28. The country programmes and project proposals presented by Malaysia and Mexico were the first such matters presented to the Executive Committee for its consideration, therefore, the Committee carefully reviewed the proposals and decided the following:
- Country programmes should be viewed as flexible instruments which set out the framework for that country's actions to meet the requirements of the Montreal Protocol. They should be prepared by countries to the extent possible based on the guidance approved by the Executive Committee in Section II of its interim Implementation Guidelines, as further elaborated in the revised model country programme document prepared by the Fund's Secretariat. The two country programmes presented to the Executive Committee should be reviewed by those countries in light of this guidance and consultations with the Fund's Secretariat. The countries should make any adjustments they deemed warranted and resubmit their country programmes prior to the sixth meeting of the Executive Committee. In addition, Egypt mentioned their initial case study and a list of projects for funding, which should also be resubmitted in accordance with the guidance approved by the Executive Committee at its Fifth Meeting.
- Project proposals, where the agreed incremental costs exceeded $500,000, submitted directly by Article 5 countries to the Executive Committee should be evaluated by the Fund's Secretariat which would prepare recommendations for action by the Executive Committee. Countries were encouraged to consult with the Fund's Secretariat during the course of any such project's preparation in order to provide comprehensive and consistent documentation. (Throughout this report, $ signifies United States dollars.)
- Guidelines for preparing country programmes and project proposals should be distributed to all Article 5, paragraph 1 Parties and implementing agencies by the Fund's Secretariat. Implementing agencies should apply the guidelines when cooperating with Parties operating under Article 5, paragraph 1.
- Support for institutional strengthening within an Article 5 Party, though not explicitly contained in the guidelines on incremental costs adopted by the Parties, might, in exceptional cases, be an essential element in achieving the objectives of the Fund and the Montreal Protocol. As such, limited funding or assistance should be provided by the Fund for institutional strengthening. The level of such funding should be decided upon by the Executive Committee on the basis of a recommendation from the Secretariat taking into consideration the amount of controlled substances consumed in that country and the linkage between the institutional strengthening and specific implementation projects.
- The issue of whether the resources of the Fund should be available to support actions taken within an Article 5, paragraph 1 Party prior either to the approval of a specific project by the Executive Committee and implementing agency or to the project's inclusion in an implementing agency's work programme raised important policy issues that should be addressed by the sixth Executive Committee meeting. The Secretariat should prepare a discussion paper on the subject to facilitate review by the Committee, including recognition and consideration for developing countries which have accelerated implementation of their projects to phase out the consumption and emission of ODSs.
- The Secretariat should, in consultation with the implementing agencies, develop and circulate draft guidelines for the presentation of projects by 1 January 1992.