However, the Committee understands that such exigency was not always adequately substantiated.

The definition of exigency as outlined in the report of the Secretary General, appears too broad to be of any real value in exercising the required control over the use of exigency.

Peacebuilding is a political exigency that must be fine tuned and implemented as an art.

The Board considers that major maintenance contracts should not be awarded on an exigency basis.

(i) Exigency should be defined through a listing of situations that may be considered as such

Instruction prepared and to be issued at year end for 1999 procurement requirements. Sharper definition of exigency

From this it would appear to the Committee that more cases might be covered by the new definition of exigency than previously.

(g) Monitor ex post facto submissions and address the underlying causes of those submissions that do not meet the definition of exigency (para. 131)

A definition of immediate operational requirement (also referred to as exigency) and procedures for urgent procurement, especially in connection with the application of financial rule 110.19

The Procurement Service informed the Board that cases that do not meet the definition of exigency may have to be reviewed by the Headquarters Committee on Contracts.

Administrative heads of missions are allowed to make ex post facto procurement awards and ex post facto presentations to the Procurement Service only in rare cases of exigency.

The Board recommends that the Administration closely monitor ex post facto submissions and address the underlying causes of those submissions that do not meet the definition of exigency.

27. The Advisory Committee endorses the observation of the Board in paragraph 76 of its report that major maintenance contracts should not be awarded on an exigency basis.

According to the Administration considerable progress had been made to ensure that, whenever exigency was invoked as an exception to bidding, such an exception was wholly credible and supportable.

The Administration further informed the Board that the exigency nature of many peacekeeping operations frequently required that contracts be awarded on the basis of delivery schedules rather than the lowest bid.

Extensive comments on the question of procurement on an exigency basis have been made by the Board as well as the Committee in previous reports, in particular in connection with peacekeeping operations.

(a) To reduce excessive flexibility in the use of the exigency provision in procurement and the awarding of contracts and to provide adequate guidance in decision making, the following measures should be considered

28. In the report of the Secretary General on procurement reform dated 28 April 1998 (A C.5 52 46), an attempt was made by the Secretariat to provide a sharper definition of exigency.

In the Committee s view, exigency does not rule out approval by the Committee on Contracts what it does circumvent is the need to go through the competitive bidding process, which should be the normal practice.

In this connection, the Committee believes that comprehensive information on past exigency action should have been provided in the document to have enabled the Committee to better evaluate the definition on the basis of experience.

(ii) As in financial rule 110.19 (h), the nature of the exigency should be documented to provide sufficient evidence to support the decision and to serve as a trail for verification and review (recommendation 9 (a))

Notes the increase in the number of ex post facto cases, and requests the Secretary General to continue to take appropriate actions in order to minimize that practice to those cases which fully comply with the criteria of exigency

Notes the increase in the number of ex post facto cases, and requests the Secretary General to continue to take appropriate actions in order to minimize that practice to those cases which fully comply with the criteria of exigency

8. Emphasizes the need for a sharper definition of exigency needs, and urges the Secretary General to submit his proposal to the General Assembly, through the Advisory Committee, no later than 31 March 1998, as stated in his report

It appears to the Advisory Committee that rather than sharpening the definition with a view to limiting the use of exigency, the Secretary General, as indicated in his conclusion in paragraph 8 of the report, actually expanded the definition.

The Administration stated that it had contracted with the structural engineers on an exigency basis because the firm had a history of low fees and a unique ability to proceed quickly and because of the urgency of the requirement.

The above text supersedes the text of document A C.5 52 46 of 28 April 1998, section 1, entitled Sharper definition of exigency , and will soon be issued as a new administrative instruction and reflected in the Procurement Manual.

As mentioned in paragraphs 24 and 28 above, the Secretary General has issued a report on progress made in the implementation of procurement reform (A 53 271) and another including discussion of the definition of exigency (A C.5 52 46).

(d) Plan its major maintenance work sufficiently in advance in order to avoid exigency contracts, to give adequate time for the approval process, to obtain competitive bids and to have sufficient time to vet the background of the contractors and vendors (para. 79)

8. Emphasizes the need for a sharper definition of exigency needs, and urges the Secretary General to submit his proposal to the General Assembly, through the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions, no later than 31 March 1998, as stated in his report

10. Under financial rule 110.19, Contracts may be awarded without calling for proposals, advertising or formal invitations to bid when ... (d) The exigency of the service does not permit the delay attendant upon the issue of invitations to bid or the calling for proposals .

10. The Advisory Committee recalls that, in paragraph 28 of its report (A 53 513), the Committee had made preliminary observations on the question of a sharper definition of exigency as outlined in the report of the Secretary General (A C.5 52 46).

The minutes of meetings of the Headquarters Committee on Contracts indicate that ex post facto presentations were made to the Procurement Service relating to the extension of existing lease contracts that did not meet the definition of exigency as defined by the Financial Regulations and Rules.

15. Noting deficiencies in contract management at United Nations Headquarters on major maintenance contracts, the Board recommended that all major maintenance works be planned sufficiently in advance in order to avoid exigency contracts and to allow adequate time for the approval process and to obtain competitive bids.

The Board recommends that the Administration plan its major maintenance work sufficiently in advance in order to avoid exigency contracts, to give adequate time for the approval process, to obtain competitive bids and to have sufficient time to vet the background of the contractors and vendors.

14. In paragraph 11 (d), the Board recommended that the Administration plan its major maintenance work sufficiently in advance in order to avoid exigency contracts, to give adequate time for the approval process, to obtain competitive bids and to have sufficient time to vet the background of the contactors and vendors.

According to the United Nations Procurement Manual, section 9.5.2 (1), exigency is defined as an exceptional compelling and emergent need, not resulting from poor planning or management or from concerns over the availability of funds, that will lead to serious damage, loss or injury to property or persons if not addressed immediately .

The Committee also had before it document A C.5 52 46, submitted pursuant to Assembly resolution 52 226 A the latter report contains the Secretary General s proposals on a sharper definition of exigency, guidelines on methods of inviting bids and revision of United Nations Financial Regulations and Rules pertaining to procurement.

The Special Rapporteur cannot ignore the objections advanced by some commentators that certain religious law and custom, such as that arising from Shari apos a, as interpreted by some Governments, requires the application of corporal punishment in practice and that this exigency overrides any interpretation of the norm against torture which would effectively outlaw corporal punishment.

Exceptions to bidding on the basis of exigency will be approved by the Assistant Secretary General for Central Support Services where the proposed procurement is both unavoidable and would either seriously interfere with or impede the operation of a programme or mission mandate or would endanger lives or property were it to remain unsatisfied for even a short period of time.