FOR FIRST TIME IN FOUR YEARS, UNITED NATIONS BORROWING LESS FROM PEACEKEEPING FUNDS TO COVER REGULAR BUDGET ACTIVITIES, FIFTH COMMITTEE TOLD

16 March 1999

Press Release
GA/AB/3287

FOR FIRST TIME IN FOUR YEARS, UNITED NATIONS BORROWING LESS FROM PEACEKEEPING FUNDS TO COVER REGULAR BUDGET ACTIVITIES, FIFTH COMMITTEE TOLD

19990316 Under-Secretary-General for Management Addresses Committee, as It Takes Up Improving Organization's Financial Situation

For the first time in four years, the United Nations was borrowing less from peacekeeping funds to cover regular budget activities, and cash balances were higher, the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) was told this morning by Under-Secretary-General for Management Joseph Connor.

As the Committee resumed considering its agenda item on improving the financial situation of the United Nations, Mr. Connor said those changes were due mainly to increased payments by the United States. While that country had contributed an amount exceeding its assessed contribution for 1998, the amount it still owed represented 76 per cent of all unpaid regular budget assessments at the end of 1998.

Overall, the level of unpaid regular budget assessments was decreasing substantially, he continued. In 1995, unpaid regular budget assessments had been $564 million while, at the end of 1998, they came to $417 million. The deficit in the regular budget cash was down, too. At the end of 1995, the regular budget cash position had been negative $195 million; at the end of 1998, the deficit was $40 million.

Still, the Under-Secretary-General said, "we have no capital, we have no reserves, we borrow from some Member States to make up for the income we do not get from other Member States".

The United Nations would assess its Members about $1.8 billion in 1999 to cover the regular budget, peacekeeping, and the two ad hoc international tribunals, he continued. That compared with $2 billion in 1998, and $4 billion in 1995. Assessments for the regular budget had been relatively consistent, while peacekeeping assessments had decreased from over $3 billion in 1994 to an anticipated $650 million in 1999. Assessments for the International Criminal Tribunals had risen steeply: $99 million in 1998 and $155 million in 1999.

The United Nations owed Member States $872 million for troops and contingent-owned equipment at the end of 1998 -- virtually the same as 1997 and 1996, he said. Without significant payment of arrears, that debt would remain intractable.

Uruguay's representative expressed concern about reimbursement of troop contributors. Some countries -- including developing countries -- were financing the failure of others to meet their obligations. Troop-contributing governments loaned public moneys for personnel and equipment in the expectation of reimbursement. For many developing countries, such resources were scarce.

While his country was not proud to be part of the problem of debt owed to Member States, peacekeeping cash balances could be examined with a view to perhaps being used to pay those countries which could least afford to have those debts owed them, the representative of the United States said.

Overall, the United States recognized the problem and was working to resolve it, he said. At the same time, the scales used to determine the level of assessments for the regular budget and for peacekeeping were not in balance with the true picture of many countries' economies. Efficiency should be improved, and programmes which no longer made sense in today's world should be discontinued. Those resources could then be applied to more relevant activities.

Speaking for the European Union and associated States, Germany's representative said that non-payment, particularly by the major debtor, caused difficulties in achieving efficiency and reform. As a permanent member of the Security Council, the United States had a special responsibility. Its higher assessment was in accord with its capacity to pay, as determined by agreed- upon criteria. The United States was also the sole beneficiary of a "ceiling", or maximum level of contributions.

A number of speakers stressed that the only way out of the United Nations financial problems was total payment by all Member States. Guyana's representative, speaking for the "Group of 77" developing countries and China, called on Member States to honour their legal obligations in full and on time. The representative of the Philippines, speaking for the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN), stressed that payment, not revising the scales used for assessing contributions, was the only way to resolve the financial crisis.

Statements on the United Nations financial situation were also made by the representatives of Syria, Republic of Korea, China, Cuba, Canada and Morocco. The Under-Secretary-General for Management responded to delegations' questions and comments.

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When the Committee discussed its programme of work this morning, the representatives of Australia and Cuba spoke. Also, Syria's representative asked for responses to questions posed at earlier meetings regarding telephones and parking arrangements.

The Committee will meet again at 10 a.m. on Friday, 19 March, when it is scheduled to take up its review of the United Nations administrative efficiency, including the matter of gratis personnel loaned to the United Nations by Member States.

