A/RES/51/231 Page 3 taking into account the obligations of the United Nations under the Arbitration Rules of the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law;11 7. Requests the Secretary-General to include in future reports on procurement also information on arbitration cases and the related costs; 8. Decides to revert to the question of the structure of the Procurement and Transportation Division of the Secretariat and the request of the Secretary-General that the Division be headed by a Director at the D-2 level during its consideration of the proposed programme budget for the biennium 1998-1999; 9. Requests the Secretary-General to fill the vacant posts relating to procurement as soon as possible; 10. Notes that there are officers on loan in the Procurement and Transportation Division, and decides to revert to this question during its consideration of the report of the Secretary-General on gratis personnel; 11. Notes also that a proposal is under consideration to introduce in the United Nations procurement system an incentive regarding equally qualified vendors from Member States; 12. Welcomes the efforts made to improve coordination within the United Nations procurement system, and encourages the further strengthening of such coordination; 13. Requests the Secretary-General to take further steps to improve the availability and timeliness, including through electronic access, of information relating to current and forthcoming procurement opportunities; 14. Welcomes the electronic announcement of United Nations contract awards through Procurement Update, issued by the Inter-Agency Procurement Services Office on the Internet, and encourages the Secretary-General to make further use of this medium; 15. Requests the Secretary-General to report through the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions to the General Assembly at its fifty-second session on the establishment of a standard procedure for the preparation of performance evaluation reports on vendors, in particular those with major contracts; 16. Expresses its concern about the insufficient use of expertise in procurement planning in eight peacekeeping missions, including the United Nations Protection Force and the United Nations Operation in Somalia, which led to payments for aircraft services not utilized, assessed at 2.4 million dollars in the United Nations Angola Verification Mission and 0.4 million dollars in the United Nations Observer Mission in Liberia; 17. Regrets that, owing to deficiencies in procurement planning and failure to indicate specifications clearly, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees suffered a financial loss of about 3 million dollars; 18. Requests the Secretary-General to entrust the Office of Internal Oversight Services with the investigation of the situation mentioned in paragraphs 16 and 17 above and to report thereon through the Advisory 11 United Nations publication, Sales No. E.77.V.6. /...