Termen extins: Call for offers Donau Soja Moldova is seeking Certification Body for provision of inspection and certification services according to Donau Soja Standards

Issue date: 06.07.2022

Closing date: 21.07.2022

Call for offers

Donau Soja is seeking

Certification Body for provision of inspection and certification services according  to Donau Soja Standards

Donau Soja Association (Representative of Verein Donau Soja from Austria in Moldova) hereby invites Certification bodies approved  by  Donau  Soja  Association (hereafter:  the  service  provider)  to  send  in  their proposal for the provision of services described in this Call for offers. The selected service provider will be  responsible  for inspection  and  certification  of farmers and agriculture  collectors in accordance with Donau Soja Standard in Moldova within Donau Soja Protein Partnership project.

1. Background

The Donau Soja Organisation

The Donau Soja Organisation is an independent, international, non-profit, multi-stakeholder organization aiming to effectively meet protein market demand and provide a baseline for the development of high-quality soy cultivation in the Danube region (www.donausoja.org). The Organization seat is in Vienna, Austria with regional offices in Novi Sad Serbia, Kiev Ukraine, and Chisinau Moldova.

Strategic Partnership Programme

At the beginning of 2017, Donau Soja and the Austrian Development Agency (ADA) started the Strategic Partnership Programme in Moldova, Ukraine, Serbia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina planned to be implemented until August 2023.

The overall objective of the program is to build sustainable, inclusive and well-functioning value chains (local, regional and international) for Non-GM soya and organic soya in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Moldova, Serbia and Ukraine.

The Program proposes measures in nine areas (components: Production and processing, Value chain development, Awareness raising and sensitisation, Certification and labelling, Business environment and policy framework, International market development, Knowledge and technology management and transfer, Project development and Technical assistance, General administration and programme management) planned to be implemented by Donau Soja through numerous measures and activities. All Program activities are to be implemented according to General Contract Conditions (Allgemeine Vertragsbedingungen), guidelines and requirements described in Guidelines for Visibility, considering DS and standards in international development, with special emphasis on DECD Standard (http://www.enterprise-development.org/dced-guidance/).

Donau Soja Protein Partnership Programme

The Donau Soja Protein Partnership Programme (DSPPP) supports small and medium-sized farms in disadvantaged regions, such as rural areas in Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Moldova and Ukraine, in their entry into sustainable and GM-free soya production. In the long term, this will enable physical flows of goods to be established in Europe and certified sustainable soya from Europe to be made available for the European market. By participating in the partnership programme, local farmers receive training and advice regarding soybean production. Furthermore, farmers and agricultural collectors are supported by certification according to Donau Soja Standard and Europe Soya Standard. This leads to the fact that in the non-EU countries, where 2/3 of the European soya is produced, significantly higher EU standards and the Donau Soja / Europe Soya requirement, which are expanding on the EU standards, are fulfilled during soya cultivation.

2. The work of the Certification body

Within a  framework of  Donau Soja  project, the selected service provider  will fulfil tasks related to coordination, organisation and implementation of inspection and certification of farmers and agriculture collectors according to Donau Soja Standard. The certification process will be organised for farmers and agriculture collectors who are involved  in Donau  Soja  Protein  Partnership  projects.  The  particular  protein  partnership project is planned in Moldova and should involve at least 20  farmers, 2 agricultural collectors with more than 2 silo/warehouse locations.The services should be delivered in Period July -September 2022.

3. Expected outputs

The general objective of this service request is the provision of services in the fields of conduction of audits and certification according to Donau Soja Standard. The Certification Body shall perform audits and certification of soybean producer (Donau Soja Requierment 01) and agricultural - and primary collectors (Donau Soja Requirement 02). Each certified company will receive a certificate according to Donau Soja Standard. The service provider will be fully supported by the local Donau Soja team in Moldova as well as relevant team from Donau Soja HQ in Vienna.

The Service provider is expected to support and contribute to specific programme outputs, as Certification Body, together with Donau Soja Team. The following table gives an overview of the expected outputs and tasks.

4.    Reporting

All services are to be provided in Romanian, Russian and English language, if not defined in a different way. Regular communication, information exchange and updates with Donau Soja, Head of Quality Management, Dagmar Gollan gollan@donausoja.org and Quality Management in Moldova Valentin Crismaru  vcrismaru@gmail.com are expected.

The defined expected outputs (issued certificates) will serve as reports and proof of service provider work (means of verification).

5. The requirements

The following requirements need to be fully fulfield by the service provider.

- Certification body is approved by Donau Soja Association;

- The certification body shall be in possession of a valid accreditation as a certification body in accordance with standard ISO/IEC 17065:2012 in the agriculture and food sector;

- Has a minimum two educated and experienced inspectors and two certifiers, who passed the training about Donau Soja requirements(minimum four employees);

- Long-term practical experience and specific knowledge in the field of NON GM auditing and certification of agricultural commodities.

The service provider shall be able to fulfill the tasks mentioned in an excellent and professional way.

In addition, the service provider is required to support high standards of social and environmental performance in the programme and demonstrate gender and diversity competencies.

The assignment and services will be provided based on an activity planning mutually agreed between Certification Body and Donau Soja Organization (Quality Department).

The service provider is expected to use his/her own office and technical equipment.

Flexibility and readiness for travel, both to Moldova (1-2x annually) and internationally (incl. trainings and/or visits to HQ in Vienna), depending on activity planning is required. 

6. Remuneration

The service provider will work under a framework agreement. Remuneration instalments will be based on offer and agreement between Donau Soja and the service provider. Payments will be done based on issued invoices.

7. Selection criteria

The evaluation will be done based on the following criteria:

1. Financial offer

2. Professional experience and reputation.

8. Documents to be prepared

Tenders are to be sent by email to malai@donausoja.org and gollan@donausoja.org  by 13.07.2022, indicating “Certification Body for provision of inspection and certification services according Donau Soja Standard” in the subject, with the following documents (in English):

1. Valid accreditation as a certification body in accordance with standard ISO/IEC 17065:2012 in the agriculture and food sector.

2.Curriculum vitae of inspectors and certifiers expected to be engaged in the work.

3.Financial offer.

Annex 1*

Table 1. Financial offer

* Please list other related costs and estimate them, if applicable.