il - for - F ood ▁Program me ▁and ▁found ▁that ▁nearly ▁half ▁had ▁been ▁over pr iced , ▁by ▁an ▁average ▁of ▁ 2 1 ▁percent . ▁Un like ▁the ▁ 6 6 1 ▁committee , ▁members ▁of ▁the ▁Security ▁Council ▁had ▁the ▁authority ▁to ▁launch ▁investig ations ▁into ▁contract s ▁and ▁to ▁stop ▁any ▁contract ▁they ▁did ▁not ▁like . ▁The ▁British ▁and ▁the ▁Americans ▁had ▁turned ▁down ▁hundreds ▁of ▁O il - for - F ood ▁contract ▁requests , ▁but ▁these ▁were ▁blocked ▁primarily ▁on ▁the ▁grounds ▁that ▁the ▁items ▁being ▁imported ▁were ▁dual - use ▁techn ologies . ▁ ▁To ▁quote ▁the ▁G A O ▁report , ▁in ▁its ▁summary : ▁▁ ▁Both ▁the ▁UN ▁Secretary - General , ▁through ▁the ▁Office ▁of ▁the ▁Ira qi ▁Program me ▁( O IP ) ▁and ▁the ▁Security ▁Council , ▁through ▁its ▁san ctions ▁committee ▁for ▁Ira q , ▁were ▁responsible ▁for ▁over see ing ▁the ▁O il - for - F ood ▁Program me . ▁However , ▁the ▁Ira qi ▁government ▁negoti ated ▁contract s ▁directly ▁with ▁purch as ers ▁of ▁Ira qi ▁oil ▁and ▁supp liers ▁of ▁comm od ities , ▁which ▁may ▁have ▁been ▁one ▁important ▁factor ▁that ▁allowed ▁Ira q ▁to ▁le vy ▁illegal ▁sur charg es ▁and ▁comm issions . ▁ ▁Joseph ▁A . ▁Christ off , ▁director ▁of ▁international ▁affairs ▁and ▁trade ▁at ▁the ▁General ▁Account ing ▁Office , ▁told ▁a ▁House ▁hearing ▁that ▁UN ▁aud itors ▁had ▁refused ▁to ▁release ▁the ▁internal ▁aud its ▁of