2 firms OK’d for fuel marking system bid

Two bidders were deemed eligible to bid to establish and operate the fuel marking and field testing system mandated under the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) Act to arrest oil smuggling.

Following the deadline for the submission of eligibility documents yesterday, the Department of Budget and Management-Procurement Service (DBM-PS) bids and awards committee said Texas-based Authentix and the joint venture between Switzerland-based SICPA and SGS Philippines had complete documentary requirements, hence eligible for short-listing.

Dow Chemical Philippines, which earlier expressed interest to bid, backed out.

Jaime M. Navarrete Jr., who chairs the bids and awards committee for the fuel marking system, said the short-listed bidders would be announced on June 29.

Navarrete, however, noted of possible conflict of interest as Authentix and SGS, now rival bidders, used to be partners in a number of projects, including the fuel marking system implemented at the Subic Bay Freeport Zone by former Customs Commissioner Napoleon L. Morales.

But an SGS representative said it now “made more sense working with SICPA” for the new fuel marking program, even as it still has an existing partnership with Authentix in the African country of Zambia.

The DBM-PS and the Bureau of Customs earlier set the price ceiling for the fuel marking at P0.08 per liter over a five-year period.

The selected company will have to assist in establishing and operating a fuel marking system that will supply and inject fuel marker in all taxable oil products, except Jet A-1, Avgas, Crude Oil and LPG; implement and manage a fueltesting program, including fuel analysis and data management, nationwide; and train and ensure technology transfer to BOC and Bureau of Internal Revenue personnel.

The bidders will be rated based on track record in implementing fuel marking here or abroad, qualification of personnel and current workload relative to capacity.

The government will pay the contract cost of P1.96 billion for the first year in case of overperformance in the volume of fuel marked.

For 2018, about 21.9 billion liters of fuel are expected to enter the country’s 25 ports and subports. —BEN DE VERA