High-Quality Food Standard System Construction and Promotion Project (Quality Monitoring and Inspection Evaluation Services)

**Project:** China Food Safety Improvement Project

REQUEST FOR EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST

Quality Monitoring and Inspection Evaluation Services

for

High-Quality Food Standard System Construction and Promotion Project

Country: People's Republic of China

Name of Project: China Food Safety Improvement Project

Loan No.: IBRD-92130

Assignment Title: High-Quality Food Standard System Construction and Promotion Project (Quality Monitoring and Inspection Evaluation Services)

Reference No.:  GD-FSS-GAMR-CS10

The Guangdong Administration for Market Regulation has received financing from the World Bank toward the cost of the China Food Safety Improvement Project Guangdong Agricultural Product Quality and Safety Improvement (Demonstration) Project, and intends to apply part of the proceeds for consulting services. The total estimated amount for this project is RMB 2.03million.

(I) Scope of Services

The Guangdong Provincial Administration for Market Regulation and the market supervision authorities at the provincial, municipal, district and county levels cover service users including the general public and high-quality food production and operation entities.The specific work contents include:
1. In accordance with the requirements of The Guangdong Provincial Administration for Market Regulation and the inspection items and methods specified in the High-Quality Food Standards, conduct quality monitoring for high-quality foods. The inspection items cover sensory requirements, quality indicators and selected safety indicators. Statistical analysis shall be performed on the inspection results to assess whether they meet the requirements of the High-Quality Food Standards, and official inspection reports shall be issued. The inspection institution shall formulate an annual sampling plan to cover as many categories of high-quality foods as possible, with a cumulative total of no fewer than 700 batches over two years.

1. Organize on-site inspections of high-quality food production and operation entities, and conduct full-process evaluations covering enterprises’ supplier management, base management, quality management of key production and operation control points, warehousing and logistics management, personnel management, and system construction—ensuring high-quality foods consistently meet the standard requirements. The inspection institution shall formulate an annual inspection and evaluation plan to cover as many implementing entities as possible, with a cumulative total of no fewer than 20 enterprises over two years.Please refer to Appendix 1 for details.

(II) Service Content

This project requires the contractor to provide services with independent technical evaluation and compliance verification capabilities. The specific work contents are as follows:

(III) Service Period

The service period for this project shall commence from the date of contract signing and continue until the project closing date (March 31, 2029).

(IV) Deliverables

Service Content	Deliverables	Submission Timing / Stage
High-quality food quality monitoring (no fewer than 700 batches monitored within two years)	(1) Annual sampling inspection plan for high-quality food; (2) Test reports for each batch of high-quality food; (3) Quality monitoring and analysis report for high-quality food.	Annual sampling plan shall be submitted within 1 month after contract signing; further submissions shall be made by December 31, 2027 and December 31, 2028 respectively
Inspection and evaluation of high-quality food enterprises (no fewer than 20 enterprises covered within two years)	(1) Annual inspection plan for high-quality food enterprises; (2) Documentation of enterprise inspection processes and inspection reports ; (3) Analysis report on inspection and evaluation of high-quality food enterprises.	Annual inspection plan shall be submitted within 1 month after contract signing; further submissions shall be made by December 31, 2027 and December 31, 2028 respectively

The deliverables required for this project are as follows:

The project contractor shall submit deliverables including high-quality food inspection reports, analysis reports, high-quality food inspection and evaluation records, and analysis reports to the Project Office. After the Project Office receives and approves the result reports submitted by the contractor, it shall complete the acceptance of the deliverables in accordance with the contract terms. For result documents that need to be submitted to the World Bank for review as required, the contractor shall cooperate with the Project Office to complete the submission. All result reports must fully align with the service content of this Terms of Reference, with standardized format, complete content, and true and accurate data.

V. Agency Qualification Requirements

1. Possess the qualification as a re-inspection institution

2. No fewer than 5 project involving similar food testing undertaken within three years.

3. Holds CMA, CATL, and CNAS accreditation certificate.

4. Equipped with the necessary instruments for this project, including a liquid chromatography-tandem quadrupole high-resolution mass spectrometer, ion chromatograph, gas chromatography–mass spectrometer, liquid chromatograph, and a gas chromatograph.

