[Protest of Air Force Contract Award for Munition Storage and Transportation Containers]

A firm protested an Air Force contract award for munition storage and transportation containers, contending that: (1) the award violated legislation which prohibited the purchase of foreign end products from a nondesignated country; (2) the Air Force improperly allowed the awardee to submit information through repeated best and final offers; and (3) the awardee was not a responsible offerer. GAO held that: (1) since the protester did not submit its protest until 12 working days after the Air Force notified it of the denial of its agency-level protest, the protest was untimely filed; (2) the 10-day period for filing a subsequent protest began when the Air Force notified the protester of its initial adverse action; and (3) the fact that the protester pursued its agency-level protest did not warrant consideration of the untimely GAO protest. Accordingly, the protest was dismissed.