The UN has issued its latest notice to suppliers and permanent missions under the oil-for-food programme for transactions with Iraq.

The 8 October 2003 notice confirms arrangements for transactions struck before this year's Iraqi conflict in the letter of credit (L/C) based programme that is now in the process of winding down.

Goods in transit

A table of goods in transit dated 19 September 2003 has been published. This provides details of all confirmed transit cases registered by the Office of the Iraq Programme (OIP) as of 25 July 2003.

The deadline for goods eligible for consideration as in transit has been adjusted from 17 March 2003 to 28 March 2003.

Suppliers not included

The UN notice suggests that suppliers not included in the table that had shipped goods on or before 28 March 2003 should notify OIP by email at cpmd-desk@un.org.

But suppliers that have already talked to OIP and been advised that they are not a transit case should not contact OIP again unless they shipped goods between 17 March 2003 and 28 March 2003.

Work in progress

Prioritisation of contracts under Security Council resolution 1483 passed in May continues. This process involves a review by the UN, in consultation with the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA), of the relative utility of approved and funded contracts in today's Iraq.

A total of 2,636 contracts reviewed under resolution 1483 are included in the newly published list of confirmed priorities as at 22 September 2003.This compares with the 1,612 contracts that had been similarly reviewed as at 25 July 2003.

The review process will continue and the list is not final. It will be periodically updated as additional contracts are reviewed and added to the list.

L/C issuance or extension

Once contracts are included in the list of confirmed priorities, the relevant UN agencies and programmes will contact suppliers to negotiate necessary amendments and determine delivery schedule.

If necessary, arrangements will be made for issuance or extension of L/Cs. There is no need according to the OIP for individual suppliers to request issuance of L/Cs or their extension, as this will be done automatically when amendments are processed.

Winding up?

The UN says it will continue processing amendments for as many prioritised contracts as possible until 21 November 2003 when the oil-for-food programme is scheduled to wind up. The current situation in Iraq, relations between the UN and the CPA and internal concerns within the UN, however, threaten this deadline.

Provided the wind-up of the oil-for-food programme does wind up on time, contracts with confirmed relative utility but not amended by the UN prior to 21 November 2003 will be transferred to the CPA.

This means that from that date the US coalition-led interim administrators of Iraq will determine what arrangements are necessary for amending the contracts.

This article represents the views of the author and not necessarily those of the ICC or any of the other partners in DC-PRO.