:: Rule 3.7.1: Conditions for the acceptance of donations and sponsorship

1. Without prejudice to Article 38 of the Constitution, the Executive Committee authorizes the Secretary General to accept donations and sponsorship in accordance with the guidelines set out below.


2. All donations and sponsorship paid to the Organization are subject to the following conditions:
1. the donation or sponsorship must be intended for purposes compatible with the principles, aims and activities of the Organization;


2. the activities of the donor or sponsor must be compatible with the principles, aims and activities of the Organization.


3. The acceptance of sponsorship shall be subject to the following additional conditions:
1. the sponsor must fulfil criteria concerning morality, reputation and reliability;
2. the sponsor must not have responded to a call for tenders currently organized by the Organization or respond to one organized within the six months following the sponsorship contract;
3. the Secretary General must be able to justify the choice of the sponsor. He must also ensure that no undue preference is given to one sponsor over others who could finance the same operation.


4. Any donation not involving a transfer of ownership to the Organization does not come under Regulation 3.7 (1) and shall be taken to be an act whereby assets or rights are made available free of charge, which the Secretary General may make use of, regardless of their value in terms of income or savings. However, such donations must comply with the conditions laid down in paragraphs (2) and (3) above.


5. All donations must be used in conformity with the conditions agreed between the donor and the Organization. Should it prove impossible to use them in such a way, the unused amount shall be returned to the donor unless the donor agrees to another use proposed by the Secretary General.


6. The acceptance of donations and sponsorship shall be referred to the Executive Committee under the following circumstances:
1. when the conditions set under paragraphs (2) and (3) above are not fulfilled.
2. when donations directly or indirectly give rise to an additional financial liability for the Organization, in cases where the overall financial obligations do not exceed 5% of the expenditure of the general budget. When such obligations exceed such a percentage, General Assembly authorization shall be sought.


7. In order to protect the Organization’s interests, or when it is necessary to respond to operational needs in a timely manner, the Secretary General shall submit the matter to the President for decision, except in cases when General Assembly authorization is required.


8. The specific conditions governing the benefit derived from sponsorship operations shall be set in the agreement between the sponsor and the Organization.


9. All assets, including any computer and / or telecommunications software and licenses, that are granted or otherwise acquired by the Organization at no cost, or for a nominal cost, shall be recorded within the Organization’s accounts at the item’s fair value as at the date of acquisition. These assets shall be subject to depreciation and provisions relating to the Capital Investment Fund.

:: Rule 3.11.1: Exception to Executive Committee authorization

In urgent cases, or to protect the Organization’s interests, the Secretary General shall submit the matter to the President for decision. The President shall inform the Executive Committee, at each session, of any authorization granted under this provision.

:: Rule 3.13.1: Exceptions to Executive Committee authorization

1. The Secretary General may incur expenditure commitments in excess of appropriations up to an amount of 300,000 Euros per operation.


2. Should the amount of the commitment be greater than 300,000 Euros, the Secretary General must refer the matter to the Executive Committee.


3. In urgent cases, or to protect the Organization’s interests, the Secretary General shall submit the matter to the President for decision. The President shall inform the Executive Committee, at each session, of any authorization granted under this provision.

:: Rule 3.14.1: Expected commitments

Ordinary management expenditure may be charged as an expected commitment against the appropriations for the following financial periods once they have been voted by the General Assembly

:: Rule 4.1.1: Exceptions to procurement procedures

1. The procurement procedures do not apply to:
1. contracts between the Organization and
1. a State;
2. an authority, public administration, or entity in charge of a public service;
3. an international organization;
2. loans and investments covered by Regulations 3.10, 3.11 and 3.12;
3. foreign currency exchange operations;
4. employment agreements with the Organization’s staff members.

:: Rule 4.3.1: Executive Committee authorization for signing contracts

A new authorization from the Executive Committee or the President is required in case of substantial modifications to the contract after authorization to sign it has been granted pursuant to Regulation 4.3(2). The Procurement Committee shall be consulted as to the substantial nature of the modifications to the contract.

:: Rule 4.4.1: Application of the limited competition procedure

Notwithstanding Regulation 4.4 (1), when owing to considerations of fact or law, only certain suppliers are able to execute the contract and their identities are known to the Secretary General, the latter may apply the limited competition procedure, after consulting the Procurement Committee.

:: Rule 4.4.2: Application of the direct negotiation procedure

1. When the amount of the transaction is equal to, or does not exceed 150,000 Euros, the Secretary General may engage in direct negotiations.


