UNITED NATIONS — The United Nations adopted new regulations aimed at restricting the future employment of U.N. staff who handle contracts for goods and services following fraud allegations.
The post-employment restrictions were signed Friday by outgoing Secretary-General Kofi Annan, a day after the friend of a former U.N. procurement official pleaded guilty in a bribery case in which the official, Sanjaya Bahel, has been charged.
The new U.N. regulations bar any U.N. staffer involved in procurement from accepting any form of compensation or employment from any U.N. contractor or supplier of goods or services for one year after leaving the world body.
Former procurement staffers are barred from contact with the U.N. on behalf of any party on matters related to their U.N. responsibilities for two years.
While still employed by the U.N., the new rules bar procurement staff from soliciting or accepting any promise or offer of future employment from a U.N. contractor.
U.N. staffers who break the rules would be subject to disciplinary action if still employed by the U.N. and would have notes put in their files recommending against any future employment.
But the most serious impact would be on contractors who offer employment or hire U.N. procurement staffers in violation of the rules. They would be subject to having their registration to do business with the United Nations either suspended or terminated.
The new rules take effect on Jan. 1 when Ban Ki-moon takes over from Kofi Annan as secretary-general.
U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric called the scope the new policy "unprecedented."
Many claims of fraud in the U.N. procurement department arose in the wake of the U.N. oil-for-food scandal.
Former U.N. procurement officer Alexander Yakovlev pleaded guilty in August 2005 to wire fraud and money laundering during his time in the procurement service.
In U.S. District Court on Thursday, Nishan Kohli said he let Bahel rent and later buy an apartment for his family at reduced prices so he could win lucrative U.N. contracts worth more than $50 million.
Bahel, who has pleaded not guilty, is scheduled to go to trial May 7 to face charges that he accepted bribes from Kohli to steer contracts to technology companies Kohli controlled.
Since January, a new Procurement Task Force has pursued allegations of fraud and mismanagement in purchasing for U.N. peacekeeping operations.
In 2005, the U.N. Procurement Department handled almost $2 billion in purchasing for the Department of Peacekeeping, almost double the amount in 2003, U.N. officials said.
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