The Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) defines unsolicited proposal (USP) as "a written proposal for a new or innovative idea that is submitted to an agency on the initiative of the offeror for the purpose of obtaining a contract with the Government, and that is not in response to a request for proposals, Broad Agency Announcement, Small Business Innovation Research topic, Small Business Technology Transfer Research topic, Program Research and Development Announcement, or any other Government-initiated solicitation or program." The FAR also contains detailed procedures and requirements for unsolicited proposals at FAR Subpart 15.6.
In addition to the FAR guidance, the following information is provided for the purpose of facilitating unsolicited proposal submissions to the Defense Health Agency. This information applies to all unsolicited proposals, to include services, supplies, equipment, information technology requirements, etc.
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As required by the FAR, DHA personnel shall not use any data, concept, idea, or other part of an unsolicited proposal as the basis, or part of the basis, for a solicitation or in negotiations with any other firm unless the offeror is notified of and agrees to the intended use. However, this prohibition does not preclude using any data, concept, or idea in the proposal that also is available from another source without restriction.
The guide also provides additional instructions on how to submit unsolicited proposals to DHA, to include the centralized email for submissions. The centralized receiving office will forward unsolicited proposals to appropriate program areas for evaluation.