Department of State, Office of Acquisition, P. O. Box 9115, Rosslyn Station, Arlington, VA 22219-0244

99 -- LAMINATE MATERIAL TO PROTECT U. S. PASSPORTS POC Tom Blankenship, 703-875-4684 or Vincent J. Chaverini, Jr., 703-875-6645 The U. S. Department of State intends to issue a modification to Contract No. S-OPRAQ-97-D-0129 to extend the period of performance for up to 12 months and to increase the maximum contract quantity for this indefinite quantity contract from 2,000 rolls to 2,500 rolls. The laminate material required by the Department of State will be utilized to protect the bio-data page for U. S. Passports. The laminate material shall afford protection for the bio-data and photograph for the ten year life of the passport. In addition, the material shall be fraud resistant. It shall be bonded to the passport data page using heat actuated adhesive after the data and photograph are positioned on the page. The evaluation of the functional and security aspects of the laminate will be performed by U. S. Government analysts. The contract award was based on: price, evaluation testing of laminate of bidder provided laminate samples and evaluation of bidder provided descriptive literature. This does not alter the fact that the laminate must serve a functional purpose and can not interfere with the machine reading of the optical recognition characters (OCR B) printed passport. The contractor is required to deliver the laminate in rolls measuring 1 3/16" x 12" OD x 3" ID (plus or minus 1/4" OD) or 411.16mm wide x 304.8mm OD x 76.2mm ID (plus or minus 6.35mm OD). The roll length for all laminate material delivered shall measure 1,000 feet (plus or minus 50 feet) or 304.8 meters (plus or minus 15.24 meters). Any lapse in the continuity and timely delivery of this laminate would be detrimental to the Government's ability to issue passports. The current contractor is in position to provide laminate which is tested and proven to function in the passport system without requiring time consuming testing. Therefore, modification of the current contract to increase the maximum limitation is critical to maintain the Government's ability to issue U. S. Passports as required under 8 USC Section 1104. Posted 06/16/00 (W-SN465700). (0168)

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