FIRST MEETING

PREMIERE SEANCE

PRIMERA SESION

(10 November 1993)

The First meeting was opened at 10.00 hours

Mr Hermann Redl, Chairman of Commission I, presidings

La première séance est ouverte à 10 heures

sous la présidence de M. Hermann Redl, Président de la Commission I

Se abre la primera sesión a las 10 horas

bajo la presidencia del Sr. Hermann Redl, Presidente de la Comisión I

CHAIRMAN (Original language German): Ladies and gentlemen, Mr Director-General, I open the meeting of Commission I at the Twenty-seventh FAO Conference.

Please allow me to make a personal remark at the start. Thank you very much for having elected me as Chairman of this very important Commission at the 27th FAO Conference. This is a special distinction for my country, Austria, but also for me personally. I will, therefore, try to do everything I can to fulfil your expectations and trust.

May I ask you at the same time, however, for your assistance and cooperation.

I have a special word of greeting for the Deputy Chairmen, Mr Karbasi, from the Islamic Republic of Iran, and Mr Kazi from Pakistan. I look forward to constructive cooperation in this Commission.

Based on our agenda, we shall be looking at policies regarding the state of food and agriculture as per Item 6 on our agenda. I am sure that we will also take into account all the items dealt with in the Plenary.

Since the 26th FAO Conference, a series of important World Conferences have taken place which, in my opinion, will affect the work of the FAO to a great extent. May I refer to the meeting in December 1992, the International Conference on Nutrition. I would also like to refer to the World Declaration adopted at that Conference, as well as the Plan of Action.

A discussion on future agricultural policies which did not take on board the environment would, in my opinion, be totally out of the question. Therefore, may I also refer to Agenda Item 21, the UNCED Conference in Rio, as it was adopted in June 1992.

I would also like, as a country whose participation in agriculture is 46 percent, to mention the item on forestry both at a regional and at a world level. In Europe, for example, in June 1993, at the invitation of the Government of Finland, an important ministerial conference was held for the protection of European forests.

As we all know, we have a series of very serious problems to deal with. Therefore, I think it is essential to work as closely as possible on an international level. This refers especially to cooperation with the EEC in Geneva, but also with OECD in Paris and with WHO.

Nor should we forget the work done by Codex Alimentarius.

A lot of changes have taken place in the world, as we all know. Agriculture is more and more a key factor in international relations. However, we should not forget that while we deal with the various subjects under Commission I, there are many parts of the world where hunger, poverty and misery reign. Many of those have been placed on our activities list here. Let us try and fulfil this hope, and let us try and find programme solutions in order to eliminate these plagues.

After these initial comments, may I now, in order to waste no more time, announce the members of the Drafting Committee. Consultations have already been completed and the Drafting Committee for Commission I is made up of the following delegations: Algeria, Lesotho, Sudan, Indonesia, the Republic

of Korea, Argentina, Venezuela, Syria, Belgium, Canada, New Zealand, Sweden and Turkey.

May I furthermore remind you of another factor which will make our work easier. If we could keep to our working hours, as we have such a long agenda, that would be helpful.

Mustapha-Menouar SINACEUR (Maroc): Il ne s'agit pas d'une motion d'ordre, Monsieur le Président, surtout lorsqu'il s'agit de vous féliciter pour avoir été élu à la présidence de cette importante Commission. Nous avons eu l'occasion de vous rencontrer par le passé. Nous avons déjà collaboré, je pense que nous continuerons à le faire dans la plus grande sérénité.

Je voudrais simplement un éclaircissement. Lorsque vous avez lu la liste des pays qui composent le Comité de rédaction, vous avez peut-être omis d'indiquer que le Président du Comité de rédaction avait déjà été désigné au cours des consultations intervenues entre les groupes régionaux. C'est Amina Boudjelti qui a été désignée pour présider ce Comité de rédaction.

CHAIRMAN: You are quite correct and maybe it was not interpreted because I was using the German Language. However, I thought I said that the chair would be taken by Algeria.

Let us now continue. It would be helpful if you would all be here punctually. We have a lot of discussion in front of us.

Mme Amina BOUDJELTI (Algérie): Monsieur le Président, laissez-moi tout d'abord vous féliciter ainsi qu'adresser mes félicitations à vos deux Vice-Présidents pour votre nomination à cette importante Commission. Je suis persuadée pour ma part que, grâce à vous tous, le travail se fera dans les meilleures conditions possibles. Monsieur le Président, je voulais avoir un petit point d'éclaircissement en ce qui concerne la situation; un point qui sera étudié sans doute; nous avons entendu dire qu'il serait étudié sous ce point de l'ordre du jour; je vais m'exprimer un peu plus clairement. Il s'agit, en fait, de la situation du criquet pèlerin en Afrique de l'Ouest et du Nord-Ouest. Nous avons eu aujourd'hui un document qui nous a été distribué. Simplement, il n'y a pas de point distinct à l'ordre du jour. Et je voulais avoir un éclaircissement de votre part ou de la part des membres du Secrétariat pour savoir si ce point devait être évoqué sous le 6.1 ou à la fin de la discussion du 6.1 en un sous-point distinct.

CHAIRMAN (Original language German) : My suggestion would be that we Complete Item 6, and then have a Sub-item with an introduction byDr de Haen, and that document C 93/LIM/18 should be dealt with after that.