Having considered the comments and recommendations of the Sub-Committee on Monitoring, Evaluation and Finance (UNEP/OzL.Pro/ExCom/35/4, paras. 8 and 9), the Executive Committee decided:
(a) To note the consolidated draft business plan of the Multilateral Fund for the year 2002 contained in document UNEP/OzL.Pro/ExCom/35/5;
(b) To request implementing agencies to resolve data discrepancy issues before including projects from countries with data inconsistencies in their final 2002 business plans in the light of the Executive Committee’s decisions on strategic planning;
(c) To approve a resource allocation of US $176 million for the purposes of the 2002 final business plan, including US $130 million for investment projects, US $22.7 million for non‑investment projects, US $20 million for bilateral cooperation, and US $3.3 million for the Secretariat/Executive Committee/Monitoring and Evaluation function;
(d) To request bilateral agencies to submit their final business plans by the due date, indicating the total level of funds needed and, in the light of this, to authorize the Secretariat to adjust the resource allocation for projects accordingly and account for any changes in allocations that might result from discussions of strategic planning, including additional funds that might be needed for country programme updates and increased allocation for institutional strengthening;
(e) Also to authorize the Secretariat to adjust the resource allocation by the amount of interest and funds returned from completed and cancelled projects when the final accounts of the Fund for 2001 were available, taking into account the balances to be returned up to the 37th meeting;
(f) To request the Secretariat to bring to the attention of countries proposing changes to their baseline data, Decision XIII/15 paragraph 5 of the 13th meeting of the Parties, which provided that changes in reported baseline data for the base years should be presented to the Implementation Committee, which would work with the Ozone Secretariat and the Executive Committee to confirm the justification for those changes and would submit them to the meeting of the Parties for approval;
(g) Also to request the Secretariat to include in its consolidated draft business plans updated versions of the reports on the status of Article 5 countries in achieving compliance, taking into account the Executive Committee’s decisions on strategic planning;
(h) Further to request implementing agencies, where a project designed to assist a country at risk of non-compliance with an initial control measure was withdrawn owing to sectoral data discrepancies, to liaise with that country when finalizing its business plan in order to identify an alternative project that would help the country comply with the control measure concerned;
(i) To encourage implementing agencies to continue to reach out to those countries at risk of non-compliance to provide proposals for activities to be included in the agencies’ final business plans.