Committee Work Programme

The Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) met this morning to resume consideration of its agenda item on improving the Organization's financial situation.

Statements

JOSEPH CONNOR, Under-Secretary-General for Management, referring to the United Nations, said "we have no capital, we have no reserves, we borrow from some Member States to make up for the income we do not get from other Member States". Still, there were some encouraging indicators.

In 1998, aggregate assessment levels decreased to $2 billion from over $4 billion in 1995, he said. In 1999, assessments for the regular budget, the two ad hoc criminal tribunals and peacekeeping would total about $1.8 billion. Regular budget assessment levels had been relatively flat over the past five years. For 1998, the amount came to just over $1 billion. Tribunal assessment levels were rising steeply, reaching $99 million in 1998 and $155 million in 1999. Peacekeeping assessments had decreased since peaking in 1995; in 1998, they came to $907 million.

The financial review at the end of 1998 was based on an analysis of cash, unpaid assessments and amounts due to Member States for troops and contingent-owned equipment, he said. There had been some positive -- but small -- changes in those three indicators. Total combined cash in 1998 was $736 million, compared to $669 million in 1997; unpaid assessments at year-end 1998 came to some $2.031 billion compared to $2.062 billion in 1997; and the amount owed to Member States for troops and contingent-owned equipment had gone down slightly, to $872 million.

Viewing the Organization's total cash at the end of 1998 with regular budget and peacekeeping cash shown separately, several trends became apparent, he said. Peacekeeping cash was down from $923 million four years ago to $768 million at the end of 1998. But the amount of deficit in the regular budget cash was down, too. At the end of 1995, the regular budget cash

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position had been negative $195 million; at the end of 1998, the deficit was $40 million.

The large decrease in peacekeeping cash followed from lower peacekeeping assessments, he said. Peacekeeping assessments had been over $3 billion in 1994 and 1995; they had decreased by about half in 1996 and now declined to about $900 million. For 1999, peacekeeping assessments were forecast to be around $650 million. A decrease in peacekeeping assessments would inevitably lead to a decrease in peacekeeping cash, unless significant arrearage payments were received from Member States.

Turning then to the United Nations regular budget cash, including reserves, he said the regular budget assessment pattern had been declining somewhat over the past five years. Regular budget assessments provided for a fairly constant level of resources to fund mandated activities, which allowed the Organization to project regular budget cash deficits. The deficit forecast for the end of last year had been negative $50 million, while the actual figure had been negative $40 million -- much less than in any of the past three years.

There were two main reasons for that change, he continued. First, the major contributor had made a larger regular budget payment in the final quarter of 1998 than in earlier years. Last year, the major contributor's regular budget payments had come to 119 per cent of its regular budget assessment while the corresponding figure for all other Member States had been 99 per cent. The reason for that was that the major contributor's national legislation had permitted more prompt payment of appropriated amounts. Since the timing of the United States payment was of real importance to the United Nations financial position at year end, if that country reverted to its previous payment pattern, regular budget cash deficits would rise again.

The second positive trend that had emerged in 1998 was that, by the end of the year, 117 Member States had paid their regular budget assessment in full, compared to 100 last year, Mr. Connor continued. That was a record high, reflecting an upward trend that the Secretary-General wished to acknowledge.

As a result of the above two developments, the chronic string of large deficits in regular budget cash had been broken in 1998, he said. The need to cross-borrow substantial amounts from peacekeeping cash to fund the shortfall in the regular budget cash account had greatly subsided -- and just in time, given the diminishing amount of peacekeeping cash available from which to borrow. The future availability of peacekeeping funds for cross-borrowing was becoming increasingly doubtful.

While peacekeeping assessments were declining sharply and regular budget assessments were stable, assessments for the International Tribunals for Rwanda

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and the former Yugoslavia were increasing due to increased activities and full assessment for them as of 1998, the Under-Secretary-General said. Assessments for them had come to $27 million in 1995, and risen to $99 million in 1998 and $155 million for 1999. In previous financial presentations, the numbers for the Tribunals had been subsumed under peacekeeping. As a result of the change in the assessment levels, however, tribunal cash projections were now prepared separately. The Secretariat could not cross-borrow from tribunal cash since tribunal costs related largely to salary and travel obligations, both of which must be paid currently.

