Internet address(es):

Main address: http://ghana.um.dk/

Address of the buyer profile: https://eu.eu-supply.com/ctm/Company/CompanyInformation/Index/281402

Consultancy agreement regarding managing the redesigned Tax and Development Programme.

Since 2015 Denmark has supported the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) in its modernisation efforts laid out in the GRA's Second Strategic Plan 2015-2017 (SPII) through the Tax and Development Programme (T&DP) that, together with other development partners, supports the implementation of the Strategic Plan. Based on a mid-term review it has been decided to assign a Management Consultancy Company to manage the Programme and to extend the programme by one year to the end of 2019. Moreover, it has been decided to focus the programme by reducing the number of GRA projects supported by the T&DP from 49 to 24, most of which are on-going, and to streamline the project portfolio to mainly customs projects. The Consultant will assume, in close collaboration with the GRA, all technical, financial, and administrative tasks to ensure smooth and timely project implementation and completion procedures including documentation of results. For further information see II.2.4).

Ghana.

The objectives of the assignment are as follows:

1. Manage the Danish support to GRA within the re-designed Tax and Development Programme.

2. Strengthen the capacity of the GRA to deliver the outputs of its Second Strategic Plan.

3. Coordinate/liaise with other donors working with the GRA to implement the GRA's Second Strategic Plan to facilitate complementarity in our activities.

The Consultant will be responsible for all aspects related to achieving the outputs by completing the 25 projects of the T&DP. The Consultant will assume, in close collaboration with the GRA, all technical, financial, and administrative tasks to ensure smooth and timely project implementation and completion procedures including documentation of results. The Consultant will therefore be responsible for all aspects related to the implementation of the T&DP projects. This includes full responsibility for financial management, logistics, procurement and technical inputs (in the form of training, capacity building, technical advice, research, and process development), as well as monitoring and reporting.

The Consultant will establish a lean office in the proximity of the GRA, suitably equipped and conducive to the work of the Long Term Key Staff and Short Term Key Staff, including a driver. The Consultant must provide the following Long Term Key Staff: A Long Term Customs Specialist, a Long Term Procurement Specialist and Long Term Accountant. It is envisaged that the Long Term Customs Specialist will spend most of his or her time working at the GRA.

The Consultant is responsible for the administration, supervision and logistics required to operate T&DP and ensure implementation. The Consultant will submit agreed annual work plans and budgets as well as quarterly progress reports to the Danish Embassy. The Consultant is accountable to the Danish Embassy and will liaise on operational and contractual issues.

The Long Term Customs Specialist (as Team Leader) reports to the Customs Commissioner of GRA on technical matters. The Long Term Customs Specialist will report to the Embassy on a monthly basis and/or as needed.

The delivery of the Programme requires institutional capacity development of GRA with significant training that will be carried out by the Long Term Customs Specialist and the Short Term Key Staff.

The Consultant's home office shall provide the following, to be covered by the Consultant's overhead:

— General home office administration and professional back-up;

— The Consultant shall nominate an ‘Assignment Manager’ with overall responsibility for the Consultant's assignment, normally stationed at the Consultant's home office, but making at least one annual management visits to the field office in Accra and to liaise with relevant stakeholders including the Danish Embassy and the GRA.

— Quality assurance (QA) of the consultancy services in accordance with the Consultant's quality management and quality assurance system. The Consultant shall nominate a Quality Auditor and develop a Quality Assurance Plan for this assignment to be included in the Operational Manual. All QA activities shall be properly coordinated and documented. The Quality Auditor is expected to carry out one annual visit.

— Compliance with Danida's Anti-Corruption code of conduct and the principles of the UN Global Compact during implementation. The Consultant shall furthermore develop a BIMP for this assignment to be included in the Manual.

Re: section II.1.6) Rationale for not splitting the contract up into lots (cf. Danish Public Procurement Act §49, stk. 2): This contract has not been split into lots due to market and economic considerations. The size and character of the services to be provided makes it unsuitable for distributing over several lots.

N/A.

Using the ESPD, the tenderer should quote its annual turnover for the last three available accounting years. The information should be provided in the ESPD, Part IV, B: Economic and financial standing.

