Subsequently renamed Procurement Service.

The Procurement Service agrees with this recommendation.

The Procurement Service agrees with this recommendation.

Taking this into account, the Advisory Committee recommends approval of posts for one Procurement Assistant (Field Service) three Procurement Assistants (national General Service staff) and two Procurement Assistants (United Nations Volunteers).

(a) Three Procurement Assistants, Field Service (new posts)

The Procurement Service instead proposed an amendment to the Procurement Manual that would deal with the issue.

In 2004, UNOPS reorganized its client service and procurement operations.

(b) Three Procurement Assistants, national General Service staff (new posts)

Statement of work issued by the Procurement Service first quarter of 2005

In the meantime, the Procurement Service will organize a second round of the advanced field procurement training programme to upgrade skills of procurement staff in the field missions.

For instance, in Chile, the official procurement website offers the Normative Orientation Service (Servicio Orientación Formativa) that provides legal advice on procurement rules.

To support the activities of newly established peacekeeping missions, several staff members of the Procurement Service have been assigned to perform procurement functions.

The Procurement Service has been taking all possible measures to increase procurement opportunities for vendors from developing countries and countries with economies in transition.

The Procurement Service issued the most recent reminder to Section Chiefs in February 2006.

The Procurement Service is working together with the Department of Peacekeeping Operations to improve the skills and capacity of the peacekeeping missions in procurement and contract management.

Requests the Secretary General to make the United Nations Procurement Manual available to Member States through the website of the Procurement Service no later than August 2006

The June 2005 review evaluated positively the transparency achieved by the United Nations Procurement Service website.

The Committee does not see the need for three procurement assistants at the Field Service level.

In December 2002, the General Legal Division proposed to the Procurement Service that a team composed of the requisitioner, the Procurement Service and the Office of Legal Affairs should be convened at an early stage in the procurement process so that major legal issues that were likely to arise could be addressed.

The table displays two staffing efficiency measures, the average value procured in 2002 by each staff member (Professional and General Service combined) of an organization's procurement unit, and procurement staff costs as a percentage of procurement spending.

The Procurement Service will also discuss this issue during the annual Chief Procurement Officers conference, scheduled to take place at Headquarters in the last week of April 2005.

The Procurement Service is also in the process of promulgating a United Nations vendor code of conduct.

In the meantime, the Procurement Service is assisting the peacekeeping missions in identifying potential suppliers wherever necessary.

To ensure that the Department of Peacekeeping Operations submits the consolidated acquisition plan to the Procurement Service by 1 June of each financial year, the Department has an internal goal of submitting all acquisition plans to the Procurement Service by 15 May.

To facilitate data exchange between Headquarters and the peacekeeping missions, the Procurement Service has been working with the Department of Peacekeeping Operations to develop a common procurement management system.

The Division formally meets with the Procurement Service each month and with other procurement clients every second month, both for this purpose and to review the status of current matters.

UNOPS reorganized its client service and procurement operations and decentralized staff out of New York into regional structures.

The Procurement Service has also been working with the Office of Legal Affairs to develop model lease and contract templates to facilitate the work of procurement officials in the peacekeeping missions.

(a) Procurement Division, Department of Management eleven posts (one P 5, three P 4, four P 3, one General Service (Principal level) and two General Service (Other level))

1 P 5 post for the Chief of the Logistics and Transportation Section in the Procurement Service (ibid., para.

The Tribunal accepts the recommendations and has implemented them in compliance with directives issued by the United Nations Procurement Service.

The Peacekeeping Service undertook a number of audits, including of procurement, vacancy rates and the state of discipline at various missions.

In paragraph 236 of its report, the Board recommended that the Economic Commission for Africa request the assistance of the Procurement Division since renamed Procurement Service in implementing a code of ethics and the signing of declarations of independence of all staff members involved in procurement.

Welcomes the training programmes for United Nations procurement staff that the Procurement Service has initiated, including in the field, and requests the Secretary General to support these programmes and to evaluate and monitor their impact

(d) Evaluation and strengthening of institutions, public service management and the management of public finances, including public procurement, and the private sector

The Procurement Service has been making efforts to obtain vendor performance evaluations from requisitioners regularly and prior to the extension of contracts.

In April 2004, the General Legal Division made a presentation on the General Conditions of Contract at a conference in New York, arranged by the Procurement Service for chiefs of procurement from peacekeeping and other field offices.

The public procurement system could be a practical instrument in the hands of municipalities to tender contracts to local small scale service providers.

In spite of a further significant increase in the volume of procurement during 2004, the Procurement Service has worked hard to reduce the lead times for goods and services being provided to peacekeeping missions during the reporting period.

Although procurement data under common service arrangements at some duty stations have not been reported separately, the tabulated information suggests that the IAPWG mechanism has not yet managed to encourage more rationalization of the procurement practices of its membership.

The General Legal Division is proposing to conduct seminars in 2005 for the Procurement Service on software licence agreements, performance bonds and liquidated damages.

UNON has a Procurement, Travel and Shipping Section (PTSS UNON), which procures supplies for UNON, the United Nations Environment Programme and United Nations Human Settlements Programme but not for the other organizations, each of which operates its own procurement service.

The same Senior Legal Officer visited the Sudan in December 2004 to assist the Department of Peacekeeping Operations and the Procurement Service in contract negotiations.

Inter departmental or inter agency rivalries may continue in the kinds of service lines that UNOPS provides, for example in procurement and human resource management.

Notes the promotion by the Procurement Service of the voluntary principles of the corporate social responsibility initiative, the Global Compact, into the United Nations procurement framework, and requests the Secretary General, as appropriate, to report to the General Assembly for further consideration