Thus, year-end aggregate cash balances were higher and cross-borrowing lower than in 1997 and 1996, he said. The improved cash position was due primarily to increased payments by the United States in 1998. The good news for 1998 could become bad news for 1999 if United States payments reverted to that of earlier years.

While the level of unpaid assessments was down at the end of 1998, the change had only been from $2.062 billion in 1997 to $2.031 billion in 1998, he said. While there had been improvements in regular budget cash collections, that was not the case with regard to assessments for peacekeeping or the Tribunals. In 1998, in effect, a full year of assessments remained unpaid at the end of 1998.

Also, more Member States were falling under the provisions of Article 19 of the Charter at the beginning of each year, he said. Currently, 37 Member States had lost their vote in the General Assembly under the terms of that Article. Despite the overall high level of aggregate unpaid assessments, the level of unpaid regular budget assessments was decreasing substantially, he said. Unpaid regular budget assessments had been $564 million in 1995, but were $417 million at the end of 1998. For the United States, unpaid assessments had fallen by $98 million; the combined total of all other Member States was down by $49 million. At the end of 1998, the United States accounted for 76 per cent of all unpaid regular budget assessments, Brazil 7 per cent, and 66 Member States accounted for the remaining 17 per cent.

For peacekeeping assessments, the unpaid amount at the end of 1998 came to $1.594 billion, which was about $20 million more than the previous year, he said. That was due primarily to the fact that unpaid peacekeeping assessments had increased by $36 million for the United States, and by $2 million for Ukraine. The Russian Federation's peacekeeping arrears had decreased by $10 million, while the arrears owed by all Member States combined had decreased by $8 million compared with 1997.

As for the two Tribunals, at the end of December, total unpaid assessments came to only $20 million, he continued. However, that unpaid balance was $6 million more than a year ago.

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In sum, he said, the year-end aggregate unpaid assessment balances remained virtually unchanged from 1997. Regular budget amounts were down, tribunal and peacekeeping amounts were up.

Next, Mr. Connor took up the Organization's debt to Member States. At the beginning of 1998, the Organization had owed Member States $139 million for troops, and $745 million for equipment. New obligations during 1998 reached $204 million. In line with the Secretary-General's intention not to allow the total level of debt for troops and contingent owned-equipment to rise, most new obligations had been reimbursed. Additionally, a downward revaluation of equipment debt of $34 million had been. Still, the Organization's debt to Member States had decreased only $12 million in one year. There was no way to liquidate the debt without sizeable arrears payments. The total of $872 million owed to Member States was far greater than the $650 million which constituted the level of peacekeeping activity projected for 1999.

Turning then to 1999 projections, he said more Member States were paying on time. At the end of February 1999, 49 Member States had paid in full -- 10 more than at that date in 1998. Regarding contributors who pay more than 1 per cent of the Organization's budget, France, Italy, Canada, Netherlands, Russian Federation, Australia, Belgium and Sweden had paid in full by the end of February 1999. Germany and the United Kingdom had paid significant amounts, but not in full. So, the year had begun on a high note.

In preparing the forecast for the end of 1999, the major unknown variable was the amount to be received from the United States following its anticipated national legislation for its fiscal year, which began 1 October 1999, he said. Historically, the Secretariat had not included in its projections amounts estimated to be paid in circumstances where enabling national legislation had yet to be enacted. Member States projected payments were limited to amounts already legislated. Following that guideline, no payments by the United States after 1 October 1999 have been included in the forecast amounts. As a result, the regular budget cash amount on 31 December 1999 was projected to be a negative $246 million.

But two alternative projections had also been prepared, he said. Scenario 2 projected year-end regular budget cash by stipulating that the United States would make an end-of-year payment similar to that made in 1998: $197 million, he said. The regular budget cash deficit would then be around $46 million. The third scenario would have the United States, in the last quarter of 1999, reduce its total obligation to the Organization to the equivalent of two years outstanding. In that case, a regular budget cash surplus would be likely to result together with a higher combined cash amount.

With those three possibilities, the Secretariat could not make a firm projection.

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He said the 1999 peacekeeping cash balance was more difficult to establish than that of the regular budget, since payment patterns were more complicated and less predictable, while uncertainties surrounded the amount and timing of peacekeeping assessments.

He said he anticipated the following pattern. Available cash at the start of the year was $768 million. In 1999, receipts should be lower than 1998, but fairly constant, allowing for an average monthly disbursement level of about $60 million. At the end of the year, as a result of falling assessment levels, peacekeeping cash would be $738 million -- $30 million lower than last year.

