FSA Delivered Official Controls (FSADOC) retender

Update April 2024

We have published the retender of the Delivery of Official Controls in Approved Establishments in England and Wales.

The tender can be accessed on the Health Family Single eCommercial System.

The estimated timeline is as follows:

• 10 April 2024 - Invitation to Tender (ITT) issued by FSA 
• 10 April 2024 - ITT Clarification period opens
• 08 May 2024 at noon - ITT Clarification period closes
• 11 June 2024 at noon - Closing date for submission of ITT responses
• 12 June 2024 to 23 August 2024 - Evaluation Period, this includes the Qualification, Technical, Social Values and Commercial responses
• 24 August 2024 to 23 October 2024 - Contract Award Approval Process
• 23 October 2024 - Tenderers notified of outcome of appraisal and preferred Tenderer (or Tenderers) identified 
• 24 October 2024 to 4 November 2024 - Standstill Period
• 05 November 2024 - Contract (or Contracts) awarded and signed
• 31 March 2025 - Contract initiation meeting takes place and contract commences

The timetable may be impacted by different factors including the pre-election period. Where the FSA makes any changes, it will notify Tenderers through the esourcing portal.

Any queries relating to the submission of a bid should be sent through the messaging facility in Atamis, any other queries must be sent to FSA.commercial@food.gov.uk.

Please see the following PDF for the decided outputs from the stakeholder feedback sessions.

Update January 2024

For all information regarding the retender process, please see the documents below. These documents have been shared with key stakeholder engagement events and a summary of the feedback they provided.

If you require any further information, please email FSARetender@food.gov.uk.

Update September 2023

The current contracts for the provision of Official Veterinarians and Official Auxiliaries (also referred to as Meat Hygiene Inspectors) for the verification of compliance with legislation through inspection and health marking in FSA Approved Meat Establishments in England and Wales, will expire on 30 March 2025. 

The services currently required are:

• the provision of qualified and competent Official Veterinarians and Meat Hygiene Inspectors to undertake the delivery of official controls in accordance with EC and UK law in FSA approved meat establishments (slaughterhouses, cutting plants and approved game handling establishments)
• delivery of services on behalf of FSA as well as Other Government Departments are  detailed in the Manual for Official Controls
• Inspection and Examination of Products of Animal Origin (POAO) destined for export and provision of export health certificates
• There will be a requirement for some flexibility in the future contracts, this may include delivering pilots, other commodities, and innovation in delivery.

The current contracts are geographically split across the following three regions with two contracts in each region:

• North of England 
• Wales and the West of England 
• East of England
• Final Tender lots are to be confirmed. 

The maximum number of contracts that will be awarded to one tenderer will be specified in the Invitation to Tender.

We would like to invite all potential tenderers and key stakeholders, including those that may be able to deliver the service as part of a consortium or sub-contractor, to attend stakeholder engagement days to discuss and provide input to the future requirements. 

The stakeholder engagement days will be held in York on Wednesday 15 November and in London on Wednesday 22 November. Further details will be sent to all interested parties in due course, please register your interest in attending by responding through the Atamis portal by noon on Wednesday 18 October 2023 advising which date and location would be your preference.