(VI) Personnel Qualification Requirements

To ensure the service quality of this project, an exclusive service team must be established, with specific requirements as follows:

No.		Team Role	Number of Staff	Job Responsibilities	Qualification Requirements
I. Key Experts
1	Project Director		1	Overall project life-cycle coordination, resource allocation, cross-department communication, organize project acceptance and provide assistance in completing quality monitoring, inspection and evaluation activities	1. Bachelor's degree in Food Science, Chemistry, Biology, or a related disciplines; 2. Possess a senior associate professional title or above.
2	Technical Personnel		5	Complete quality monitoring, inspection and evaluation activities	Possess a senior associate professional title or above.
3	Sampling Personnel		10	Complete the sampling process.	Possesses a sampling officer certificate and have at least two years of working experience in food sampling.
4	Inspection personnel		15	Complete the inspection work.	Possesses a inspector  certificate and have at least two years of working experience in food inspection.
II. Non-key Staff
1	Technical Personnel		5	Complete quality monitoring, inspection and evaluation activities	Possess an intermediatelevel or higher professional title.
2	Sampling Personnel		10	Complete the sampling process.	Possesses a sampling officer certificate and have at least one year of working experience in food sampling.
3	Inspection personnel		15	Complete the inspection work.	Possesses a inspector  certificate and have at least one year of working experience in food inspection.

The detailed Terms of Reference (TOR) for the assignment are attached to this request for expressions of interest.

The Guangdong Administration for Market Regulation now invites eligible consultants (“Consultants”) to indicate their interest in providing the Services. Interested Consultants should provide information demonstrating that they have the required qualifications and relevant experience to perform the Services.

The shortlisting criteria are: the overall competence and strength of the Consultant, quality control and project management capabilities, understanding of the assignment, relevant experience and past performance, proposed team composition, preliminary work plan, and a brief technical approach. 

Key Experts will be evaluated at the shortlisting stage.

(VII) Contents of this Consultation

a. Expressions of interest (EOI) submitted by an interested consultant;

b. Consultant’s profile and core advantages;

c. List of project performance records;

d. Key points of the preliminary work plan and work schedule;

e. Preliminary staffing plan;

f. Proposed core team (including resume summaries of the Team Leader and key experts).

(VIII) Submission Materials

a.The EOI Letter (or a Feedback Letter) submitted by the consultant;

b.Agency profile;

c.Summary of project performance records (specifying the project name, client, service content, and service period);

d.Simplified proposal (briefly outlining key points; a detailed proposal is not required);

e.Preliminary work schedule;

f.Key experts (personnel profiles must be provided);

g.Any other materials deemed necessary by the consultant.

Note: All the above materials must be stamped with the official seal of the consulting agency.

Consultants shall not be hired for any assignment that would be in conflict with their prior or current obligations to other clients, or that may place them in a position of being unable to carry out the assignment in the best interests of the Borrower. Without limitation on the generality of the foregoing, Consultants shall not be hired under the circumstances set forth below:

a. a firm that has been engaged by the Borrower to provide Goods, Works, or Non-Consulting Services for a project (or an affiliate that directly or indirectly controls, is controlled by, or is under common control with that firm), shall be disqualified from providing Consulting Services resulting from, or directly related to, those Goods, Works, or Non-Consulting Services. This provision does not apply to the various firms (Consultants, contractors, or suppliers), which together are performing the contractor’s obligations under a turnkey or design and build contract; a firm that has been engaged by the Borrower to provide Consulting Services for the preparation or implementation of a project (or an affiliate that directly or indirectly controls, is controlled by, or is under common control with that consultant), shall be disqualified from subsequently providing Goods, Works, or Non-Consulting Services resulting from, or directly related to those Consulting Services. This provision does not apply to the various firms (Consultants, contractors, or suppliers), which together are performing the contractor’s obligations under a turnkey or design and build contract;

b. neither a Consultant (including personnel and sub-consultants), nor an affiliate (that directly or indirectly controls, is controlled by, or is under common control with that Consultant), shall be hired for any assignment that, by its nature, creates a conflict of interest with another assignment of the Consultant;

c. Consultants (including their experts and other personnel, and sub-consultants), that have a close business or family relationship with a professional staff of the Borrower, or of the project implementing agency, or of a recipient of a part of the Bank’s financing, or any other party representing or acting on behalf of the Borrower, that is directly or indirectly involved in any part of: i. the preparation of the ToR for the assignment; ii. the selection process for the contract; or iii. the supervision of the contract; may not be awarded a contract, unless the conflict stemming from this relationship has been resolved in a manner acceptable to the Bank throughout the selection process and the execution of the contract.

Consultants may associate with other firms to enhance their qualifications, but should indicate clearly whether the association is in the form of a joint venture and/or a sub-consultancy. In the case of a joint venture, all the partners in the joint venture shall be jointly and severally liable for the entire contract, if selected.

