CURRENT FINANCIAL SITUATION. Every year the Secretariat develops a budget with a proposed level of income from vessel fees to accom- modate anticipated expenses, which are based upon actual program needs. Many attempts to increase the AIDCP income have been made, in order to maintain a revenue stream that will cover the costs of running the observer program on an ongoing basis, but these efforts have been unsuccessful in obtaining an xxx- xxxxx level of funding for this purpose. Although late payments, changes in vessel ownership, vessel sta- tus (active vs. inactive) and/or flag during the year may result in variations in income levels, there contin- ues to be a need to increase the vessel assessments to pay for the program. As of 31 December 2012, the AIDCP observer program had an accumulated deficit, currently borne by the Secretariat, of US$ 456,647. In an effort to clear this deficit, at their 26th meeting in October 2012, the Parties agreed to temporarily increase vessel assessments for 2013 by US$ 1 per m3. Pending review of the effect of this increase, it was agreed that alternative actions would be discussed at this 27th Meeting of the Parties with the objective of limiting costs to the funds available. Further clarification on the application of these funds is required to determine whether the funds received as a result of this temporary increase should be applied entirely to the accumulated deficit or whether na- tional observer programs should receive a portion based upon their level of coverage. The total income from this temporary increase is US$ 216,800, of which US$ 83,933 would be apportioned to the national programs. Many payments have already been retained by national programs. During the last five years significant efforts have been made to reduce program expenses, as can be seen in column 3 of Table 1, by decreasing IATTC staff cost allocations and field office expense allocations. To accomplish these savings, the Secretariat made some adjustments to the personnel costs allocated to the program, and efforts to reduce meeting expenses continued. However, as noted in column 3, signifi- cant increases in program costs are still being experienced. The success of the AIDCP observer program is fundamentally based upon having a pool of observers who are properly educated and trained to perform their duties. The pay scales for observers hired by the IATTC have not been adjusted since 2006, and are affecting the Secretariat’s ability to retain their ser- vices. In 2000 the...
CURRENT FINANCIAL SITUATION. Every year the Secretariat is faced with the difficult task of developing a budget with expenses that are based upon anticipated levels of income from vessel assessments. Unfortunately, changes in vessel own- ership or status (active vs. inactive) during the year will result in the IATTC having to cover deficits of the AIDCP out of its operating funds, thus exceeding the 30% maximum funding level approved by the IATTC or further increasing the AIDCP deficit. An increase in the surcharges for late payment of fees was recommended at the 22nd Meeting of the Par- ties in October 2009, but that was not agreed. A nominal increase in vessel assessments of US$ 1.55 per cubic meter of well volume was again proposed at the 23rd Meeting of the Parties in September 2010 (Document MOP-23-06), but was likewise not approved. At that same meeting the possibility of asking the IATTC to increase its contribution from 30% to 40% was discussed, but no decision was reached in this regard, and the Parties concluded that efforts to reduce the budget should continue. Table 1 reflects the 2010 AIDCP budget, as presented by the Secretariat in Document MOP-23-06, which includes US$ 1,726,995 for the AIDCP’s 70% share of observer costs, US$ 436,566 for those direct AIDCP costs with 100% budget coverage, and US$ 2,080,379 in income from vessel assessments, for a projected net deficit of US$ 83,182. During the last three years, significant efforts have been made to reduce program costs. The Secretariat made some adjustments to personnel costs allocated to the program, and continued working towards lo- wering meeting expenses. The 2010 deficit herein presented resulted directly from a decrease in budgeted income from vessel fees. Table 1 shows actual income from vessel fees of US$ 1,847,354, US$ 233,025 less than the budgeted amount of US$ 2,080,379. Based on 2010 vessel payments, the Secretariat calcu- lated that an additional $183,549 in vessel fees could have been collected had the nominal increase of $1.55 per cubic meter been implemented. This increase in fees would have been sufficient to cover the 2010 deficit, as well as a small portion of previous years’ deficits. Table 2 compares two proposed budgets for 2012 to cover all costs related to the AIDCP while remaining within available funding, based upon vessel invoices distributed in August 2011. The two different sce- narios for possible expenditures in 2012 are based upon the current rate per cubic meter of US$ 14.95 and the pr...
