K. MEHBOOB (Assistant Director-General, Administration and Finance Department): The extract of the report of the 104th Session of the Council contained in document C 93/LIM/17 deals with the contribution position of the Organization at 3 November 1993. Mr Chairman, with your permission, I would take the other document "Measures to improve the collection of Assessed Contributions" under this item as well.
Document C 93/LIM/34 has been prepared in order to provide the Conference with an update on this position as at 16 November 1993 and to detail the amounts received since the last session of the Council.
As of 16 November 1993, the Organization had received over US$267 million in respect of the 1993 assessments. This represents 84.3 percent of the total and is lower than the amount received at the same time last year although higher than the amount received at the same date in the three preceding years. Receipts of arrears of contributions have amounted to nearly US$43 million, which compares favourably with the recent past.
I am pleased to report that since the preparation of this document contributions have been received from Gabon, Paraguay, Guatemala, and Mozambique. However, it is still disappointing to have to note that, as of 16 November 79 Member Nations have not made any payment towards their 1993 assessment. This figure is amongst the highest ever at this date. Furthermore, 69 Member Nations have arrears outstanding from previous years. This number is high and, if we take into account the fact that 79 Member Nations have made no payment towards their 1993 assessment, then the difficult situation the Organization faces becomes clear. It also becomes clear that in such a situation it is almost impossible to have an efficient cash management process.
I should like to highlight that we have this unfavourable situation with regard to the receipt of contributions, despite the fact that we have a discount scheme in force and despite the fact that on numerous occasions the Finance Committee, the Council, and the Conference have issued appeals to Member Nations to pay their contributions on time.
None of these measures has had any effect, and it is for this reason that the Director-General has submitted a proposal to improve the collection of assessed contributions. This proposal is contained in document C 93/LIM/18 and is presented for the consideration of the Conference in accordance with the request of the Council as set out in the report of its 104th Session. Mr Chairman, the increasingly difficult economic situation that faces many developing countries continues to be a major factor contributing to the number of Member Nations in arrears with the payment of their Assessed Contributions. A further contributing factor is the often-limited resources
of certain Member Nations in convertible currencies. Document C 93/LIM/18 proposes for the Conference to allow a derogation from the existing financial regulation, 5.6, in respect of the currencies of which payment of Assessed Contributions may be made. Such derogation would be subject to a series of very strict conditions which are set out in the document and which are designed to avoid any risk of financial loss to the Organization.
The Secretariat believes that by allowing additional flexibility in this respect the situation of the payment of the arrears can be improved. Mr Chairman, since the issuance of the document and following discussions in the Finance Committee and the Council, it seems to us that if there were more involvement of the governing bodies in the approval process, it may address the concerns of certain delegations and contribute to a consensus on this issue. Consequently, Mr Chairman, the approval process could be that each request received is analysed by the Secretariat to determine that it meets the conditions set out in the document and is then submitted to the Finance Committee for discussion. In this way, Mr Chairman, we hope that the proposal can have the support of the Conference. Thank you, Mr Chairman, and we would be pleased to answer any questions you may have.
Raphaël RABE (Madagascar): La délégation de Madagascar est vivement reconnaissante au Directeur général de la FAO d'avoir bien voulu présenter à la Conférence une proposition fort précieuse à plus d'un titre. Et nous remercions le Secrétariat d'avoir produit un document complet et très transparent. D'après notre délégation, tous les protagonistes devraient en effet pouvoir trouver leur compte dans ces propositions; l'Organisation verra de ce fait sa situation financière grandement améliorée, les Etats Membres en développement pourront enfin faire face à leurs obligations statutaires, tous les autres Etats Membres ne pouvant que bénéficier des services de l'Organisation, de ce fait renforcés et libérés des préoccupations chroniques d'insuffisance de trésorerie.
Le document C 93/LIM/18, bien que concis, traite de tous les aspects de la question. Il ressort clairement au paragraphe 4 que l'Organisation a besoin de monnaies locales, notamment pour le fonctionnement des représentations qui se trouvent dans les pays. Les projets qui sont aussi mis en oeuvre dans ces pays ont bien entendu nécessairement besoin de monnaie locale.
