Having considered the Secretariat’s paper on the administrative costs of the implementing agencies (UNEP/OzL.Pro/ExCom/21/4), the Executive Committee decided:
(a) To recall paragraph 6 of decision VIII/4, by which the Eighth Meeting of the Parties decided that the Executive Committee should, over the next three years, work towards the goal of reducing agency support costs from the current level of 13 per cent to an average of below 10 per cent;
(b) To recognize that, while the 13 per cent charge levied over the initial years of the Multilateral Fund could probably be reduced as a result of economies of scale being achieved, the percentage could be different for large and small projects, for umbrella projects, and for projects that covered many small-scale enterprises;
(c) To emphasize that, whether or not a reduced rate was agreed upon, the Committee must in no way discourage proper supervision, verification and evaluation of ongoing projects, and that agency support costs should not become a negotiating point on individual projects;
(d) To agree that an independent consultant should be recruited to work with the Secretariat and implementing agencies to identify options and approaches for reducing the overall level of administrative costs, focusing on revising the current uniform, fee-based system;
(e) To approve the terms of reference for the consultancy as contained in Annex II to the present report [document UNEP/OzL.Pro/ExCom/21/36].