CURRENT FINANCIAL SITUATION. The current forecast shows decreased expenditure and increased revenue leading to a reduction in the ex- pected deficit from US$ 177,553 to US$ 61,205 for 2006.
CURRENT FINANCIAL SITUATION. Table 1 reflects how increased revenue and decreased expenses led to the surplus of US$ 54,601 in 2008, instead of the deficit of US$ 3,379 forecast in Document MOP-20-05. This has been achieved mainly by reducing staff participation in observer training sessions; also, some expected costs, such as trial sets and legal fees, were not incurred, and surcharges collected were US$ 6,103 greater than expected.
CURRENT FINANCIAL SITUATION. Table 1 shows actual costs for the IDCP in 2004, and the estimated costs and revenue forecast for 2005-
CURRENT FINANCIAL SITUATION. Table 1 shows actual costs for the IDCP in 2007, and the projected costs and revenue forecast for 2008- 2010. The estimates for 2009 and 2010 assume that the annual inflation and cost of living factor will re- main at a minimum of 3%. The difference between the 2008 vessel assessments paid by 1 May 2008 and projected AIDCP expendi- tures is a deficit of $152,163. Table 2 shows the line item detail supporting the summary of projected IDCP expenses for 2008 pre- sented in Table 1. Table 3 shows details of the allocation of the IATTC staff’s time to the IDCP-related tasks they perform.
CURRENT FINANCIAL SITUATION. Table 1 shows forecast costs for the IDCP in 2005, and the estimated costs and revenue forecast for 2006. The projection of revenue for 2006 is based on the amounts invoiced for vessels covered by the AIDCP (over 363 t capacity) and anticipated income from small and inactive vessels, and assumes that all pay- ments are made on time. Projected expenditure incorporates a 3% increase for inflation in costs (except for observer remuneration) over that for 2005. The forecast costs for 2005 have been reduced slightly from the estimates provided in June (Document MOP-13-05b); however, the revenue to date is less than the forecast. Accordingly, the expected deficit has increased from US$ 136,475 to US$ 166,947. The first three options for savings of US$ 20,000 for 2006, discussed in section 4 of this paper, have been included in the 2006 estimates. Table 2 shows the line item detail supporting the summary of projected IDCP expenses for 2006 pre- sented in Table 1. Table 3 shows details of the allocation of the Secretariat staff’s time to the IDCP-related tasks they per- form in 2006.
CURRENT FINANCIAL SITUATION. The assessments paid so far in 2004 by vessels requiring observers total US$ 1,932,286. The forecast expenditure for 2004, US$ 2,062,339, exceeds revenue by US$106,010; however, the closure of the fish- ery in August and September should reduce expenditure by about that amount. At the end of 2003, the accumulated deficit for the IDCP was US$ 494,996. Table 1 shows actual costs for the IDCP in 2003, and the estimated costs and revenue forecast for 2004-
CURRENT FINANCIAL SITUATION. The current forecast shows decreased revenue from the anticipated amount taking into consideration full reimbursement of national programs and decreased expenses, leading to a decrease in the expected sur- plus for 2009 from the US$ 9,744 forecast in Document MOP-21-06 to a deficit of $10,804.
CURRENT FINANCIAL SITUATION. The current forecast shows increased revenue and decreased expenses, leading to a decrease in the ex- pected deficit for 2008 from the US$ 152,163 forecast in Document MOP-19-06 to US$ 3,379. The expected deficit has been reduced from the June forecast mainly by reducing the budgeted salary increases for observers and by cancelling planned observer training sessions.
