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Statement by Mr. Hiroshi Onuma

First Secretary, Permanent Mission of Japan to the United Nations

 

On agenda item 132: Standards of Accommodation of Air Travel

 

First-Resumed Part of the Sixty-Ninth Session

United Nations General Assembly

4 March 2015

 

 

Thank you Mr. Chairman,

 

            At the outset, my delegation would like to thank Mr. Christian Saunders, Director of the Office of the Under-Secretary-General and Mr. Carlos Ruiz Massieu, Chair of the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ), for introducing their respective reports on this agenda item. In the following statement, I wish to share my delegation’s views on these reports.

 

Mr. Chairman,

 

            My delegation attaches great importance to the efficient and effective utilization of resources for air travel at the United Nations, and in this regard commends the efforts of the Secretariat to implement Part VI of General Assembly Resolution 67/254A, including the promulgation of a new administrative instruction on official travel (ST/AI/2013/3).

 

Mr. Chairman,

 

        My delegation recognizes that the Secretary-General’s report focuses on the exceptions that allow the use of first or business class for official travel, the implementation of the recommendations contained in the report of Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS) and the lump-sum option. However, in order for us to discuss this agenda item in a more comprehensive manner, we need further information from the Secretariat with regard to industry best practices in the area of frequent flyer miles (FFM), the actions taken to limit the use of first and business class travel exceptions and the result of the review of the exceptions for ‘prominent person’, which were expected to have been implemented or followed pursuant to the aforementioned General Assembly resolution.

            With particular regard to the exceptions to allow the use of first or business class for official travel, my delegation also expects to receive more convincing and concrete justification and criteria from the Secretariat for the increase in the use of these exceptions, especially exceptions for those travelers considered ‘prominent person’ as authorized by the Secretary-General.

 

            In this connection, my delegation supports the general views of the report of the ACABQ, and wishes to deepen the points of discussions which were raised by that report during the informal consultations on this agenda item.

 

Mr. Chairman,

 

            Japan is ready to engage constructively in discussions on all aspects of this agenda item during the informal consultations, expecting all further information to be provided by the Secretariat, and I hope we will reach a positive conclusion by consensus.

 

I thank you, Mr. Chairman.