10 The term "Technical Services Agreement" (TSA) refers to an agreement for research or other technical projects/investigations. Technical Services Agreements (TSAs) which have been reviewed and recommended for funding by an established steering committee or similar established scientific or technical review body are exempted from WHO’s rules on competitive procurement and Contracts Review Committee (CRC) review. The review by an established steering committee or similar review body must include an evaluation of the TSA budget and/or proposed costs. Documents attesting to the decision of the review body should be included as "supporting" documents in the submission of the service request in GSM.
20 In the event a TSA has not been reviewed and recommended for funding by an established steering committee or similar review body:
- an adjudication report (see section VI.1.3) is required in the event the amount payable under the TSA with a value of US$ 2,500 or more; and
- in the event the amount payable under the TSA is equal to or exceeds US$ 300,000, or in the event it can reasonably be expected that the work under the TSA is part of a larger piece of work which will require a total contractual expenditure that may exceed US$ 300,000, the TSA must be submitted to the CRC for review and approval.
30 All TSAs must include a budget, specifying the maximum amount payable under the agreement. Responsible officers should normally avoid the use of advance payments in TSA arrangements, in accordance with good financial management practices. If an advance payment exceeds 50% of the TSA total, prior approval by the Comptroller at headquarters or the Director of Administration and Finance in a region is required.
40 The WHO Research Ethics Review Committee (ERC) provides ethical review of research involving human participants funded or otherwise supported by headquarters, and similar mechanisms exist in regional offices. If a regional office does not have such a mechanism, the ERC at headquarters is responsible for providing oversight. It is the responsibility of the WHO Responsible Officer to ensure compliance with policies and procedures relating to the ERC (see section XVI.3.1).
