The International Organisation of Supreme Audit Institutions (INTOSAI) comprises the supreme audit institutions of 194 states, the European Court of Auditors (full members) and five associate members. The organisation was founded by representatives of 34 supreme audit institutions at the first conference held in Cuba in 1953.
INTOSAI is an independent, non-political and non-governmental organisation which was established as a permanent institution to exchange ideas and experiences in the field of foreign audits between the world’s supreme audit institutions. The organisation has consultative status with the Economic and Social Council of the UN. The motto of INTOSAI is Experientia mutua omnibus prodest (mutual experience benefits all) and its headquarters are located in Vienna, where the General Secretariat of the organisation operates on the basis of the Austrian Court of Audit (Rechnungshof). Its official working languages are Arabic, English, French, German and Spanish.
Structure of INTOSAI
The highest organ of INTOSAI is the Congress of members, which assembles once every three years. The work of the commissions and working groups in the time between Congresses is organised by the Governing Board. The General Secretariat assists the Governing Board and committees in the performance of their functions and arranges the organisation’s practical activities. The General Secretariat is managed by the President of the Austrian Court of Audit as the Secretary General of INTOSAI. The standing Finance and Administration Committee and the Director of Strategic Planning of INTOSAI are also based in Vienna.
The organization has the following regional working groups:
- OLACEFS (Organisation of Latin American and Caribbean Supreme Audit Institutions, established in 1965);
- AFROSAI (African Organisation of Supreme Audit Institutions, established in 1976);
- ARABOSAI (Arab Organisation of Supreme Audit Institutions, established in 1976);
- ASOSAI (Asian Organisation of Supreme Audit Institutions, established in 1978);
- PASAI (Pacific Association of Supreme Audit Institutions, established in 1987);
- CAROSAI (Caribbean Organisation of Supreme Audit Institutions, established in 1988); and
- EUROSAI (European Organisation of Supreme Audit Institutions, established in 1990).
INTOSAI organises committees and working groups to discuss specific problems and the performance of specific functions. According to INTOSAI’s strategic plan, the following standing committees have been established:
- Professional Standards Committee (PCS);
- Capacity Building Committee (CBC);
- Knowledge Sharing Committee (KSC);
- Policy, Finance and Administration Committee (PFAC).
The committees coordinate the work of many subcommittees, working groups and task forces in the achievement of the goals established by the Congress. The Professional Standards Committee of INTOSAI has created international standards of supreme audit institutions (INTOSAI Framework of Professional Pronouncements - IFPP), which are constantly being developed further.
The area of activity of the committees includes the INTOSAI Development Initiative (IDI) and the International Journal of Government Auditing magazine.
The National Audit Office of Estonia (NAOE) has been a member of INTOSAI since 1992. The National Audit Office of Estonia is a member of the steering committee of the Working Group on Environmental Auditing (WGEA) (in 2007-2013 the NAOE was Chair of the WGEA) as well as a member of the Capacity Building Committee and its Peer Review subcommittee.
The National Audit Office of Estonia is also a member of the INTOSAI Working Group on Information Technology Audit (WGITA), Working Group on Extractive Industries (WGEI), Working Group on Financial Modernization and Regulatory Reform (WGFMRR), Working Group on Big Data (WGBD), Working Group on the Impact of Science and Technology on Auditing (WGISTA) and Working Group on SDGs and Key Sustainable Development Indicators (WGSGG KSDI).
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Posted:
4/22/2021 10:00 AM
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Last Update:
4/22/2021 6:21 PM
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Last Review:
4/22/2021 6:21 PM