Contents
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A. Appointment of the chairman,
vice-chairman, general committee and credentials committee
B.
Agenda of the session
C.
Arrangements for the session
D. Establishment of commissions and
provisional timetable for the session
E. Appointment of the chairman and
vice-chairman of commissions, and of officers of the technical
committees
F. Committee-of-the-whole on the review of
the organization's general structure
G. Resolutions committee of the conference
H.
Right of reply
I.
Verbatim records
J.
Admission of observers
K.
Verification of credentials
L. Informal meeting of non-governmental
organizations
A. Appointment of the chairman, vice-chairman, general committee and credentials committee
5. The Council and the Nominations Committee recommended, and the Conference approved the following appointments:
| Chairman of the Conferences | Jozef Winiewicz (Poland) |
| Vice-Chairman of the Conferences | Mozart Gurgel Valente Jr. (Brazil) |
| Bruce Roy McKenzie (Kenya) | |
| A. H. M. Shams-ud-Doha (Pakistan) | |
| Members of the General Committee | |
| Australia | Lebanon |
| Chad | United Kingdom |
| Colombia | United States of America |
| France | |
| Members of the Credentials Committee | |
| Dahomey | Romania |
| Dominican Republic | Somali Republic |
| El Salvador | Tanzania |
| Italy | Thailand |
| Nepal | |
6. The Conference adopted the provisional Agenda circulated by the Council (C 67/1 - SECOND DRAFT), which included the additional items proposed by Member Nations and by the Council; these additions had been circulated 20 days in advance of the Conference Session, in accordance with Rule II-5 of the General Rules of the Organization, as document C 67/1-Add. 1.
C. Arrangements for the session
7. At its Forty-Eighth Session the Council had proposed the arrangements and tentative timetable for the Fourteenth Session of the Conference, which were circulated to Member Nations and Associate Members as document C 67/2. In the light of developments, the Council at its Forty-Ninth Session proposed some minor modifications and amplifications which were incorporated in a revised document C 67/LIM/15. The Conference adopted the arrangements and timetable proposed by the Council in these two documents, on the understanding that the timetable remained subject to modification in the light of the progress made.
D. Establishment of commissions and provisional timetable for the session
8. The Conference concurred with the Council's recommendations to establish the usual three Commissions to consider and report upon Parts I, II and m of the Agenda (see C 67/2, pares. 40-42). It also agreed to the revisions in the timetable proposed by the Council in C 67/LIM/15.
9. The Conference concurred with the recommendations of the Council that the Council's report on the review of statutory bodies (C 67/LIM/10) be first considered in Commission II, together with any views on this item which the General Rapporteur on the work of the Technical Committees might wish to transmit to the Commission. The Chairman of Commission II would forward the views and recommendations of Commission II to the Chairman of Commission m so that Commission m could take these into consideration when dealing with Item 29 of the Agenda. The consequential change in the timing of the discussions in Commission m had been taken into account in the revised timetable for the Conference Session submitted by the Council in C 67/LIM/15.
10. In accordance with the Rule VII-1, the Council had nominated the following Chairmen of the Commissions:
| For Commission I | N. El Ghorfi (Morocco) |
| For Commission II | R.W. Phillips (United States of America) |
| For Commission III | H. J. Scharmer (Federal Republic of Germany) |
11. The Conference appointed the foregoing officers, and noted
that the Council had appointed H. J. Kristensen (Denmark) General
Rapporteur on the Work of the Technical Committees of the
Conference.
