The Thirty-first Meeting of the Executive Committee decided:
(a) to adopt the following guidelines for the return of unobligated balances from completed projects:
(i) Implementing Agencies should return remaining unobligated (unencumbered) balances as soon as possible, but not later than one year following project completion, with the amount returned specified by project;
(ii) Implementing Agencies should report on the reasons why any unobligated (unencumbered) balances could not be returned within the required time-frame and when they would be returned;
(iii) full accounting of funds returned during the calendar year of reporting should be provided by project in the annual progress and financial reports;
(b) to request the Secretariat, in consultation with the Implementing Agencies, to develop procedures and formats for applying the above guidelines and to investigate ways of dealing with the balances from recurring projects. The format should include the date of completion, the level of approved funding, the amount dispersed to date and, of the balance, how much had been obligated, how much was unobligated, and how much had been returned.
(UNEP/OzL.Pro/ExCom/31/61, Decision 31/2, para 18(a, b)).
(Supporting document: UNEP/OzL.Pro/ExCom/31/6).