request for Quotation. To afford prospective suppliers/vendors reasonable time to consider the amendments in preparing their offers, CRS may extend the deadline for the submission of quotes. Any amendments will be published in the same manner as the present tender.

Section XIII: Important Additional Information

General terms and conditions of CRS applicable to goods and services can be downloaded at the following address: http://CRS.org/vendor-terms/vendor-terms.pdf or obtained upon request from the CRS’ office and are applicable within the national legal context.

Vendors must not be associated or have been associated in the past directly or indirectly with a firm or any of its affiliates which have been engaged by CRS to provide services for the preparation of the design, specifications, and other documents to be used for the procurement of the goods under this request for quotation.

Bidders, Suppliers and Service Providers, while conducting their activities, are expected to comply with the following policies and regulations:

• CRS Terms and Conditions: http://CRS.org/vendor-terms/vendor-terms.pdf.
• CRS Suppliers and Service Provider Code of Conduct: https://www.CRS.org/sites/default/files/supplier_code_of_conduct.pdf.
• Global Fund Code of conduct for supplier: https://www.theglobalfund.org/media/3275/corporate_codeofconductforsuppliers_policy_en.pdf.

Annex I. Quotation Submission Form RFQ No. 2009411

The following document is part of this request for quotation and must be completed and returned with your offer.

Quotations must be completed according to the instructions in this request. Quotations must be completed in English, signed, and returned to CRS before the specified deadline. CRS’s terms and conditions applicable to goods and services are provided in Section XII: Important Additional Information.

I, the undersigned, having read CRS’s terms and conditions applicable to goods and services for the request for quotation No. 2009411, as stated in the attached document, hereby offer to provide the goods and services specified in this request for quotation at the price or prices indicated, in accordance with all specified specifications, and subject to CRS’s terms and conditions applicable to goods and services established or specified in the document.

I, the undersigned, declare that:

1. Our company and our personnel have no conflicts of interest in any activities that could represent, if we are selected, a conflict of interest with CRS.
2. Our company confirms that the bidder or subcontractors have not been associated, or in any way involved, directly or indirectly, in the preparation of the project, specifications, and/or other documents used in this tender.
3. Our company, its affiliates, or subsidiaries (including subcontractors or suppliers of any part of the contract) have not been declared ineligible by CRS in accordance with Section I. 3: Eligibility Criteria.
4. We have not offered and will not offer any gift and/or favor of any kind in exchange for this request for quotation and will never do so during the execution of any awarded contract.

I, ____________________________________ (Name of authorized signatory) , certify that I am the_____________________________(position) _____________________of (legal name of the company)________________; by signing this request for quotation for and on behalf of (legal name of the company) _______________________________, I certify that all information contained in this document is accurate and true and that signing this offer falls within my authority.

Annex II. Past Experience Form for RFQ No. 2009411

Purchases orders or contracts signed by both parties must be provided for each experience.

Annex III. Bill of Quantities

Delivery Commitment Timeline:

Annex IV. Submission Checklist for Bidders

Bid submission Form.

☐Price Quote which complies with the specifications provided (detail of quantities in each pack/carton)

☐Signed Quotation Submission Form (Annex I)

☐Reference list- Past Experience Form (Annex II)

☐Business registration, Tax Clearance

☐Bill of Quantity

☐Table 1: Bidder Declaration