12. The Conference further took into consideration the proposals of the General Committee in accordance with Rule XIII and General Rules of the Organization, and appointed:
N. A. R. Reichart
(Argentina) and J. Keutcha (Cameroon)
Vice-Chairmen of Commission II
J. Habtu (Ethiopia) and Y. Yano (Japan)
Vice-Chairmen of Commission III
13. The following were also appointed the officers of the Technical Committees:
Technical Committee on Agriculture |
|
| Chairman: | Dr. A.B. Coronel (Philippines) |
| First Vice-Chairman: | Mr. M. Y. Qureshi (Pakistan) |
| Second Vice-Chairman: | Dr. Muhammed Hafiz Salim (Jordan) |
| Rapporteur: | Mr. D.N.R. Webb (New Zealand) |
Technical Committee on Forestry and Forest Products |
|
| Chairman: | Sir Henry Beresford-Peirse (United Kingdom) |
| Vice-Chairmen: | Mr. M.S. Hardjordarsono (Indonesia) |
| Mr. S.A. Aleem (Pakistan) | |
| Rapporteur: | Mr. M. L. S. B. Rukuba (Uganda) |
Technical Committee on Information and Publications |
|
| Chairman: | Dr. Octavian Fenesan (Romania) |
| First Vice-Chairman: | Mr. M. Witcher (United States of America) |
| Second Vice-Chairman: | H.E. Nor El-Ghorfi (Morocco) |
| Rapporteur: | Mr. Siribongse Boon-Long (Thailand) |
Technical Committee on Nutrition |
|
| Chairman: | Dr. P.K. Kymal (India) |
| Vice-Chairman: | Prof. P. Roine (Finland) |
| Rapporteur: | Miss D. F. Hollingsworth (United Kingdom) |
Technical Committee on Economics |
|
| Chairman: | Mr. W.M. Oakley (Australia) |
| Vice-Chairman: | Mr. J.C. Amoafo (Ghana) |
| Rapporteur: | Mr. J. Chonchol (Chile) |
Technical Committee on Fisheries |
|
| Chairman: | Dr. G.N. Mitra (India) |
| First Vice-Chairman: | Mr. J.V. Alves de Araujo (Brazil) |
| Second Vice-Chairman: | U Tint Hlaing (Burma) |
| Rapporteur: | Mr. J. Adjetey (Ghana) |
F. Committee-of-the-whole on the review of the organization's general structure
14. The Conference concurred with the Council's recommendation that Item 6, "Review of the Organization's General Structure" be referred to a Committee-of-the-Whole which would report its findings to Commission I. The Conference appointed A. C. B. Maiden (Australia) Chairman of the Committee-of-the-Whole.
G. Resolutions committee of the conference
15. The Conference decided to establish a Resolutions Committee in accordance with the Council's proposals (C 67/2 Appendix IV, paragraphs 167-169). The Committee would comprise the Chairman of the Program Committee, M. Cépède, the Vice-Chairman of the Finance Committee, R. Gibb, and the Chairman of the Committee on Constitutional and Legal Matters, R. Rossow, together with the following four members of the General Committee:
16. The Conference appointed M. Cépède, Chairman of the Council's Program Committee, to be Chairman of the Resolutions Committee of the Conference.
17. The functions of the Resolutions Committee were to examine all draft resolutions whatever their origin before they were submitted to the Commissions or the Plenary of the Conference for approval, and where desirable revise or consolidate them, or recommend that the substance be incorporated in the text of the report.
18. The Conference agreed that in Commissions of the Conference, as well as in other bodies of the Organization, the number of resolutions should be kept to a minimum and that they be confined essentially to formal matters as follows:
(b) recommendations regarding the adoption of international conventions or agreements;
(c) establishment of commissions, committees and working parties of Member Nations and Associate Members or of individuals appointed in their personal capacity, and proposals regarding the statutes, terms of reference and reporting procedures of the foregoing bodies;
(d) convening of general, regional, technical or other conferences, consultations of ad hoc working parties, laying down their terms of reference and reporting procedures;
(e) recommendations or decisions involving commitments by the Organization or regarding certain financial matters such as Working Capital Fund, scale contributions, adoption of audited accounts;
(f) the adoption of the Program of Work and Budget for the ensuing biennium, covering the entire Program of Work and Budget for 1968-69. (It would therefore not be necessary for each Technical Committee to draft a separate resolution regarding the Program and Budget for the sector of work covered by the Committee concerned, although each Committee would be expected to include in its report an expression of views regarding the technical merits and balance of the Program).
