A/RES/52/226 Page 2 2. Notes with concern that its resolution 51/231 and a number of the recommendations contained in the report of the High-level Group of Experts on Procurement remain largely unimplemented, and therefore calls on the Secretary-General to ensure their full implementation without any further delay; 3. Notes that the revised procurement manual has not been issued, and requests the SecretaryGeneral to publish the manual no later than 31 March 1998, as stated in his report; 4. Also notes the delay in submission of proposals for revision of the Financial Regulations and Rules of the United Nations, which may be necessary to facilitate the implementation of the procurement reform process, and requests the Secretary-General to submit such proposals to the General Assembly, through the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions, for consideration by the Assembly at the second part of its resumed fifty-second session; 5. Requests the Secretary-General, in the context of his next report on procurement reform, to evolve and provide the standards for measuring the efficiency of procurement, taking into account the optimal duration of the procurement decision-making process, the total workload in the Procurement Division of the Secretariat and the cost-efficiency of procurement, against which the performance should be measured; 6. Notes the decline in ex post facto cases, and underscores the need to reduce further the number of such cases through better procurement planning; 7. Requests the Secretary-General to ensure that all departments and offices at Headquarters and in the field develop, in cooperation with the Procurement Division, annual procurement plans, which should be made publicly available; 8. Emphasizes the need for a sharper definition of exigency needs,4 and urges the Secretary-General to submit his proposal to the General Assembly, through the Advisory Committee, no later than 31 March 1998, as stated in his report; 9. Requests the Secretary-General to consider measures to improve the working methods of the Headquarters Committee on Contracts in order to enhance and expedite the procurement decision-making process; 10. Regrets that the report of the Secretary-General does not contain information on the action taken regarding guidelines on methods of invitation to bid, which was recommended by the Board of Auditors in its report on procurement for the biennium ended 31 December 1995,5 and requests the SecretaryGeneral to submit the guidelines, through the Advisory Committee, for consideration by the General Assembly at the second part of its resumed fifty-second session; 4 A/52/534 and Corr.1, para. 24. 5 See Official Records of the General Assembly, Fifty-first Session, Supplement No. 5 (A/51/5), vol. I, sect. II. /...