Those peacekeeping projections reflected the currently estimated total disbursements of $149 million for troop and equipment debt, which would be paid in instalments, he said. Based on that, the projected level of debt to Member States at the end of 1999 was estimated at $864 million -- a small change from 1998.

Collection of assessments in arrears remained key for repayment to Member States of the Organization's long-standing obligation for troops and equipment, he said. Existing peacekeeping cash should be held to cover current and future peacekeeping activities. That would be financially prudent in light of the constant uncertainty about regular budget deficits.

He then made projections for combined cash balances at year-end 1999 based on the above-mentioned three scenarios. If the United Nations received cash for which national legislation existed, combined cash at year-end 1999 was projected to total $492 million. If it received the same amounts as in 1998 from the major contributor, combined cash was projected to total $692 million. If estimates when the issue of application of Article 19 was involved were included, combined cash would be higher than any recent year-end amount.

Summing up, he said recent improvements included smaller regular budget cash deficits resulting in less cross-borrowing from peacekeeping cash. Unstable conditions were: lower available peacekeeping cash; unknown level and timing of the United States payments; larger arrearages in assessment collections; and debt to Member States for troops and equipment. The United Nations financial future was held hostage by those unstable conditions.

GERHARD HENZE (Germany), speaking on behalf of the European Union, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Cyprus, Liechtenstein and Norway, said the Union appreciated that the number of States that had paid in full by the end of 1998 had increased, that cross-borrowing from peacekeeping budgets had decreased and that more Member States had fully paid for 1999 in January than previously. Those improvements were pleasing, and the Union thanked those Member States that had met their obligations.

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The amount owed for regular, peacekeeping and tribunal budgets was about $2 billion, of which 65 per cent was owed by one Member State, he said. Thus, despite the positives, the financial situation was far from solid, and it would not improve while arrears were not paid. A sound financial basis depended on all complying with Charter obligations to pay in full and on time. No Member State could be exempt. It was particularly important that the major debtor, the United States, paid its dues. As a permanent Security Council member, it had a special responsibility. It had the highest assessment, but that was determined by capacity to pay based upon agreed economic criteria. In addition, it was the sole beneficiary of the ceiling on contributions.

As Mr. Connor had said, cross-borrowing from peacekeeping was imprudent and potentially disastrous, he continued, and it put an unacceptable burden on troop contributors. Non-payment, particularly by the major debtor, caused difficulties in improving efficiency and achieving reform. The Union had, three years ago, presented a package for reform of finances. It had involved payment of arrears, a revision of the assessment scales, a set of incentives and disincentives, and increased administration efficiency. The package had not been thoroughly discussed. Some progress towards fairness in the regular budget scale had been made, but not enough. The Union would return to those issues.

GARFIELD BARNWELL (Guyana), speaking on behalf of the "Group of 77" developing countries and China, underscored the intergovernmental nature of the United Nations and the obligation of Member States to fund the Organization in accordance with the established Charter responsibilities. At the same time, sympathetic understanding must be given to those Member States that were temporarily unable to meet their obligations as a result of economic difficulties.

The Group was concerned that cash flow problems had led to the Secretariat cross-borrowing from peacekeeping budgets, with the result that money was owed to developing countries that contributed troops to peacekeeping missions, he said. It would continue to constructively participate in collective efforts to solve the Organization's chronic difficulties. It believed the only viable solution was for Member States to honour their legal obligations in full and on time.

TAMMAM SULAIMAN (Syria) said he was pleased to inform the Committee that Syria had paid the third annual instalment of its arrears for peacekeeping. That money had been paid on the understanding that the sum would be distributed to all operations and the Tribunals, except for the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) the and United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL). The Syrian position on those two missions was that the aggressor must assume all their expenses. Syria was committed to paying its peacekeeping arrears in accordance with the six-year plan it had presented to the Secretary-General in 1996.

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MARY JO ARAGON (Philippines) spoke for the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN). She reiterated her concern about the United Nations continuing financial difficulties, which adversely affected its ability to implement mandated programmes and activities. While the level of cross- borrowing was decreasing, she regretted that the Organization continued to borrow from peacekeeping funds to finance regular budget activities. That resulted in it being unable to repay Member States for troops and contingent- owned equipment and, therefore, placed a particular burden on those States.

