Annex I
Letter dated 13 June 2002 from the Executive Director of the Iraq
Programme addressed to the
Permanent Representative of Iraq
to the United Nations
On behalf of the
Secretary-General, I have the honour to acknowledge receipt, under cover of your
letter dated 10 June 2002 addressed to the Secretary-General, of the
distribution plan submitted by your Government for the new period specified in
paragraph 1 of Security Council resolution 1409 (2002) of 14 May 2002, together
with the annexes to the distribution plan received from the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs of the Republic of Iraq, through the Office of the Humanitarian
Coordinator in Iraq. In this
respect, I would like to inform you that I have been authorized by the
Secretary-General to convey the following.
I have
the honour to inform the Government of Iraq, through you, that, having examined
the distribution plan, and taking into full account the relevant provisions of
resolutions 986 (1995) and 1409 (2002), as well as the memorandum of
understanding concluded on 20 May 1996 between the United Nations Secretariat
and the Government of Iraq (S/1996/356), the Secretary-General has come to the
conclusion that the plan, if properly implemented, should meet the requirements
of equitable distribution of humanitarian goods to the Iraqi population
throughout the country. The plan is therefore approved with the following
understandings.
It is
necessary to recall that the responsibility for the sectoral allocations in the
distribution plans remains with the Government of Iraq, which is also
responsible for the selection of its suppliers and contracting under the ESB (59
per cent) account. The Secretariat
is involved only after the suppliers, through their respective permanent and/or
observer missions to the United Nations, submit applications to the Office of
the Iraq Programme. The financial
allocations presented in the distribution plan are regarded by the United
Nations as being provisional, as the funding level for the distribution plan for
phase XII is based at this time on the estimated revenues to be received from
the volume and price of oil exports from Iraq. Accordingly, the financial allocations presented in the
distribution plan are considered by the United Nations as being indicative and
for planning purposes only.
It has
been decided not to comment further at this time on the content of the
distribution plan, in view of the authorization contained in paragraph 3 of
resolution 1409 (2002) permitting, “notwithstanding the provisions of
paragraph 3 of resolution 661 (1990) and subject to the procedures for the
application of the Goods Review List (S/2002/515), the sale or supply of any
commodities or products other than commodities or products referred to in
paragraph 24 of resolution 687 (1991) as it relates to military commodities and
products, or military-related commodities or products covered by the Goods
Review List (S/2002/515) pursuant to paragraph 24 of resolution 687 (1991) whose
sale or supply to Iraq has not been approved by the Committee established
pursuant to resolution 661 (1990).”
However, the approval of the distribution plan does not constitute an
endorsement of every specific item or project contained in the plan, as in
certain cases the items will become subject to review by the Security Council
Committee in accordance with the relevant provisions of resolution 1409 (2002).
The
approval of the distribution plan is subject to the condition that its
implementation is governed by the relevant provisions of Security Council
resolutions 986 (1995), 1281 (1999), 1284 (1999), 1302 (2000), 1330 (2000), 1360
(2001), 1382 (2001), 1409 (2002) and the memorandum of understanding
(S/1996/356) and that, in case of inconsistency between the particular
provisions of the plan, on the one hand, and the resolutions and the memorandum
of understanding, on the other, the provisions of the latter documents shall
prevail. Furthermore, the approval of the plan is without prejudice to
actions that might be taken by the Security Council Committee regarding
applications for export of particular items contained in the list submitted for
the Committee’s consideration in accordance with its procedures.
(Signed)
Benon V. Sevan
Under-Secretary-General