THE SECRETARY GENERAL,

In exercise of the authority conferred upon him under Articles 109 and 113 of the Charter of the Organization of American States ("OAS") and Articles 4, 8, and 12 of the General Standards to Govern the Operation of the General Secretariat of the Organization of American States ("General Standards"),

CONSIDERING:

That by Resolution AG/RES. 491 (X-O/80), the General Assembly adopted a publications policy for the Organization, instructed the General Secretariat to formulate standards and procedures for the implementation of that policy, and identified the Publications Board as the entity responsible for that implementation;

That by Executive Order 92-2, the Secretary General issued guidelines for the composition and functioning of the Publications Board, and by Executive Order 92-3, he issued Regulations applicable to all publications under the Board's jurisdiction;

That the OAS' role as "a forum for the exchange of experiences and information has been recognized by the Miami and Santiago Summits, and that an effective publications program is critical for the General Secretariat's success in that role;

That the substantive content of the publications produced by the many areas of the Secretariat is generally outstanding, but the operational infrastructure for implementing uniform stylistic standards, obtaining printing at the most reasonable prices, warehousing, achieving effective marketing, and assuring full distribution of those publications is inadequate; and

That the Operations and Technical Support Services Division of the Secretariat for Integral Development ("SEDI") has the professional and administrative capability to assume responsibility for implementing secretariat-wide publications policies and coordinating related activities under the supervision of the Publications Board.

RESOLVES:

I. DEFINITION OF PUBLICATION

1. For purposes of this Executive Order, OAS publications are technical materials paid for from funds administered by the General Secretariat of the OAS ("GS/OAS") which: (a) represent the organization to a largely external audience; and (b) bear the Organization's name and/or logo. OAS publications may be informational or promotional describing the organization's programs, activities and policies, and may be prepared, printed or produced as books, booklets, magazines, brochures, posters, pamphlets, leaflets, flyers, CD-ROMs, and Internet materials.

2. For purposes of this Executive Order, the term "publication" does not include:

a. Inter-departmental memoranda and business correspondence prepared by the dependencies of the General Secretariat;

b. Individual press releases or other urgent notices issued by the Department of Public Information, the Office of the Secretary General, the Office of the Assistant Secretary General; or the political bodies;

c. Official documents produced for distribution to or by the deliberative organs of the OAS that are classified as part of the official records series and which are classified by the Documents Unit of the Columbus Memorial Library

d. Original art works held by the Art Museum of the Americas; and

e. Documents funded by resources other than those administered by the General Secretariat.

II. THE PUBLICATIONS, OPERATIONS, AND TECHNICAL
SUPPORT DIVISION

A. Change of Name and Redefinition of Mission

1. The Operations and Technical Support Services Division of SEDI shall henceforth be known as the Publications, Operations, and Technical Support Division ("POTS") of SEDI.

2. In the area of publications, the primary mission of POTS is to provide a wide range of publications-related and editorial services to the dependencies of the General Secretariat and other organs of the Organization; to serve as the principal technical entity charged with the day-to-day coordination, centralization, and enforcement of the Organization's publications policy and the General Secretariat's Publications Regulations; and to advise the Publications Board.

B. Assignment of Publications Functions

With respect to OAS publications, POTS shall have the following functions and responsibilities:

1. To provide, through outside vendors or in-house staff, as the case may be, the following direct services to the dependencies of the General Secretariat:

a. Editorial advice and support

b. Technical design, layout and production services;

c. Production scheduling;

d. Warehousing of publications;

e. Printing, marketing, and distribution services;

f. Promotion

g. Pricing guidelines in accordance with the policies established by the Publications Board;

h. Distribution lists;

i. Fulfillment of obligations to subscribers;

j. Preparation of budget estimates for publications;

k. Estimates of copies that must be produced to satisfy the General Secretariat's obligations to libraries, universities, other international organizations, governments, NGOs under general cooperation agreements, and subscribers; and

l. Such other services as are necessary to ensure the creation, publication, distribution and promotion of OAS publications.

2. To prepare, in consultation with the respective dependencies of the General Secretariat, the Draft Annual Publications Plan for the approval of the Publications Board in accordance with Section III(A)(5)(a) below; to implement that Plan; and to recommend adjustments to it, during the year of execution, as needed to comply with the availability of resources, and other changes in circumstances.