A Consultant will be selected in accordance with the QCBS method set out in the Procurement Regulations.

Further information can be obtained at the address below during office hours. Office hours are from 09:00 to 17:00 on working days from September 20 to October 10, 2026

Expressions of interest must be delivered in a written form to Tender Agency (in person, or by mail or by e-mail) by 09:00 on October 12, 2026.

Tender Agency: China International Tendering Co., Ltd.

Attn: Zhang Zhi, Guo Hujun

Title: Project Managers

Tel.: +86 10-81168424; 010-81168460

E-mail: zhangzhi5@cgci.gt.cn; guohujun@gt.cn

Address: Rm. 2003B, South Tower, Bld. Jinbintengyue, Huaxia Rd. 49-1, Tianhe District, Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, China

Postal Code: 51000

 

Employer: Guangdong Administration for Market Regulation

Attn: Wang Yifei, Chen Lin

Title: First-level Principal Staff Member; Special Cadre, World Bank Loan Project Office

Tel.: 020-38835493; 020-38835248

 

Annex: detailed Terms of Reference (TOR)

 

Terms of Reference

Project on the Construction, Publicity and Promotion of the High-Quality Food Standard System Implemented by Guangdong Administration for Market Regulation

Package IIQuality Monitoring, Inspection and Evaluation Services

In order to ensure the effective implementation of Package II (Quality Monitoring, Inspection and Evaluation Services) under the above-mentioned project, and to achieve the targeted objectives of project information technology development, the Guangdong Administration for Market Regulation intends to select and engage qualified service institutions through public procurement to carry out the implementation of this project.

1. Project Background and Overview

The World Bank-financed China Food Safety Demonstration Project took effect on March 21, 2024, with an implementation period ending on March 31, 2029. It aims to comprehensively enhance national and local modern food safety governance capacity. As a key implementing entity of this project in Guangdong Province, the Guangdong Administration for Market Regulation intends to apply for a World Bank loan of USD10,000,000. Of this amount, Package II (Quality Monitoring, Inspection and Evaluation Services) under the abovementioned project plans to apply for a World Bank loan of USD 29.42 million (equivalent to RMB 2.03 million). It will provide targeted support for the achievement of project objectives through the following deliverables: engage a thirdparty institution to carry out quality monitoring, inspection and evaluation services; conduct quality monitoring of high-quality food in accordance with the inspection and testing requirements specified in high-quality food standards (including sensory requirements, quality indicators and partial safety indicators, with no fewer than 700 batches monitored within two years); and conduct on-site inspection and evaluation of high-quality food enterprises (no fewer than 20 enterprises covered within two years).

Expected outcomes of this project include tracking and evaluating the quality and safety status of high-quality food; ensuring that manufacturing and trading enterprises of high-quality food as well as the high-quality food products themselves consistently comply with the requirements of high-quality food standards; establishing and maintaining the credibility of high-quality food brands; and enhancing consumer trust in high-quality food.

2.Project Objectives

Centered on the core objective of advancing quality monitoring, inspection and evaluation services, this project integrates the full-chain traceability platform with "ShangMa Su", the intelligent supervision system of "Internet-based Visualization Kitchen", the real-time emergency dispatching command system, and capacity improvement for food-related personnel under market regulation. It aims to establish a closed-loop full-chain management mechanism covering risk identification, early-warning response and disposal, so as to provide data foundation and institutional guarantee for scientifically calculating outcome indicators such as“proportion of early-warnings for which mitigation measures have been activated". The core objectives are to build a premium brand image of high-quality food, to formulate evaluation and management specifications for high-quality food, to utilize multiple approaches including on-site inspection and evaluation and quality monitoring to track and evaluate the quality and safety status of high-quality food, thereby comprehensively safeguarding quality and safety of high-quality food, and promoting the improvement of food quality and the high-quality development of the food industry.

3. Scope of Services

Total investment for this project amounts to RMB 2.03 million.

3.1 Scope of Service Recipients

Service recipients cover the Guangdong Administration for Market Regulation, as well as provincial, municipal and district/countylevel market regulation authorities. Target users include the general public and highquality food manufacturing and trading enterprises, among others.

