A Letters of Assist (LOA) is issued by the USG/DFS in support of Field Missions only in request of goods and/or services to be provided by a government that are:

			Goods of a strictly military nature or use;
			Not of strictly military nature or use, but are: Goods that are required in such volume that except through a government, are not available other than through piecemeal purchases and the requirements of the Field Mission render piecemeal procurement impractical; Transportation services for the movement of UN military personnel or goods to or from a Field Mission area which are not readily available commercially or which, if provided commercially, are more expensive or on a schedule that is unacceptable and would likely cause operational disruptions; Dietary or other requirements unique to a contingent, which are available only from the country of the individual contingent, and procurement of which is facilitated or expedited by procurement through the government of the contingent, provided that the cost to the UN of such procurement is not higher than the cost of the same items if procured through commercial sources; or Ammunition.
A submission to the HCC is required for all LOA cases exceeding USD 200,000. The use of LOAs shall be discontinued when circumstances or conditions that gave rise to their use no longer exist.
Click here for guidelines on exceptional use of LOA.