Only the tenderer to whom the contracting authority intends to award the contract will be asked to provide documentation for the claims stated in the ESPD.

Unless the information is publicly and electronically accessible free of charge, the documentation for the turnover quoted in the ESPD should be in the form of financial statements or extracts from the financial statements or a statement of the undertaking's overall turnover certified by a chartered accountant or certified public accountant.

If the tenderer is a joint venture, consortium or other unincorporated grouping of two or more entities (hereinafter called a ‘joint venture’), this should be stated in the ESPD section II, sub-section A. The joint venture shall, as a whole, meet the minimum conditions related to economic and financial standing and each member shall submit a completed and signed ESPD.

An economic operator may, where appropriate and for a particular contract, rely on the capacities of other entities, regardless of the legal nature of the links, which it has with them. If the tenderer is relying on the financial capacity of another entity, this should be stated in the ESPD section II, sub-section C.

If the tenderer relies on the capacity of others, the turnover is calculated as the sum of the turnover of the tenderer and the other entity's (or entities') turnover.

Where an economic operator wants to rely on the capacities of other entities, it shall prove to the contracting authority that it will have at its disposal the resources necessary, for example, by producing a commitment by those entities to that effect. The letter of commitment or relevant documentation shall establish the legal commitment of the party concerned to support the tenderer for the full contract period. A template for a letter of commitment can be obtained using the link in section I.3. Such entities, including the parent company of the tenderer, must respect the same rules of eligibility, and must comply with the conditions as stated in this contract notice (see section VI.3). Such an entity must also submit a completed and signed ESPD.

Minimum annual turnover of 6.000.000 DKK in each of the latest 3 financial years.

Using the ESPD, the tenderer should provide a list of no more than ten project references of contracts (entered or finalized) in the last three years of most relevant services provided cf. section II.2.4) and below in this section III.1.3. The information should be entered in the ESPD, Part IV, C.

References should for each project contain a description of the services provided, the total value of the project (amount), the contract date and name of the customer (recipient). No documentation will be required for the information provided in the ESPD regarding project references.

If the tenderer is a joint venture, this should be stated in the ESPD section II, sub-section A. The joint venture shall, as a whole, meet the minimum conditions related to technical and professional ability. In that case, each member shall submit a completed ESPD. Note that no more than 10 project references must be presented for the joint venture as a whole.

If the tenderer is relying on the technical capacity of another entity, this should be stated in the ESPD section II, sub-section C. With regard to criteria relating to the educational and professional qualifications or to the relevant professional experience, economic operators may only rely on the capacities of other entities where the latter will perform the services for which these capacities are required. Where an economic operator wants to rely on the capacities of other entities, it shall prove to the contracting authority that it will have at its disposal the resources necessary, f.ex. by producing a commitment by those entities to that effect.

The letter of commitment or relevant documentation shall establish the legal commitment of the party concerned to support the tenderer for the full contract period. A template for a letter of commitment can be obtained using the link in section I.3. Such entities, including the parent company of the tenderer, must respect the same rules of eligibility, and must comply with the conditions as stated in this contract notice (see section VI.3). Such an entity must also submit a separate completed ESPD.

Minimum 2 relevant contracts for delivery of consultant services in respect of modernization programmes in the customs sector with a value each of minimum DKK 1 million performed during the last 3 years. At least one of these contracts must be customs projects in transition countries in Africa, involving capacity building and training, financial management and procurement.

The winner of the contract will be required to perform the services in compliance with the Danida Anti-corruption Code of Conduct and the principles of the UN Global Compact.

The winner of the contract will be required to take out before commencement and maintain for the duration of the liability period, at its own cost, a Professional Liability Insurance equal to the total contract amount.

A group of economic operators will be required to enter a joint venture agreement. Where a joint venture is proposed, the Danish Embassy in Accra will require that all members of the joint venture are jointly and severally liable. Furthermore the members shall establish common Quality Assurance and Business Integrity Management systems for the implementation of the contract.

Any legal entity may only submit one Tender.