3.2 Service Content

This project requires the contractor to provide services with capabilities for independent technical assessment and compliance verification. Specific work contents are as follows:  First, conduct quality monitoring of high-quality food in accordance with the requirements of Guangdong Administration for Market Regulation and based on the test items and test methods specified in high-quality food standards. Testing items shall include sensory requirements, quality indicators, and partial safety indicators. The contractor shall perform statistical analysis on the test results, assess whether the results comply with the requirements of the high-quality food standards, and issue a test report. The testing institution shall formulate an annual sampling plan, ensuring that the sampled products cover as many categories of high-quality food as possible. No fewer than 700 batches shall be monitored within two years. Second, the contractor shall organize on-site inspections of high-quality food manufacturing and trading entities, and conduct evaluations on the whole process, including supplier management, base management, quality management at key control points for production and operation, warehousing and logistics management, personnel management, and system development of enterprises, so as to ensure that high-quality food products consistently meet the standard requirements. The inspection institution shall formulate an annual inspection and evaluation plan, aiming to cover as many implementing entities as possible. No fewer than 20 enterprises shall be covered within two years . Where quality monitoring or on-site inspection confirms that an enterprise or product fails to comply with high-quality food standards but meets food safety standards, the relevant information shall be promptly reported to the Guangdong Administration for Market Regulation. The relevant products shall be removed from the special sales zones for high-quality food, and the “Greater Bay Area Standard”logo on product outer packaging shall be revoked. The application for reinstatement of the “GBA Standard” logo can be submitted only after the completion of rectification and when test results prove the product complies with high-quality food standards.Where quality monitoring or on-site inspection confirms that an enterprise or product fails to meet food safety standards, the relevant information shall be promptly reported to the Guangdong Administration for Market Regulation. Meanwhile, the contractor shall urge the enterprise to recall and shelf-remove the products and complete corresponding rectification. See Appendix 1 for further details.

3.3 Service Period

The service period shall commence on the date of contract signing and end on the project closure date (March 31, 2029).

4.Deliverables, Review and Acceptance

4.1 Deliverables

The deliverables required under this project are set out below:

Service Content	Deliverables	Submission Timing / Stage
High-quality food quality monitoring (no fewer than 700 batches monitored within two years)	(1) Annual sampling inspection plan for high-quality food; (2) Test reports for each batch of high-quality food; (3) Quality monitoring and analysis report for high-quality food.	Annual sampling plan shall be submitted within 1 month after contract signing; further submissions shall be made by December 31, 2027 and December 31, 2028 respectively
Inspection and evaluation of high-quality food enterprises (no fewer than 20 enterprises covered within two years)	(1) Annual inspection plan for high-quality food enterprises; (2) Documentation of enterprise inspection processes and inspection reports ; (3) Analysis report on inspection and evaluation of high-quality food enterprises.	Annual inspection plan shall be submitted within 1 month after contract signing; further submissions shall be made by December 31, 2027 and December 31, 2028 respectively

4.2 Deliverable Review and Acceptance

The project contractor shall submit test reports, analysis reports for high-quality food , inspection and evaluation records , and analysis reports for high-quality food enterprises. Upon review and approval of the submitted reports by the Project Office, deliverable acceptance shall be carried out in accordance with the contract provisions. For those deliverables that are required to be submitted to the World Bank for review per relevant requirements, the project contractor shall cooperate with the Project Office to complete the submission. All deliverables shall fully comply with the service requirements specified in this TOR, with standardized formats, complete content and authentic, accurate data.

5.Institutional and Personnel Qualification Requirements

5.1 Institutional Qualifications

1. Possess the qualification as a re-inspection institution

2. No fewer than 5 project involving similar food testing undertaken within three years.

3. Holds CMA, CATL, and CNAS accreditation certificate.

4. Equipped with the necessary instruments for this project, including a liquid chromatography-tandem quadrupole high-resolution mass spectrometer, ion chromatograph, gas chromatography–mass spectrometer, liquid chromatograph, and a gas chromatograph.

5.2 Personnel Qualifications

A dedicated service team shall be assigned for the project. Specific requirements are set out as follows:

No.	Team Role	Number of Staff	Job Responsibilities	Qualification Requirements
I. Key Experts
1	Project Director	1	Overall project life-cycle coordination, resource allocation, cross-department communication, organize project acceptance and provide assistance in completing quality monitoring, inspection and evaluation activities	1. Bachelor's degree in Food Science, Chemistry, Biology, or a related disciplines; 2. Possess a senior associate professional title or above.
2	Technical Personnel	5	Complete quality monitoring, inspection and evaluation activities	Possess a senior associate professional title or above.
3	Sampling Personnel	10	Complete the sampling process.	Possesses a sampling officer certificate and have at least two years of working experience in food sampling.
4	Inspection personnel	15	Complete the inspection work.	Possesses a inspector  certificate and have at least two years of working experience in food inspection.
II. Supporting Staff
1	Technical Personnel	5	Complete quality monitoring, inspection and evaluation activities	Possess an intermediatelevel or higher professional title.
2	Sampling Personnel	10	Complete the sampling process.	Possesses a sampling officer certificate and have at least one year of working experience in food sampling.
3	Inspection personnel	15	Complete the inspection work.	Possesses a inspector  certificate and have at least one year of working experience in food inspection.