19. The Resolutions Committee would be required to see that resolutions conformed with the above and also to draw attention to any constitutional, Program and budgetary aspects that needed to be taken into consideration in any draft resolutions proposed for adoption.
20. While the Resolutions Committee would examine all proposed resolutions in the light of its terms of reference, the Program of Work and Budget for the ensuing biennium was adopted by a single resolution and hence proposals already contained in that document did not require specific resolutions, except in so far as they varied from the original proposals. Similarly, certain statutory or formal resolutions would probably need very little change if any. Thus, the main work of the Resolutions Committee would concern resolutions which tend to alter the draft program or those which made recommendations to Governments.
21. The Resolutions Committee could not decide or amend, but merely recommend to the appropriate body what changes it considered should be made in the text. This it would do before approval by the body concerned. While this would normally mean that the Resolutions Committee should examine each draft resolution before discussion in the Commission or Plenary meeting, that is to say, between the time the resolution was moved from the floor and it was circulated in the working languages for debate, in a number of cases it would be evident that the resolution might not obtain the necessary support in the discussion. In such cases the Resolutions Committee might decide not to take time considering draft texts before the debate on the substance.
22. Accordingly, the Conference adopted the following system of operation for the Resolutions Committee:
(b) The Resolutions Committee at that stage would choose between one of four alternatives, which it would indicate at the foot of the text prepared for distribution to the proposing body:
- If modifications or additions which did not alter the substance seemed necessary, the Committee would indicate them. These would in many cases concern constitutional, program or financial aspects.
- If the resolution did not cover a matter set out in pare. 18(a) to (f) above, the Resolutions Committee would suggest that the substance be incorporated into the narrative text of the Conference or Commission report.
- If there was doubt regarding reaching agreement on the substance of the resolution in the proposing body, the Resolutions Committee might request that the substance be debated by the proposing body, and that after this debate and the decision upon the substance, the draft resolution be returned to the Resolutions Committee for consideration.
23. In certain cases also, members of the Committee might be delegated to attend the debate where the resolution was discussed either to explain the Committee's views and reasons for any proposed changes, or to follow the debate so as to be able to inform the Resolutions Committee of the background when the text of the resolution comes before the Resolutions Committee.
24. The Resolutions Committee would not wish to delay the proceedings of the Conference. Since the texts of draft resolutions were to be circulated only after the Resolutions Committee had completed its examination, it would be necessary for the Committee to meet on the call of its Chairman.
25. Rule XI, paragraph 3, of the General Rules of the Organization required that formal proposals be introduced in writing, and should not be discussed or put to the vote until copies had been circulated to all delegations not later than the day preceding the meeting at which the proposal was to be adopted. The same rule, however, permitted the discussion and consideration of amendments to such proposals even though these amendments have not been circulated or had only been circulated on the same day. The Conference decided accordingly that to avoid the risk of additional delays in adoption of texts by the Commissions or Plenary any modifications which the Resolutions Committee might propose to resolutions should be treated as amendments under the foregoing proviso and considered, if necessary, on the day they were circulated by the Resolutions Committee.
26. The Conference recalled the decision of its previous sessions to the effect that, where a delegate wished to reply to criticism of his Government's policy he should preferably do so on the afternoon of the day on which such criticism had been voiced, after all those wishing to participate in the discussion had had an opportunity to do so. The Conference confirmed this arrangement.
27. Under the FAO rules, verbatim records were kept of Conference plenary and commission meetings, and right of delegates to suggest corrections to the records was specifically mentioned (Rule XVIII-2).
