Protest Involving Requirement for Pre-award Samples

A company protested a contract award on grounds that a requirement for submission of preaward samples was discriminatory and that rejection of its samples was unreasonable. Although the protests regarding the requirement for samples was untimely filed, it was considered since it involved significant procurement issues. The failure to require a preaward sample from a manufacturer where such a sample was required from a surplus dealer created a dual standard, but no corrective action was available since the contract was performed. Rejection of the samples was not unreasonable in spite of the fact that items from the same lot were supplied to another agency since the current procurement required refurbishing of deteriorative components.