The Organization's financial crisis was not due to the scale of assessments for the regular budget or that for peacekeeping operations, she continued. Adjustments to those scales would not alleviate the situation. The practice of attaching conditions to the payment of dues should be discontinued, since it did not conform with the principles of the United Nations Charter. The early settlement of arrears and the timely payment of future assessments was the only way to resolve the recurring financial crisis.

CHO CHANG-BEOM (Republic of Korea) said that while the United Nations was being called on to take on increasing responsibilities, it was simultaneously being hampered by financial constraints. Cash deficits were smaller and the practice of cross-borrowing was decreasing, but the Organization's chronic financial difficulties showed no signs of being permanently resolved. The year-end aggregate unpaid balance for 1998 was virtually unchanged from the previous year, and the level of unpaid assessments remained intractable.

The United Nations practice of cross-borrowing from peacekeeping budgets was financially imprudent and particularly detrimental to troop- and equipment- contributing countries, he said. With the decrease of peacekeeping activities, cross-borrowing might cease to be a viable option. His country had consistently paid in full and on time. Noting that the United Nations financial crisis had to do primarily with the major contributor's failure to pay its arrears, he called on all States to pay in full and on time.

It was regrettable that the high-level open-ended working group on the financial situation of the United Nations, which had held prolonged negotiations since 1995, had failed to produce concrete results, he said. All proposed measures to induce Member States to pay their contributions on time should be considered carefully.

RICHARD SKLAR (United States) said his delegation recognized its obligation to pay the arrears owed to the United Nations. The Administration was working on that problem on a daily basis. He expressed appreciation to the Under-Secretary-General for noting that the United States commitment made in December to accelerate regular budget payments had been helpful in reducing the year-end borrowing to a five-year low. Mr. Connor's presentation had showed clearly that in four of the past five years, including the last three,

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the United States had equalled or exceeded 100 per cent of its assessments for the year.

While the Under-Secretary-General had been correct in presenting three possible scenarios for projecting fund availability for 1999, the second and third were the likely ones, he said. The first scenario contemplated no payment from the United States, which was unlikely. He hoped the second scenario would be the case. The third described the situation where the United States worked to avoid the imposition of sanctions under Article 19.

Turning then to amounts owed to countries that contributed troops and equipment, he said the United States was not proud to have contributed to the situation. The Secretariat should examine its peacekeeping cash balance. Possibly, that amount should be reduced -- to a level that remained prudent -- and some of it used to make payments to those countries which could least afford to have these debts owed them.

Overall, the United States recognized the problem and would work to resolve it, he said. The scales for assessing the regular budget and peacekeeping were not in balance with the true picture of many countries' economies today. The United States would press for reforms regarding efficiency and improvement of management. He asked all Member States to look at programmes that no longer made sense in today's world. Those programmes should be discontinued and the money made available for more relevant ones.

BERNARDO GREIVER (Uruguay) said he was worried about the persistence of the financial situation of the Organization and particularly the impact it had on the reimbursement of troop contributors. Some countries -- including developing countries -- were financing the failure of others to meet their obligations. The debt had been described as intractable. It must be remembered that troop-contributing governments had put forward public moneys for personnel and equipment. Those public moneys had been paid in the expectation of reimbursement, and for many developing countries they were scarce. Many of the countries that had paid their assessments had suffered economic difficulties, but had still made the effort required to pay their legal obligations to the Organization.

ZHANG WANHAI (China) said he was pleased that the financial situation of the Organization had improved, but it was only by a very small margin. The largest contributor was still in arrears, he noted, and the regular budget was still borrowing from peacekeeping accounts. The amount owed by the United Nations to troop-contributing countries was still very large.

The financial crisis faced by the United Nations was not related to the scale of assessments, which was agreed to by all Member States, he said. It was common knowledge that many Asian countries had undergone a serious financial crisis last year. China had also been devastated by floods.

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However, it had made an effort to fulfil its financial obligations to the United Nations -- it had paid its assessment in full and earlier than in the past. He hoped that, on the eve of the millennium, all Member States, especially the largest contributor, would fulfil their financial obligations to the Organization in full, on time and without conditions.