28. "Corrections" could mean either the correction of mistakes and typing errors, or amendment by the delegate of a word or phrase he had actually used. In practice, amendments were accepted only to interventions made by members of the delegation requesting the amendment. Delegates were requested to submit corrections within 48 hours of circulation of the draft verbatim record concerned.
29. During the 1959 Conference Session, the number of heads of delegation wanting to speak in the opening general discussion had been greater than the timetable would permit, and a request was made for those who would agree to insert their statements in the record without delivering it in Plenary. In 1961 and since then this procedure had been formally adopted by the Conference at its Sessions.
30. There had been other occasions also when delegates had inserted in the verbatim records statements which had not been delivered. While the Conference saw no objection in principle to the insertion of statements in the record when time did not permit them to be delivered, it recognised the difficulties which might arise if no occasion were given to delegates to reply to such insertions.
31. The Conference therefore decided to continue to permit the insertion of such statements on condition that:
(b) the provisional verbatim record containing the additional statement was circulated at least three days before the closure of the Session; and
(c) delegations attending the Session were given an opportunity to avail themselves of the right of reply by making a declaration relating to the additional statement prior to the closure of the session.
32. As was customary, the Director-General had provisionally invited the applicants for membership and Associate membership to be represented by observers until their admission to the Organization had been decided upon. The Conference confirmed the Director-General's action.
33. The Conference approved the list of international organizations to which the Director-General had extended a provisional invitation to send observers to this Session, and invited the representatives of such organizations to participate in the activities of the Conference in the capacity of observers.
K. Verification of credentials
34. The credentials of delegations of 115 Member Nations and three Associate Members, including those of newly-admitted Member Nations and Associate Members, were found in order. One Member Nation had not submitted credentials.
35. The credentials of the Delegation of the Holy See, Permanent Observer to FAO, were found satisfactory.
36. The names of the representatives of the international organizations attending the Conference, including the United Nations and Specialized Agencies, were duly deposited as prescribed by Rule m. 2 of the General Rules of the Organization.
37. The Conference requested that the various passages referring to credentials in the Basic Texts of the Organization, as well as the criteria established by previous sessions of the Credentials Committee, be clarified and integrated. Consequently, they are set out below, and the Conference recommended that they be specifically brought to the notice of the Member Governments in the letters of invitation to Conference sessions:
(b) In accordance with the General Rules of the Organization (pare. 4 of Rule XXI) full powers given to a Government representative to sign conventions and agreements can be issued also by the minister of the department concerned, and this had been construed to cover credentials for Conference sessions.
(c) In the absence of credentials signed by the authorities listed in (a) and (b) above, a communication signed by the Ambassador of the country concerned and accredited to the Italian Government is considered a valid credential since the Ambassador represents the Head of the State (see (a) above). In the Ambassador's absence this faculty devolves on the Chargé d'Affaires. However, in such cases neither the Ambassador nor the Charge d'Affaires may themselves be included in the Delegation, whereas those persons listed in (a) and (b) above may also designate themselves as representatives.
(d) Notes Verbales and telegrams or cables are not considered valid credentials because not fully signed (decision of the Credentials Committee during the Twelfth Session of the FAO Conference, as set out in Document C 63/LIM/68, and confirmed by the Credentials Committee of the Thirteenth Session of the Conference, as set out in document C 65/LIM/40).
(e) Undated credentials are acceptable only if they contain a reference to representation of the country concerned at the current Conference session.
(f) Credentials should indicate which representatives are accredited as Delegates, as Alternates, Associates, Advisers (pare. 1 of Rule III).
L. Informal meeting of non-governmental organizations
38. An informal meeting of representatives of international non-governmental organizations admitted as observers to the Fourteenth Session of the Conference was convened on Monday 6 November 1967. The Forty-Ninth Session of the Council had nominated Mrs. G. van Beekhoff van Selms representing the Associated Country Women of the World, as Chairman. The meeting discussed possibilities of intensifying practical co-operation between FAO and non-governmental organizations.
Contents
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