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Ministry of Trade

UN Security Council resolution 1483 (adopted on 22 May 2003) lifted sanctions on Iraq and provided the tasks and timeline for winding down the Oil-for-Food (OFF) program.

The Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA), Iraqi representatives, and UN officials (Office of the Iraq Program and the UN Office of Humanitarian Coordinator for Iraq) oversaw this transition through 21 November 2003 - the date the Oil-for-Food program ended.

Following UNSCR 1483's adoption, "tripartite" (CPA, Iraqi, UN) working groups were established in Baghdad to facilitate the review of the relative utility of OFF contracts that had been let by the former Government of Iraq and funded by the 59% account. (Under the Oil For Food program, 59% of Iraqi oil revenues were set aside in escrow to import goods for the South and Center of Iraq.) The review was nearing completion as of mid-August 2003 with most contracts having been considered.

The tripartite review process has focused solely on meeting the needs of the Iraqi people -- as defined by them -- in order to ensure that OFF goods arriving in Iraq correspond to stated priorities or relative utility. The figures below reflect the current status of the prioritization process.

For Nothern Iraq, a tripartite review process for OFF programs was also established in the three northern Governorates and included the CPA, UN and Kurdish representation.

The CPA sent a multi-sectoral team of advisors and experts to Erbil in order to help facilitate the OFF transition. This team, led by U.S. Ambassador Steve Mann, assessed the UN programs that were funded under OFF. The goal was to determine whether the programs were still appropriate and, if so, how responsibility for them should be transitioned after November 21, 2003. The CPA wanted to transfer as much responsibility as possible to national or local authorities. If these bodies needed additional assistance or capacity building, the CPA would consider how best to provide that.

U.S. and UK Permanent Representatives to the UN were to provide on August 21, 2003, a report to the Security Council on UNSCR 1483 implementation. Part of their remarks focused on the OFF transition.