DULCE BUERGO RODRIGUEZ (Cuba) said she had taken note of the information presented this morning and appreciated the problem of the Organization's liquidity. Unfortunately, she could not see any light for the long-term, except that provided by those governments which had paid all their assessments and by those which had made tremendous efforts to pay in difficult economic circumstances. In 1998, Cuba had made a serious effort to pay and had reduced its debt to the regular, peacekeeping and Tribunal budgets. This year, she was sure it would take its place among the countries that had paid in full.

Cuba still believed that, in the light of information presented today, the only way out of the United Nations financial situation was total payment by all, particularly by the major contributor, and she was glad Mr. Connor had recognized that, she said. Payment by the major contributor would significantly change the Organization's situation. Cuba was also concerned about debt to troop contributors. Regarding the slight reduction of the deficit over the last few years, and also the reduction of the major contributor's debt, any analysis she would make would include the slight reduction in the budget of the Organization. She reiterated that the scales of assessment approved for the regular budget and for peacekeeping operations had no impact on the financial situation. The solution was payment by all Member States of the commitments they had made.

JOHN ORR (Canada) said that timely regular updates on the situation, such as that provided today, helped Member States to understand the complexities the Organization must deal with on a daily basis. He urged all Member States to pay in full, on time and without conditions. He asked Mr. Connor to provide a current estimate based on his forecast of the amount that the major contributor would need to pay in order to ensure it did not fall two years behind in its payments.

ABDESALAM MEDINA (Morocco) said the information provided by Mr. Connor on amounts owed to Member States for troops and equipment considerably understated the amount owed to Morocco, and he would like an explanation.

Mr. CONNOR, Under-Secretary-General for Management, responding to points raised my Member States, explained that the United States suggestion about making payments to certain countries owed for troops and equipment could best be answered by stating firmly and unequivocally that his role was to hope for the best and prepare for the worst. The Organization was "very close" on cash and faced major uncertainties. For example, peacekeeping could diminish below current predictions. The suggestion -- preferential payment -- had been

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discussed previously within the Secretariat. However, the Secretariat had not been given the authority by Member States to make preferential payments.

The Organization had a highly structured way of making payments to Member States, he continued. Before it could make payments for contributions to a particular mission, it must have cash in that specific peacekeeping account. There was no cash in the Somalia account and none in the former Yugoslavia account. The United Nations could not pay what it did not have.

In response to the request from the representative of Canada, he said he had calculated an estimate of the amount that he considered would be required to ensure that the major contributor did not fall two years behind in its payments, but he was not going to disclose it. It was difficult to forecast with any certainty what amount a Member State would have to pay to avoid Article 19 in a given year. His estimate of the amount had changed dramatically when the Security Council had decided not to go ahead with certain missions, and could again change dramatically with further Council decisions. He would consult with Member States for which Article 19 sanctions appeared to be pending. What he could say with assurance was that, if the Member State in question paid an amount sufficient to avoid Article 19 sanctions, then the United Nations cash levels would be above zero.

In response to the question from the representative of Morocco, he said he thought the difference probably related to amounts owed for disability and for letters of assist. Those liabilities were not traditionally included in amounts listed as owed for troops and equipment. They were different types of obligations.

Other Matters

MILES ARMITAGE (Australia), coordinator of the agenda item on human resources management, reluctantly suggested holding two informal consultations on the matter on a weekend day.

MOVSES ABELIAN (Armenia), Fifth Committee Chairman, said Committee members had agreed that the item was a priority. It was up to the Committee members to decide on the coordinator's suggestion.

Ms. BUERGO RODRIGUEZ (Cuba) said the Committee had expressed its intention to focus on priorities on which it could act. The agenda items being considered should be reviewed.

The CHAIRMAN said he had put items into the work programme that delegates had expressed the desire to discuss; if the Committee proposed deleting a report, he would be happy to do so. Some items required only procedural decisions, which would take minutes. If the Committee did not wish to do so, that was fine. There seemed to be no objection to the proposed

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Saturday meetings. He asked for proposals on which issues should be deleted from the tentative programme of work. When no Committee member responded, he said the programme of work stood.

Mr. SULAIMAN (Syria) said over the past week his delegation had asked the Secretariat about the telephone system on the conference room floor. Also, there were outstanding questions regarding the problem of non-diplomatic cars occupying places reserved for diplomatic cars in the United Nations garage. Delegates were suffering from that practice on a daily basis, and he hoped for an answer at the next meeting.

The CHAIRMAN said the Assistant Secretary-General for Central Support Services would be asked to respond.

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