Statement by the Group of 77 and China statement during the Informal IAEA Technical Assistance and Cooperation Committee delivered by H.E. Ambassador Simon Madjumo Maruta, Permanent Representative of Namibia
Vienna, 16 February 2016
Mr. Chair,
1. The Group of 77 and China expresses its appreciation to the Chair of the Board for continuing the process of consultations with Member States through informal meetings of the TACC, as well as for structuring our discussions by raising fundamental questions.
2. The Group also thanks the Secretariat for providing answers and clarifications to Member States during this process.
3. The Group is of the view that, in striving to achieve the goal of increasing the rate of attainment, the principles of fairness, neutrality and universality should be preserved. The Group believes that the exceptional circumstances beyond the control of states should be taken into account in all cases, including for national projects. The Group also believes that any proposed guidelines should be applied in a manner that does not adversely affect the TC Programme.
4. The Group would like to seek further clarifications from the Secretariat on the following points:
• Correlation between the fluctuation of the rate of attainment and the application of the Due Account Mechanism?
• Expected increase in rate of attainment based on the proposed measures.
• Mechanism for verification of the application of the Due Account Mechanism.
• What is meant by “goods and services”?
5. While taking note of the exemptions described in paragraph 6 of the Non-Paper presented by the Secretariat, the Group would like to see requests for exemptions presented by Member States considered for appropriate decision by the relevant Policy-making Organs. The Group believes that clear and transparent criteria and guidelines need to be established in order to decide on exemption requests in the most objective manner.
6. The Group would like to reiterate its readiness to pursue discussions on possible revised guidelines with the objective of increasing the level of contributions to the Technical Cooperation Fund and the reliability of resources made available.
