REPORTING PROCEDURES
AND CONSULTATIVE OBLIGATIONS UNDER THE
FAO PRINCIPLES OF SURPLUS DISPOSAL
A Guide for Members of the FAO Consultative Subcommittee on Surplus Disposal
FOOD
AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION OF THE UNITED NATIONS
Rome 2001
This is the sixth version of what has been referred to as the CSSD Handbook since the Consultative Subcommittee on Surplus Disposal (CSSD) was established in 1954. The fifth edition published in 1992 updated a comprehensive revision carried out by a CSSD Advisory Group in 1978. The 1992 edition added the decisions made in the Subcommittee during the period from early 1979 to March 1992. Since then further changes have taken place in the reporting procedures of the CSSD. The most important of these changes resulted from suggestions made by the 60th session of the FAO Committee on Commodity Problems which, in turn, were a response to the conclusion of the Uruguay Round of Multilateral Trade Negotiations which led to the establishment of the World Trade Organization. A Working Group of the CSSD took up the challenge, and as a result, a revised system of reporting food aid shipments was endorsed by the FAO Council at its 113th Session in November 1997.
The purpose of this revised Handbook is twofold. It is designed to (1) provide a guide on how the CSSD functions and (2) describe how the new revised reporting procedures were established and how they affect the notification and consultative obligations of aid-supplying countries. To remain as uncomplicated as possible, Part 2 of the 1992 Handbook dealing with the Subcommittee’s history has been excluded from this edition, while Part 1 of the 1992 edition, dealing with operational procedures of the CSSD, has been completely revised.
It is anticipated that some members may still have an interest in the historical background of the CSSD and may wish to examine the process whereby the various committees and governing bodies of FAO developed the procedures of the Subcommittee. To meet these needs, footnotes in the text refer readers to the relevant sections in the 1992 Handbook for details. The 1992 Handbook should therefore be retained as a background document on the early history of the Subcommittee and as a ready reference for earlier decisions adopted by FAO statutory bodies.