Procurement Reform

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

A Resolution of the General Assembly, under agenda item 118 Review of the efficiency of the administrative and financial functioning of the United Nations, published in 1999.

What other versions does this mandate have?

7 versions · 1997–2008

This is an older version — the most recent is A/RES/62/269

Year	Symbol	Title	Word length	Text similarity
2008	A/RES/62/269	Procurement reform	2,341	17%Compare
2007	A/RES/61/246	Procurement reform	2,423	17%Compare
2005	A/RES/59/288	Procurement reform	1,453	16%Compare
2003	A/RES/57/279	Procurement reform	523	22%Compare
2001	A/RES/55/247	Procurement reform	1,097	20%Compare

Which reports were submitted under this mandate?

2 reports · 2004–2009

Year	Symbol	Title		Mandate resolution
2009	A/64/284/Add.2	Comprehensive report on United Nations procurement activities report of the Secretary-General : addendum		A/RES/62/269
2004	A/59/216	Procurement reform report of the Secretary-General		A/RES/57/279

What subjects does this mandate have?

16 subjects

Administrative Reform Cost Effectiveness Databases Economies in Transition Field Offices Financial Regulations Information Dissemination Least Developed Countries Letters of Credit Manuals Purchasing Report Preparation Standardization Statistical Methodology Tendering Vendors

What’s in this document?

41 operative paragraphs

I

Recognizes the recent improvements made by the Secretary-General in procurement reform;

Notes with concern that some of the provisions of its resolution 52/226 A have not been fully and adequately implemented, and requests the Secretary-General to complete the implementation of all outstanding provisions;

Stresses the need for the procurement system to be transparent, open, impartial and cost-effective, based on competitive bidding and fully reflecting the international character of the United Nations;

II.PROCUREMENT MANUAL

Welcomes the publication of the Procurement Manual, and requests the Secretary-General to update it, as appropriate, taking into account the recommendations of the Board of Auditors in paragraphs 99 to 104 of its report⁴ and including a step-by-step discussion of procedures required for field personnel to perform their duties;

⁴Official Records of the General Assembly, Fifty-third Session, Supplement No. 5 (A/53/5), vol. I.

III.GENERAL PROCUREMENT PROCESS

Requests the Secretary-General to take the necessary measures to ensure that the bids received through electronic means are not compromised and to report on this in his next report on procurement reform;

Endorses the observations of the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions regarding the need to take steps to ensure that specifications are not deliberately tailored to predetermine the choice of supplier and that the principle of separation of responsibilities of the requisitioning and approving officers is maintained;

Requests the Secretary-General to continue his efforts to ensure wider participation of suppliers from all Member States, taking into account the principles enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations;

Also requests the Secretary-General to improve further the competitive bidding process in order to ensure that vendors are granted reasonable time for the submission of bids;

Welcomes the increased use by the Secretary-General of modern electronic means of communication to disseminate information regarding requests for proposals, invitations to bid and requests for expression of interest, and requests him to continue to utilize traditional means of communication for such information upon request;

Requests the Secretary-General to consider ways to increase the transparency of procurement decisions, including the possibility of reviving the practice of the reading of prices and other decisive elements at public bid openings for requests for proposals, and to report thereon in his next report on procurement reform;

Also requests the Secretary-General to enhance and expedite the procurement process and to improve communication with suppliers;

IV.UNITED NATIONS ROSTER AND COMMON SUPPLIER DATABASE

Notes the efforts of the United Nations system to establish a common supplier database whereby participating organizations will be able to share information on suppliers, including evaluations of performance;

Regrets that the supplier roster is still not representative of the membership of the United Nations, and reiterates its request to the Secretary-General to intensify further and to focus his efforts to broaden the geographical base of the roster;

Requests the Secretary-General to improve further the registration process for the supplier roster;

Also requests the Secretary-General to send invitations to tender, to the fullest extent possible, to all vendors registered under specific categories and services on the supplier roster;

Further requests the Secretary-General to explore the possibility of using the harmonized system of classification of goods for United Nations procurement and to report thereon in his next report on procurement reform;

V.PROCUREMENT PLANNING

Encourages the Secretary-General to continue to improve annual procurement planning for all offices and departments and to make such plans publicly available, including to all permanent missions to the United Nations;

VI.EXIGENCY

Notes with concern the observations of the Advisory Committee⁵ that the definition of exigency as outlined in the report of the Secretary-General⁶ appears too broad to be of any real value in exercising the required control over the use of the exigency provision, and urges the Secretary-General to submit a sharper and clearer definition of exigency needs to the General Assembly, through the Advisory Committee, at its fifty-fourth session;

⁵A/53/692, para. 10.

