To review cases of old outstanding balances of contributions and advise the secretariat on how to deal with this issue

The recommendation is that these balances be applied against their assessed contributions due in 2006.

The total outstanding assessed contributions for all peacekeeping operations at that date amounted to 1,293 million.

Assessed contributions amounting to US 4,284,502 and or representing 25 per cent of the total contributions receivable in the biennium were outstanding.

Total outstanding assessed contributions for all peacekeeping operations as at the same date amounted to 2,217 million.

(c) Report of the Secretary General on the unpaid assessed contributions of the former Yugoslavia (A 60 140)

This includes contributions receivable in the amount of US 1,447,600.

The total outstanding assessed contributions for all peacekeeping operations at that date amounted to 2,315.6 million.

(d) Note by the Secretary General on the outstanding assessed contributions of the former Yugoslavia (A 58 189)

The COP may wish to advise the secretariat on action to be taken regarding these outstanding contributions.

His delegation drew attention to the conclusion of the Committee on Contributions that Iraq's arrears had been due to circumstances beyond its control.

With regard to the payment of arrears, he drew attention to the technical suggestions contained in paragraphs 68 and 69, which would facilitate both the payment of arrears and the work of the Secretariat and the Committee on Contributions.

Liberia had informed the Committee on Contributions that it had not made much progress in repaying its arrears as a result of conditions beyond its control.

In the case of amounts due to other Member States, the credit balances are applied against assessments in 2006 as part of the normal ongoing financing resolutions, and hence this part of the recommendation is redundant.

At the special session of the Committee on Contributions in 1996, the Government of the Republic of Moldova indicated its intention to pay its arrears of assessed contributions to the United Nations over a period of seven years.

The net cash available amounted to 7.2 million and uncollected assessments and other receivables amounted to 37.7 million.

Nevertheless, Member States should authorize the Secretariat to apply outstanding credits to outstanding assessed contributions.

The provision represents contributions receivable from Member States for prior bienniums and from new Member States at the balance sheet date.

(c) Urges Member States to pay their outstanding assessed contributions as soon as possible to minimize the need to withdraw sums to meet shortfalls in the payment of assessed contributions.

The following is an analysis of the surpluses due to Member States, expressed in millions of euros, after application of the provision for the delay in the collection of assessed contributions.

(h) Assessed contributions. In accordance with financial regulation 5.6, payments made by a Member State are credited first to the Working Capital Fund and then to the contributions due, in the order in which the Member State was assessed.

Since existing measures to encourage the payment of arrears had proved useful, it was not necessary for the Committee on Contributions to pursue its consideration of that issue.

He stressed that requests for exemption under Article 19 should be submitted to the Committee on Contributions in accordance with the provisions of General Assembly resolution 54 237 C. Lastly, further efforts must be made to find a solution to the question of the unpaid assessed contributions of the former Yugoslavia.

In view of the abrupt increases in the assessed contributions of many of its members and the ensuing imbalances in their national budgets, the Rio Group attached considerable significance to the question of the scale of assessments, particularly since the scale established by the United Nations affected the level of contributions payable to other international organizations.

The payment of contributions to the peacekeeping budget in full and on time would also make it possible to speed up the reimbursement of debts owed to Member States for troops and contingent owned equipment.

Accordingly payments and credits for each account have been applied to contributions due in the order in which they were assessed, regardless of whether they were received before or after the respective dates of succession.

The Chairman said that, if he heard no objection, he would take it that the Committee was prepared to accept the request of Slovenia to defer the question of the unpaid assessed contributions of the former Yugoslavia until March 2006.

The table below shows the distribution of Member States' unpaid assessed contributions as at 31 December 2004 in relation to the level of their assessed contributions for 2004 (in United States dollars)

She acknowledged that agreement on incentive and disincentive measures to address arrears was unlikely at the current time and had taken note of the decision of the Committee on Contributions not to consider the issue further without guidance from the Assembly.

Payment of contributions

Assessed contributions

A Member of the United Nations which is in arrears in the payment of its financial contributions to the Organization shall have no vote in the General Assembly if the amount of its arrears equals or exceeds the amount of the contributions due from it for the preceding two full years.

A Member of the United Nations which is in arrears in the payment of its financial contributions to the Organization shall have no vote in the General Assembly if the amount of its arrears equals or exceeds the amount of the contributions due from it for the preceding two full years.

A Member of the United Nations which is in arrears in the payment of its financial contributions to the Organization shall have no vote in the General Assembly if the amount of its arrears equals or exceeds the amount of the contributions due from it for the preceding two full years.

In paragraph 51 of its report, the Board reiterated its recommendation that the Fund take appropriate steps to issue contribution reconciliation statements in a timely manner and further develop its proactive strategy towards the organizations for the clearing of receivables.

A Member of the United Nations which is in arrears in the payment of its financial contributions to the Organization shall have no vote in the General Assembly if the amount of its arrears equals or exceeds the amount of the contributions due from it for the preceding two full years.

Contributions receivable

Accounts payable

(iii) Committee on Contributions

Status of contributions

(a) Assessed contributions

(iii) Contributions Service

The Section cannot obtain sales figures, information on payments due, basic subscription reports or lists of invoice numbers in order to compare data with Treasury receipts or process queries to facilitate mass mailings.

While the European Union supported Slovenia's request to defer consideration of the question of the unpaid assessed contributions of the former Yugoslavia until the first part of the resumed sixtieth session, it stressed that the issue should be definitively resolved at that time.

Recovery of indebtedness to the Fund