The following Regulations shall govern the financial administration of the Network of Aquaculture Centres in Asia and the Pacific (hereinafter referred to as “the Organization”), established under the Agreement on the Establishment of the Organization of the Network of Aquaculture Centres in Asia and the Pacific (hereinafter referred to as “the Agreement”).
Regulation 1
Financial Period
The financial period of the Organization shall be the calendar year.
Regulation 2
Budget
The Coordinator shall be responsible for the financial management of the Organization. He shall prepare and submit to the regular session of the Governing Council (established under Article 8 of the Agreement) budget estimates for the ensuing financial period.
The budget estimates shall be dispatched by the Coordinator to the members of the Governing Council not less than sixty days before the date fixed for the opening of the annual regular session of the Governing Council at which they are to be considered. The budget estimates shall be accompanied by such information and explanatory notes as may be requested by the Governing Council or deemed necessary by the Coordinator.
The budget estimates shall cover income and expenditures for the financial period to which they relate and shall be presented in United States dollars.
The budget estimates shall be divided by function into chapters and, when necessary, into sub-chapters.
Regulation 3
Appropriations
The appropriations voted by the Governing Council for the ensuring financial period shall constitute an authorization to the Coordinator to incur obligations and make payments for the purposes for which the appropriations were voted, and up to the amounts so voted.
The Coordinator may also incur obligations against future periods before appropriations are voted when such obligations are necessary for the continued effective functioning of the Organization, provided such obligations are restricted to administrative requirements of a continuing nature not exceeding the scale of such requirements as authorized in the budget of the current financial period.
Appropriations shall be available for obligations during the financial period to which they relate. Unobligated appropriations at the close of the financial period shall be carried over and included in the budget for the next financial period, unless the Governing Council otherwise decides.
Transfers within the same chapter of the budget may be effected by the Coordinator, who shall report thereon to the Governing Council.
Transfers from one chapter of the budget to another or any major budget revision must be approved by the Governing Council.
Regulation 4
Provision of Funds
The appropriations for a financial period shall be financed by annual contributions made by Members of the Organization pursuant to Article 13 of the Agreement.
The appropriations for a financial period may also be financed by voluntary contributions from Members of the Organization or from other sources, and from any other income accruing to the Organization.
Regulation 5
Funds
For the purposes of accounting for the expenditures of the Organization, there shall be established a General Fund, a Reserve Fund and such trust funds as the Governing Council may decide to establish from time to time.
Regulation 6
General Fund
The following monies shall be credited to the General Fund:
Annual contributions from members of the Organization, and
Any other income accruing to the Organization.
Regulation 7
Reserve Fund
A Reserve Fund shall be established.
In determining the regular budget the Governing Council shall decide the amount thereof which shall be deposited in the Reserve Fund.
The Reserve Fund shall be used to finance operations of the Organization to the extent that annual contributions and/or revenue have not yet been received and for such other purposes as the Governing Council may determine.
Surplus income at the end of the financial period shall be transferred to the Reserve Fund.
The level of the Reserve Fund shall be reviewed by the Governing Council from time to time.
Regulation 8
Trust Funds
The Coordinator may accept on behalf of the Organization voluntary contributions whether or not in cash from Members of the Organization, or, subject to the approval of the Governing Council, from other sources as may be approved by the Governing Council, provided that the purposes for which such voluntary contributions have been made are consistent with the policies, aims and activities of the Organization. The Coordinator shall establish trust funds to cover such voluntary contributions and shall report thereon to the Governing Council.
Regulation 9
Accounts
The Coordinator shall maintain such accounts as are necessary and shall prepare a statement of accounts at the end of each year which shall show in United States dollars:
The income and expenditures of all funds.
The status of appropriations, including:
the original budget appropriations;
the appropriations as modified by transfer;
credits, if any, other than the appropriations voted by the Governing Council;
the amounts charged against those appropriations and other credits.
The assets and liabilities of the Organization.
Separate accounts shall be maintained for all trust funds.
The Coordinator shall submit to the auditors the accounts for each year not later than thirty days following the end of the year.
Regulation 10
Custody of Funds
The Coordinator shall designate the bank or banks in which the funds of the Organization shall be kept and report all such depositories to the Governing Council.
Regulation 11
Investment of Funds
The Coordinator may make short-term investments of monies not needed for immediate requirements. He may make long-term investments of monies standing to the credit of trust funds in such manner as may be authorized by the Governing Council. Interest on the investment of monies standing to the credit of trust funds shall accrue to such trust funds.
The Coordinator shall report periodically to the Governing Council on short-term and long-term investments.
Regulation 12
External Audit
The Governing Council shall appoint an external auditor who may be changed only by the Governing Council.
The auditor shall perform such an audit as he deems necessary to certify:
That the financial statements are in accord with the books and records of the Organization.
That the financial transactions reflected in the statements have been in accordance with the Regulations and Rules, the budgetary provisions, and other applicable directives, and
That the monies on deposit and on hand have been verified by certificates received directly from the Organization's depositaries or by actual count.
Subject to the directions of the Governing Council, the auditor shall be the sole judge as to the acceptance in whole or in part of the certifications by the Coordinator and may proceed to such detailed examination and verifications as he chooses of all financial records, including those relating to supplies and equipment.
The auditor and his staff shall have free access at all convenient times to all books of account and records which are, in the opinion of the auditor, necessary for the performance of the audit. Information classified in the records of the Coordinator as confidential, and which is required for the purposes of the audit, shall be made available on application to the Coordinator.
The auditor, in addition to certifying the accounts, may make such observations as he deems necessary with respect to the efficiency of the financial procedures, the accounting system, the internal financial controls, and, in general, the financial consequences of administrative procedures. In no case, however, shall the auditor include criticism in his audit report without first affording the Coordinator an opportunity of explanation to the auditor of the matter under observation. Audit objections to any item in the accounts shall be immediately communicated to the Coordinator.
The auditor shall prepare a report on the accounts certified, and on any matters on which the Governing Council by resolution thereon may from time to time give specific instructions.
The auditor shall submit his report to the Governing Council not later than ninety days following the end of the year to which the accounts relate.