⁶A/C.5/52/46, para. 5.

VII.INCREASING PROCUREMENT FROM DEVELOPING COUNTRIES

Notes with appreciation the acknowledgement by the Secretary-General of the need to increase procurement opportunities for vendors from developing countries and countries with economies in transition and the steps taken in this regard, and requests him to enhance those efforts;

Requests the Secretary-General to submit in his next report on procurement reform detailed information on the awarding of contracts for procurement, at Headquarters and in the field, to developing countries, in particular least developed and African countries and countries with economies in transition;

Regrets the initial delay in implementing the provisions of paragraph 13 of its resolution 52/226 A, and reiterates its request to the Secretary-General to take all possible measures to increase procurement from developing countries and countries with economies in transition, including the following:

All invitations to tender should be posted on the Procurement Division website as soon as they are prepared;

All invitations to tender should be sent to all permanent missions to the United Nations, as well as to all United Nations information centres and other United Nations offices away from Headquarters for wider dissemination among Member States;

Procurement Division officials may undertake visits to developing countries and countries with economies in transition with a view to identifying potential vendors from those countries;

Notes with concern the observations of the Advisory Committee in paragraph 9 of its report2 that out of the eleven countries visited by the procurement officials pursuant to paragraph 13 (c) of its resolution 52/226 A, only four were from the developing world and none were countries with economies in transition;

Requests the Secretary-General to make all possible efforts to facilitate the identification of vendors in developing countries and countries with economies in transition, including through the expeditious dissemination of information relating to procurement to those countries and the organization of seminars at the country and regional levels between the business community and United Nations offices in those countries;

Also requests the Secretary-General to direct field offices to encourage interested local vendors to apply for registration on the Procurement Division vendor roster with a view to broadening its geographical base;

Encourages the use of procurement within the region for the requirements of missions, taking into account efficiency and cost-effectiveness;

VIII.THE QUESTION OF PREFERENTIAL TREATMENT

Reaffirms its request to the Secretary-General to examine ways to increase opportunities for developing countries in the awarding of procurement contracts, in particular for least developed countries, African countries and countries with economies in transition, taking into account the experience of preferential treatment in this regard in the funds and programmes of United Nations organizations and other intergovernmental institutions, and to report thereon to the General Assembly in his next report on procurement reform;

Requests the Secretary-General to continue to explore ways to increase the procurement of goods and services from developing countries, in particular from least developed and African countries, and to report thereon to the General Assembly at its fifty-fifth session;

Also requests the Secretary-General to submit a report on due attention paid to offers for procurement submitted by vendors from developing countries and countries with economies in transition, without prejudice to the Financial Regulations and Rules of the United Nations and taking into account the provisions of the present resolution;

IX.REGULATIONS AND RULES

Reiterates the request contained in paragraph 4 of its resolution 52/226 A;

Regrets that the request contained in paragraph 28 of its resolution 52/226 A for the submission of proposals on possible amendments to the Financial Regulations and Rules of the United Nations, in order to address issues of potential conflict of interest, has not been fulfilled, and requests the Secretary-General to submit the proposals as a matter of priority, but not later than the end of its fifty-fourth session;

Looks forward to the submission of the text of the additional rules requested in paragraph 10 of its resolution 52/252, as a matter of priority, but not later than the end of its fifty-fourth session;

Requests the Secretary-General to make proposals for improving the system of payment to suppliers, including possible mechanisms similar to letters of credit;

X.PERFORMANCE MEASUREMENT

Requests the Secretary-General to develop a comprehensive system to measure the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of the procurement function, by taking into account the best practices of other organizations of the United Nations system in his next report on procurement reform;

XI.REPORTS OF THE BOARD OF AUDITORS

Requests the Secretary-General to implement fully the provisions of paragraphs 3 and 4 of its resolution 52/212 B regarding the implementation of the recommendations of the Board of Auditors;

Reiterates the request contained in paragraph 6 of its resolution 53/204 addressed to the Secretary-General and the executive heads of the United Nations funds and programmes to ensure timely implementation of the recommendations of the Board of Auditors as approved in that resolution;

XII.FORMAT FOR REPORTS

Requests the Secretary-General to develop a standard format for future reports on procurement reform;

Emphasizes that the reports of the Secretary-General and the Advisory Committee on procurement reform should be submitted in accordance with paragraphs 24 and 25 of its resolution 52/214 B and paragraphs 10 to 12 of its resolution 53/208 B;

XIII.METHOD OF DETERMINING THE BASIS OF STATISTICAL REPORTS

Endorses the observations of the Advisory Committee in paragraph 8 of its report,2 and requests the Secretary-General to indicate on what basis the country of procurement is determined and how this methodology compares with recognized international practice.