The tender and the ESPD shall be submitted electronically using the web-based tendering system provided by Kammeradvokaten (The Legal Advisor to the Danish State) following the instructions in the Tender Document. Tenders cannot be submitted using any other means. The tendering system can be accessed using the link set out in section I.3. If not already registered in the system access to the tender documents can be obtained by registering using the link ‘Online registration’. The ESPD is completed via: https://ec.europa.eu/growth/tools-databases/espd/filter?lang=da. where the Tenderer is to upload the XML file, complete it and then save it locally. It is the responsibility of the Tenderer to keep informed of questions and answers and any addenda and/or clarification published in the system in respect of this tender. In case of technical problems with the system the Tenderer can contact technical support either per e-mail: [email protected] or per telephone on (+45) 70 20 80 14.

The Embassy shall exclude a Tenderer from participation in the procurement procedure where it has established that the Tenderer is covered by the exclusion grounds listed in the Danish Public Procurement Act, (Udbudsloven) §135 and §136 (EU Directive 2014/24/EU, article 57(1)-(3), and article 57 (4)(e),(f) and (h).) (i.e. Grounds relating to criminal convictions, grounds relating to the payment of taxes or social security contributions, Grounds relating to conflicts of interests or distortion of competition from the prior involvement of the economic operators in the preparation of the procurement procedure, if this cannot be remedied by other, less intrusive measures, guilty of serious misrepresentation of information).

The Embassy will exclude a Tenderer from the procurement procedure if the Tenderer is in a situation covered by the Danish Public Procurement Act §137, stk. 1, no. 2. (EU Directive 2014/24/EU, article 57 (4) (b).) (i.e. Grounds relating to insolvency). Before award of contract, the Embassy will require that the Tenderer to whom it intends to award the contract presents documentation for the claims given in the ESPD proving the absence of grounds for exclusion, as stipulated in the Danish Public Procurement Act §135, stk. 1 and 3, and §137 stk. 1, no. 2. (EU Directive 2014/24/EU, article 57 (1), article 57 (2), and article 57 (4)(b)) (i.e. Grounds relating to criminal convictions, the payment of taxes or social security contributions and grounds relating to insolvency).

For Danish tenderers documentation can be in the form of a ‘serviceattest’. Entities from other EU member states may identify the relevant certificate(s) using the online platform e-Certis to the extent this has been updated. Where the country in question does not issue such documents or certificates, or where these do not cover all the cases specified, they may be replaced by a declaration on oath or, in countries where there is no provision for declarations on oath, by a solemn declaration made by the person concerned before a competent judicial or administrative authority, a notary or a competent professional or trade body, in the country of origin or in the country where the economic operator is established.

The Embassy reserves the right — but is not obliged — to use the remedies provided for in the Danish Public Procurement Act, §159, stk. 5, if tenders do not fulfil the formalities of the tender documents. (EU Directive 2014/24/EU, article 56 (3))

The Embassy opposes exclusive agreements with sub-consultants, be they organisations or individuals.

Internet address:https://erhvervsstyrelsen.dk/klagevejledning-0

The following deadlines apply to the lodging of appeals pursuant to the Danish Act on The Complaints Board for Public Procurement (Lov om Klagenævnet for Udbud) (the Act is available at www.retsinformation.dk ): Appeals for not having been prequalified must be submitted to the Danish Complaints Board for Public Procurement (Klagenævnet for Udbud) within 20 calendar days calculated from the day after the day when the contracting authority has notified the applicants concerned which applicants have been prequalified provided that the notification has included a short explanation of the relevant grounds for the decision.

In other situations, appeals regarding tender procedures must be lodged with the Complaints Board for Public Procurement within 45 calendar days after the contracting authority has published a notice in the Official Journal of the European Union that the contracting authority has concluded the contract. The deadline is calculated from the day after the day when the notice was published.

The complainant must no later than at the same time as lodging the appeal with the Complaints Board for Public Procurement notify the contracting authority that an appeal has been lodged with the Danish Complaints Board for Public Procurement and whether the appeal has been lodged within the standstill period, see section 3(1) of the Act. In the event that the appeal has not been lodged within the standstill period, the complainant must furthermore indicate whether he has requested a suspensory effect of the appeal, see clause 12(1) of the Act. The e-mail address of the Complaints Board for Public Procurement is set out in section VI.4.1).

The Complaints Board's own complaints procedure is available at www.klfu.dk

Internet address:http://www.kfst.dk