6 Facilities and Personnel Provided by the Client

The Client shall provide the following necessary support for smooth project implementation: relevant project documents, reports, annual work plans and other materials; dedicated staff assigned to liaise with the service provider for the implementation of relevant work.

 

Appendix 1: Performance Indicators for Package II 

Table 1.1 Summary of Performance Indicators

No.	Task Category	Task Content	Requirements
1	Quality monitoring, inspection and evaluation	Conduct high-quality food quality monitoring in accordance with the requirements of the project, no fewer than 700 batches monitored within two years.	(1) Frequency of sampling and testing The volume of sampling and testing for high-quality foods should increase annually in line with the volume of such foods circulating in the market; Priority shall be given to the sampling and inspection of highquality food products that fall under any of the following categories: those newly included in the high-quality food list in the current year; those with large consumption volume across Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao; those with non-compliance or failure records in supervision samplinginspection or high-quality food quality monitoring over the past two years; and those whose manufacturers have been classified as Level-C or Level-D by the Guangdong Administration for Market Regulation in accordance with the Measures for Risk-based Classification Management of Food and Food-Related Product Manufacturers of Guangdong Administration for Market Regulation (Trial) (2) Selection of sampling site Sampling and inspection for high-quality food products should comprehensively cover all types of online and offline business entities, ensuring that regulatory oversight is thorough and quality assurance is guaranteed. For online channels, sampling efforts should focus on mainstream e-commerce platforms (such as Tmall, JD.com, and Pinduoduo), fresh food delivery platforms, as well as the rapidly growing live-streaming commerce model in recent years (including brand self-hosted livestreams, influencer livestream rooms, and product links on short-video platforms). For offline channels, sampling shall cover physical sales terminals such as supermarkets, convenience stores and agricultural trade markets. By coordinating the sampling layout across both online and offline channels, a comprehensive and multi-dimensional supervision system can be established, so as to effectively ensure that consumers can obtain authentic, safe and highquality product experience when purchasing high-quality food through any channels. (3) Test items Test items shall strictly comply with the relevant provisions on inspection and testing specified in high-quality food standards,ensuring comprehensive coverage of the three core aspects explicitly required: first, sensory requirements—including the color, odor, taste, and texture of high-quality foods, which are visually distinguishable characteristics designed to ensure that the product meets consumers' sensory expectations for high quality; second, quality indicators—such as moisture content, fat content, protein content, peroxide value, and soluble solids—which are key parameters reflecting the intrinsic quality of the product and guarantee its authenticity and superior quality; third, the selection of safety indicators shall be based on risk assessment results, covering limit values for substances that may affect human health, such as heavy metals (e.g., lead, cadmium, arsenic), mycotoxins (e.g., aflatoxins), pesticide residues, and the levels of food additive usage. These approaches ensures that high-quality foods not only meet stringent quality requirements but also provide adequate safety assurance.
2		Inspection and Evaluation of high-quality food enterprises in accordance with the requirements of the project (no fewer than 20 enterprises covered within two years)	Priority inspection targets Priority shall be given to the inspection and evaluation of enterprises falling under any of the following categories: enterprises whose food products manufactured have no records of non-compliance or failure in supervision samplinginspection or high-quality food quality monitoring over the past two years; enterprises classified as Level-C or Level-D by the Guangdong Administration for Market Regulation in accordance with the Measures for Risk-based Classification Management of Food and Food-Related Product Manufacturers of Guangdong Administration for Market Regulation (Trial); enterprises whose products are newly included in the high-quality food list in the current year; and enterprises that have not been connected to the high-quality food traceability platform (2) Key inspection content Enterprise inspections shall cover key links across the whole chain of high-quality food production, storage, transportation, and sales chain, including raw material control (e.g., supplier qualification review and raw material base management), key control points during the production process (e.g., real-time record of process parameters such as processing temperature and duration),  authenticity of traceability data (cross-check against data from high-quality food traceability platforms), and the usage of the "GBA Standard" logo; so as to ensure full process control from source to customers.