[Protests of AID Contract Awards for Bulk Tallow Deliveries]

A firm protested numerous Agency for International Development (AID) contract awards for bulk tallow deliveries, contending that AID: (1) improperly interpreted the solicitation's flagging and cargo preference requirements; (2) failed to award the contracts in accordance with the solicitation's small business set-aside requirements; and (3) should have awarded it the contracts, since the awardees were not qualified. GAO held that: (1) the protester untimely filed its protest against AID interpretation of certain solicitation requirements more than 10 days after it learned of the basis of protest; (2) AID was not required to award the contracts to small businesses, since the solicitation did not contain any small business preferences; and (3) AID reasonably determined that the awardees were qualified to perform the contract. Accordingly, the protests were dismissed.