The United Nations has issued new regulations which prohibits staffers from taking up employment for upto one year with companies for whom they handled procurement dealings.
UNITED NATIONS: After a recent bribery scandal rocked its procurement division, the United Nations has issued new regulations which prohibits staffers from taking up employment for upto one year with companies for whom they handled procurement dealings.
The restrictions, outlines clear limitations on UN staff currently or formerly involved in the procurement process in the broadest sense, including signing or managing contracts, handling bids, reviewing contractor or vendor performance to auditing the process.
The rules, which will come into force from January 1 next year, also provide for two-year no retroactive contact with the UN if the new job relates to the staff member's former responsibilities.
To discourage employees and companies from breaking rules, the world body plans to blacklist vendors who employ its former staff members within the specified time frames and prohibit any future employment for staffers.
Announcing the measures which were approved by outgoing Secretary-General Kofi Annan on Friday, UN chief spokesman Stepane Dujarric described them as unprecedented.
Responding to a question, Dujarric said these measures are on par with best practices in the public sector.
UN procurement has been plagued by scandal in recent months. Most recently, the Secretary-General had in November waived the immunity of Sanjaya Bahel, an Indian-origin UN procurement officer who has been the subject of an internal investigation into allegations of misconduct.
Nishan Kohli, an Indian businessman, had pleaded guilty in a Manhattan court to bribing Bahel to win contracts worth more than USD 50 million for companies he was associated with.
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