2. In application of Regulation 4.4 (3), the direct negotiation procedure may be applied in cases where:
1. the General Assembly or the Executive Committee so decide;
2. the proper application of security measures or protection of confidential information connected with the Organization’s activities is incompatible with the nature of the open call for tenders’ procedure or the limited competition procedure;
3. the quality of the services required is intrinsically linked with the supplier’s person;
4. the matter is so urgent that there is not enough time to apply the open call for tenders’ or limited competition procedures;
5. a contract that was satisfactorily performed is to be extended or renewed, it being understood that in such cases the open call for tenders’ or limited competition procedure should be re-applied after an economically or technically appropriate period;
6. a new contract is to be signed for the same object with a contractor who has been chosen after an open call for tenders within the previous 12 months.
7. a contract cannot be technically or economically separated from the initial contract without great inconvenience to the Organization or, although separable from the execution of the initial contract, is strictly necessary to its later stages:
1. provided the amount of the transaction does not exceed 25% of the initial amount, regardless of the procurement procedure followed for the award of the initial contract; and
2. this exception is not applied more than three times.
8. the price of the goods or services is the same, whoever the supplier may be;
9. considerations of fact or law require that the contract be implemented by a particular supplier;
10. the application of a purchasing policy linked with a plan for standardizing goods makes the open call for tenders and the limited competition procedures inappropriate.


3. Except in cases referred to in paragraph (2,a) above, the reasons for all applications of paragraph (1) above must be stated and the External Auditors informed.

:: Rule 4.4.3: Intellectual services

In the case of procurement of intellectual services, the Organization may carry out a limited competition when the amount of the transaction is between 250,000 Euros and 500,000 Euros. When the amount of the transaction is lower than 250,000 Euros, the direct negotiation procedure may be applied.

:: Rule 4.4.4: Standard IT equipment

In cases involving the procurement of IT equipment with standard and clear specifications, the Organisation may carry out a limited competition when the amount of the transaction is between 250,000 Euros and 500,000 Euros. When the amount of the transaction is lower than 250,000 Euros, the direct negotiation procedure may be applied.

:: Rule 4.4.5: Works

1. Contracts relating to the procurement of works may be concluded by direct negotiation or by any procedure that is customary in the country in which the asset is located and that is likely to satisfy the Organization’s requirements and interests.


2. The conclusion of the contract relating to such transactions shall be preceded by an expert valuation of the asset concerned, unless it is obvious that the scale of the transaction is of minor significance.

:: Rule 4.4.6: Open call for tenders’ procedure

1. The Secretary General shall prepare a document describing the technical and administrative features of the project, designed to enable candidates to set out the main facts and considerations that will be taken into account in the selection process.


2. The Secretary General shall publish an open call for tenders specifying the nature of the goods or services required, stating how the document referred to in paragraph (1) above may be consulted or obtained, and setting a time limit for the receipt of offers.


3. Once the deadline referred to in paragraph (2) above has expired, the Procurement Committee, appointed by the Secretary General, shall open the offers and verify that they were received within the time limit.


4. The offers are then analysed by the requesting department and a report on the analysis and its findings is produced and submitted to the Procurement Committee so that it can formulate its recommendation. Once the offers have been analysed, the Secretary General may hold discussions with the candidates to ask for supplementary details or explanations about the contents of their offers, or with a view to obtaining more favourable terms for the Organization.


5. The Secretary General chooses the offer economically and technically the most advantageous for the Organization, taking into account, inter alia, the price, operating costs, technical qualities, the professional and financial guarantees offered by each candidate, the availability of goods and/or services, the length of time proposed for executing the contract, and the Organization’s security requirements. If it is in the interests of the Organization, the Secretary General may select an offer including variants not covered in the document referred to in paragraph (1) above.


6. The Secretary General may decide not to select any of the offers submitted in response to a call for tenders if none of the offers appears acceptable to him. In this case, he may, after giving reasons in writing for rejecting the offers, and after consulting the Procurement Committee, publish another open call for tenders, issue a request for offers under limited competition, or engage in direct negotiations with potential suppliers.

:: Rule 4.4.7: Limited competition procedure

1. The Secretary General shall prepare:
1. a request for offers on the goods or services required by the Organization;
2. a list of suppliers to be invited to compete. The list shall be established with reference to criteria guaranteeing their qualifications, experience, and independence. It may be drawn upon a permanent Roster of Suppliers established under conditions laid down by the Secretary General.


2. The Secretary General shall send copies of the request for offers to the listed suppliers and inform them of the date by which offers are to be submitted.
3. IThe open call for tenders’ procedure shall then be followed, mutatis mutandis.
4. If the offers submitted in response to a limited competition procedure are such that the real value of the goods or services concerned would have warranted the publishing of an open call for tenders, the procedure shall be cancelled and an open call for tenders published.

:: Rule 4.4.8: Direct negotiation procedure

1. Direct negotiations are conducted by the Secretary General, who holds any discussions and makes any comparisons that appear appropriate, in the light of the Organization’s requirements and interests.


2. When it is obvious that the amount of the transaction is small, the Secretary General is not bound to observe any formalities prior to its conclusion.