[Protest of Any Contract Award Under USDA Request for Proposals]

A firm protested the award of any contract under a request for proposals (RFP) issued by the Department of Agriculture for leasing office, warehouse, and storage space in Montana. The protester contended that the RFP lease termination provision excluded offers from small businesses and resulted in a higher than required cost to the government. GAO held that the contracting agency has the primary responsibility for determining its minimum needs and for drafting requirements which reflect those needs. Although the protester also contended that the termination provision should be deleted to allow more potential respondents to the solicitation, GAO asserted that it judges the propriety of a particular procurement on whether the government is obtaining reasonable prices through adequate competition. In this case, the agency received responsive proposals at acceptable prices, indicating that acceptable competition was available. Accordingly, the protest was denied.