AG/RES. 1529 (XXVII-O/97)

QUOTA PAYMENTS

(Resolution adopted at the seventh plenary session, held on June 5, 1997)

THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY,

CONSIDERING that Article 9 of the Charter of the Organization of American States establishes that "states are juridically equal, enjoy equal rights and equal capacity to exercise these rights, and have equal duties" and that Article 54 establishes that each government is to contribute to the maintenance of the Organization, "taking into account the ability to pay of the respective countries and their determination to contribute in an equitable manner";

TAKING INTO ACCOUNT:

Document CP/doc.2848/97, "Report of the General Secretariat on the Status of Quotas and Voluntary Contributions as of December 31, 1996";

Resolution CP/RES. 541 (816/90), which stipulates that member states must make their quota payment to the Regular Fund by April 30 of each year for it to be considered a valid payment for the current calendar year; and

Resolution AG/RES. 1381 (XXVI-O/96), Table B of which indicates that only eight member states qualified for the 2% rebate of their 1997 quotas for full payment of their 1996 quotas by April 30, 1996; and

BEARING IN MIND:

That other organizations of the inter-American system and the United Nations have mechanisms to sanction member states which do not pay their annual quotas in full to the Organization;

That the nonpayment of quotas threatens the viability of OAS programs and the proper functioning of the General Secretariat, while member states are still entitled to receive benefits from the Regular Fund; and

That, under the Statutes of the Special Multilateral Fund of the Inter-American Council for Integral Development (FEMCIDI), member states may receive benefits only if they have made their contributions to the voluntary fund,

RESOLVES:

1. To instruct the Permanent Council to study, through its Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Affairs, the merits of including additional provisions for the establishment of a comprehensive system of measures designed to encourage member states to pay their Regular Fund quotas to the Organization in full and on time and to prepare a report, including specific recommendations, for presentation to the General Assembly at its twenty-eighth regular session.

2. To implement paragraph 4.b of resolution CP/RES. 541 (816/90) prior to holding any elections for offices or positions to be decided on by the Permanent Council or the General Assembly.