[Protest of DGSC Contract Termination and Subsequent Contract Award]

A firm protested the termination of its contract and a subsequent contract award to another firm by the Defense General Supply Center (DGSC). DGSC terminated the contract after it was determined that a first article testing waiver was improperly applied in the evaluation of the protester's bid and, when the cost of first article testing was considered, the bid was displaced as the low bid. The protester contended that: (1) it would soon supply articles of the same type for testing under two other government contracts; (2) the awardee should not have been allowed a first article testing waiver; (3) the matter of its own waiver was a question of responsibility which should have been referred to the Small Business Administration (SBA) for consideration; (4) it was not in the government's best interest to terminate the protester's contract because the termination costs increased the total price; and (5) the award was made after the expiration of the bid acceptance period offered by the awardee. GAO held that: (1) in order for first article testing to be waived, the protester would have had to previously supply items of the same type as that required; (2) the item offered by the awardee had previously been accepted and was on a qualified products list; (3) the matter did not need to be referred to SBA because DGSC did not find that the protester was nonresponsible; (4) it would be in the government's best interest to uphold the integrity of the competitive bidding system, regardless of the cost of the contract; and (5) the awardee extended the bid acceptance period and the contract was awarded within that period. Accordingly, the protest was denied.