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A. Amendment to financial regulations 6.9 and
7.1 (publications revolving fund)
B. Revision of the general regulations of the
World Food Programme
A. Amendment to financial regulations 6.9 and 7.1 (publications revolving fund)
THE CONFERENCE,
Noting that the Finance Committee in its consideration of the Programme Evaluation Report at its Eighty-seventh Session invited the Secretariat to prepare detailed proposals for the reformulation of Financial Rule 6.9 to allow more flexible utilization of income from the sale of publication and other information materials,
Noting further that, in recent years, an increasing proportion of income to the Publications Revolving Fund came from sales of electronic publications, or electronic plus print, rather than from printed publications,
Considering that allowing some portion of the income generated through the publications activities to be credited to the originating departments would constitute an incentive to make publishing activities more cost-effective,
Considering further that sufficient funds should be carried over, at the end of each financial period, to the next biennium, in order to allow forward planning of sales and marketing activities and continuity of staffing:
Decides to amend Financial Regulations 6.9 and 7.1 as follows:
FINANCIAL REGULATION 6.9
6.9 There shall be established an Information Products Revolving Fund to which shall be credited the proceeds of sales of information products and the revenue from advertising in and sponsorship of such products, except that where extra-budgetary funds are used to finance those information products, the proceeds of sales may be credited to such funds. The Fund shall be used only for the following purposes: (i) to meet the direct costs of reproducing those information products for the sale of which there is a demand or producing new information products; (ii) to pay, from within the resources available to the Fund, the direct costs, including costs of human resources and equipment, not covered by the Programme of Work and Budget, required for the sale and marketing of all such information products; and (iii) to credit the originating divisions with such proportion of the proceeds credited to the Fund, up to 20 percent thereof, as may be determined by the Director-General, to be utilized within the biennium in which it is credited. Any balance at the end of each financial period in excess of such sums as may be approved by the Finance Committee to cover commitments in respect of expenditures proposed by the Director-General for the following biennium shall be transferred to Miscellaneous Income.
FINANCIAL REGULATION 7.1
7.1 Contributions from Associate Members and all receipts other than:
a) contributions from Member Nations to the budget;
b) direct refunds of expenditures made during the financial period;
c) advances by Member Nations to the Working Capital Fund or deposits to Trust and Special Funds and other receipts directly related to those funds; and
d) proceeds of sales of information products and the revenue from advertising in and sponsorship of such products shall be classed as Miscellaneous Income, for credit to the General Fund. Interest or other income derived from any Trust or Special Fund accepted by the Organization shall be credited to the fund to which it relates, unless provided for otherwise by the terms of the applicable Trust or Special Fund agreement.
(Adopted on 17 November 1997)
B. Revision of the general regulations of the World Food Programme
122. The Conference noted that the amendments to the General Regulations of WFP had been prepared by an Open-ended Working Group and approved by the Executive Board of WFP in April 1997. The amendments had been endorsed by the FAO Council, at its Hundred and Twelfth Session (Rome, 2-7 June 1997), and by the Economic and Social Council through its decision No. 1997/217 of 8 July 1997. Parallel resolutions approving the amendments were now before both the United Nations General Assembly and the FAO Conference.
123. The Conference noted that the present revision represented a substantial restructuring of the General Regulations of WFP. The major constitutional and policy directives were now set out in the General Regulations. Matters of a policy nature, which did not affect the constitutional status of the WFP and which might need to be changed from time to time were now set out in General Rules which could be amended by the WFP Executive Board. Some matters, more relevant to the financial operations of the Programme had also been moved from the General Regulations to the Financial Rules also to be adopted by the Executive Board.
124. The Conference expressed satisfaction at the quality of the work accomplished.
125. Consequently, the Conference approved the following Resolution:
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