Failure To Receive Bid Set for Invitation for Bids

The protester objected to the agency's failure to furnish it with a bid set for the invitation for bids and requested that it be allowed to submit a bid. The protester's status as a minority-owned small business certified as having "first preference" under Defense Manpower Policy No. 4 was not in itself reason why the protester should have "automatically" been sent a copy of the solicitation in the absence of evidence that the protester was a prior producer of the item being procured or that the protester had requested to be placed on the bidders list for that item. The agency's refusal to furnish the prospective bidder with a copy of the solicitation on the grounds that none was available was not legally objectionable since the agency was not required to prepare an unlimited number of solicitations; the agency did not deliberately seek to exclude the bidder from competing; and adequate competition and reasonable prices were obtained.