3. To submit a quarterly report to the Publications Board within the first two weeks of each quarter on the Office's activities, the status of the Annual Publications Plan, and any adjustments thereto during the immediately preceding quarter;

4. To implement operational procedures and controls to ensure that OAS publications under the jurisdiction of the Publications Board comply with the OAS Publications Policy, with the Publications Regulations, with the directives of the Publications Board, with the Annual Publications Plan, with applicable guidelines for formatting, typeface, and design, and with other rules and regulations of the General Secretariat applicable to publications.

5. To prepare the draft annual publications budget for the Board's approval and inclusion in the Secretary General's draft proposed program-budget.

6. To maintain an up-to-date index on the Internet of all OAS Publications currently available from the General Secretariat, together with user-friendly instructions for obtaining those materials and information on price, contents, and available format (hard copy, CD-ROM, diskette, tape, etc.).

7. To evaluate for the Publications Board requests for allocations from the Publications Revolving Fund.

8. To advise the Publications Board in all matters relating to publications, including, but not limited to, stylistic standards, printing, warehousing, marketing, and distribution, and to make proposals to the Board for the adoption of the corresponding policies and practices.

C. Structure for Implementing Publications-Related Functions

1. The Director of POTS is directly responsible for organizing the internal structure of POTS for the most effective and efficient administration of its publications-related functions and responsibilities within the resources provided and in strict accordance with the rules of the General Secretariat and corresponding resolutions of the General Assembly.

2. The Director of POTS shall report to the Publications Board on the implementation of the tasks assigned to it by the Board in accordance with its authority pursuant to this Executive Order.

D. Transition Resources

The measures set out in this Executive Order shall not require any increase in appropriations in 1998 and 1999 above those already allocated to publications related expenses under the 1998 Program Budget and the Draft 1999 Program Budget.

III. THE PUBLICATIONS BOARD

A. Functions and Responsibilities

The Publications Board shall have the following functions and responsibilities:

1. To exercise jurisdiction over all publications produced by the General Secretariat with funds directly administered by the General Secretariat and to implement the general publications policy approved by the General Assembly.

2. To recommend to the Secretary General the adoption of rules and regulations for the implementation of the publications policy of the Organization adopted by the General Assembly.

3. Upon the recommendation of POTS, or upon its own initiative, to issue guidelines, criteria, instructions, and procedures for managing the production, reproduction, marketing, warehousing, and distribution of publications consistent with the corresponding rules and regulations of the General Secretariat and publications policy of the Organization.

4. To receive, review, and comment on the quarterly activity reports of POTS, and to forward copies of those reports to the Secretary General.

5. To approve:

a. The Annual Publications Plan, and amendments thereto, which shall contain for each publication under the Board's jurisdiction, inter alia, a publications schedule and budget (including the corresponding development, design, production, printing storage, marketing, distribution, and other direct costs);

b. The proposed budget for publications, initially drafted by POTS, for presentation to the Secretary General for inclusion in his proposed Program Budget;

c. The pricing policy for publications and cost/revenue sharing standards based on the recommendation of POTS;

d. The Annual Report on the General Secretariat's Publications for presentation to the Secretary General;

e. Requests for appropriations from the Publications Revolving Fund; and

f. Standards for style and format.

6. To oversee the work of POTS in order to provide adequate coordination and implementation of the General Secretariat's publications program and to ensure that publications comply with existing policies, regulations, rules and practices.

7. To hold at least one Regular Meeting each quarter for the purpose of performing the foregoing functions and attending to related matters.

B. Structure

1. The Board of Publications includes six permanent members and three temporary members.

a. The permanent members are: the Assistant Secretary General, the Assistant Secretary for Management, the Director of External Relations, the Director of Public Information, the Director of the Columbus Memorial Library and the Director of Legal Services;

b. The three Temporary Members shall be chosen to serve annual terms on a rotational basis from among those dependencies of the General Secretariat at the Departmental level that produce serial publications and significant publications funded by the Regular Fund.

c. The Inspector General may attend all meetings of the Board as an Observer.

2. The Chairman of the Board is the Assistant Secretary General.

3. The Board may adopt its own procedural rules.

IV. AMENDMENTS AND REPEALS

This Executive Order specifically repeals Executive Orders 92-2, 76-9, 74-2, and all prior inconsistent administrative issuances. It does not repeal administrative Memorandum No. 88, "Removal and Disposal of Surplus Publications;" nor does it repeal those provisions in the OAS Publications Regulations issued under Executive Order 92-3, to the extent those Regulations are consistent with this Executive Order.

V. ENTRY INTO FORCE

This Executive Order shall enter into force on the date it is signed.

Date: December 21, 1998
Original: English