The effective creation of the 5^th Chamber was given in 1996, in accordance with the provisions of Presidential Decree n° 95-377 of November 20^th, 1995, laying down the rules of procedure of the Court of Auditors.

The Chamber has gradually set up and developed its intervention tools. It is driven by the desire to exercise a useful audit that generates added value beneficial to the managers of the audited entities and whose results and conclusions are likely to contribute to the improvement of the general conditions for the management of public funds and to participate in improving the management conditions of public services that have a direct link with the living conditions of citizens.

Despite the reduced staff, available to the Chamber, the Chamber is striving to make a considerable effort to carry out quality controls, with appreciable results. This has allowed it to contribute, each year, to the feeding of the annual report of the Court of Auditors by quality insertion notes accompanied by relevant recommendations to the public authorities to ensure a better formulation and implementation of the public policies.

1. The scope of intervention of the Chamber

Pursuant to Article 10 of the Rules of Procedure of the Court of Auditors, the decree of the President of the Institution of January 16^th, 1996, amended by the Decree of April 16^th, 1996, determined the scope of intervention and the jurisdiction of each chamber.

As well as, the area of ​​intervention of the 5^th chamber covers sectors of activity related to agriculture, water resources and the environment, forests as well as fishing and fishing resources.

The abovementioned sectors covered cover a very broad area of ​​activity made up of a large number of institutions, bodies and public companies that manage considerable budgets and generate significant turnover.

For this purpose, the institution organized as public administrative institutions (EPA) are composed of 47 establishments, whose chamber, through the annual audit activity program, carries out its main tasks, namely the clearance of management accounts of public accountants and the assessment of the quality of management of authorizing officers. Similarly, it should be noted that other bodies also fall within the scope of the chamber and which are organized as industrial and commercial public establishments (EPIC) and scientific and technical institutions (EPST), the number of which is nine entities. In addition, the 5^th Chamber, and in accordance with the provisions of Article 8 of Ordinance n°95-20 of July 17^th, 1995, amended and supplemented, assesses the management of public economic companies, whose number exceeds 50 companies, at the economic level, efficiency and effectiveness.

2. The general working conditions of the Chamber

In its audit activities, the chamber proceeds on the one hand with the clearance of the management accounts of the public accountants, (juridical activity leading to judgments ruling on the responsibility of the public accountants concerned), the control and assessment of the quality of management of the authorizing officers of public administrative institutions, under the supervision of the three ministries mentioned above, and son the other hand the audit and evaluation of the management of public institutions and bodies; and, in general, all economic public bodies and companies within its area of ​​jurisdiction.

In programing audit operations, the chamber adopts a process based on an approach that takes into account the following elements:

– Operations with a significant financial stake, such as the audit of structuring public projects (building of dams, water transfer operations, building of treatment plants, fight against desertification, development of agricultural land, rural development, .. .etc.);

– Assessment of public policies in support and regulation of agricultural products.

– The audit leads to findings or observations that are useful for making recommendations to the public authorities, through the insertions to the annual report on the one hand, and on urgent proceedings establishing the existence of amounts irregularly collected or held by natural or legal persons and remaining sums owned the State or public body.