Key elements for Iraq’s export-revenue mechanism lacking, Security Council told

Some crucial elements – including an oil-metering system – must still be implemented to allow Iraq to fully manage its own export revenues and funnel them towards development needs, a senior United Nations official told the Security Council today.

UN Controller Jun Yamazaki briefed the Council on the Development Fund for Iraq, which was set up in 2003, following the United States-led invasion of the country, to facilitate the payment of revenue derived from the sale of oil, gas and other resources for its humanitarian needs and economic reconstruction.

It replaced the Council’s Oil-for-Food programme, under which a sanctions-bound Iraq was allowed to use monitored oil sales revenue for humanitarian purchases.

Presenting the latest report on the Fund, Mr. Yamazaki today voiced concern over delays in the completion of the oil-metering system, originally set to become fully operational by the end of next year.

Last December, Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki asked that the Fund be extended pending new arrangements to be formulated this year to ensure that oil revenue continues to be used fairly and in the interests of the Iraqi people, in keeping with international best practices with respect to transparency, accountability and integrity.

That month, the Council voted unanimously to renew both the Fund and its auditing body, known as the International Advisory and Monitoring Board (IAMB), for an additional year.