Au paragraphe 7, les conditions d'utilisation de telles monnaies sont bien définies. Les garde-fous mis en place devraient pouvoir empêcher les abus ou les problèmes qui pourraient surgir du fait de l'utilisation de ces monnaies. Ces garde-fous sont même, à notre sens, trop sévères et ils méritent peut-être quelques assouplissements. Dans un premier temps il est cependant nécessaire d'observer certaine rigueur.
Notre délégation aurait des difficultés à comprendre la position de ceux qui, d'une part, veulent assainir la situation financière de l'Organisation et, d'autre part, s'opposer, ou tout au moins se montrer réticents, à des mesures qui ne peuvent qu'améliorer le recouvrement des contributions. Pour notre part, il serait aberrant d'attendre la Conférence de 1995 pour prendre une décision; ce serait une perte de temps et ce ne pourrait qu'être inutile et néfaste pour tous.
C'est la raison pour laquelle notre délégation souhaite vivement qu'on puisse prendre des décisions opérationnelles et qu'on puisse aller de l'avant dans cette affaire.
Dominile LANGENBACHER (Switzerland) : My delegation has read the two documents before us with interest and with care. Regarding C 93/LIM/17, which gives us the picture of the financial situation of the Organization, we have with some concern noted the amounts which have been collected by the year's end over the last five years: in 1992, 10 percent outstanding; the year before, 1991, also about 10 percent. If we go back to five years, we note that there seems to be some improvement, which gives us some encouragement and some hope that maybe 1993 will again be an improvement over the past years.
In this regard, this Commission could appeal or ask the Conference to appeal to members of the Organization to pay their contributions and to pay them early in the year.
Turning to the proposal before us in document C 93/LIM/18, how the collection of contributions could be improved, we note that it is an innovative proposal which is before us. In our country we have a saying which tells us that prudence is the mother of virtue. It is under this aspect that we have looked at the document, Mr Chairman. We have a set of questions which we would put before this Commission. One set of questions relates to how this proposal relates to the Basic Texts of FAO. We thing that the proposal should be looked into under this aspect a bit more precisely. The Basic Texts do make reference to, and we are actually proposing an exception from the Basic Texts. A second set of questions, Mr Chairman, relates to the question of how this proposal fits into the UN system of Assessed Contributions. Are there rules governing this system of Assessed Contributions? Have similar exceptions been made by other agencies? What does the UN itself say to these kind of mechanisms? A third set of questions relates to the criteria which are put before us in the document. Tō whom shall these exceptions apply? In the text, we speak of developing countries. Are these the LDCS? Are these all developing countries? What is a developing country nowadays? Could it also be applied to the newly independent countries in transition? These are questions which still need to be clarified, Mr Chairman.
We then have questions on how it is to be applied. Will it actually help the cash flow situation of the Organization? Does it require that FAO has projects in the countries which can benefit from the system? What happens if the amounts in a project are not as high as the contributions due? Mr Chairman, there are many questions on the technicalities of the application of this proposal. Another question: does it also apply to the arrears which we are also trying to collect from Member Nations? Here again, there are rules which are set out in the Basic Texts of FAO.
Turning to the decision before us, Mr Chairman - and I understand that the Secretariat has made a proposal to slightly alter this text - we actually admit that we have not done all the work which we should have done before we can take a decision by referring, in the decision itself, to paragraphs of the report. Mr Chairman, this is the constitutional Commission of the FAO Conference and, as legislation, I would call this rather fuzzy. I know that this Organization can do better.
Having raised all these questions, I do not expect that this can be dealt with here in this forum. My proposal would thus be that we defer a decision here, that we defer the issue of further discussion to the Finance Committee and authorize the Committee or the Council to take a decision once the whole issue has been looked into to a greater extent.
Per AUGUSTSSON (Sweden): On this agenda item I would like to speak on behalf of the Nordic countries, Denmark, Finland, Norway, and my own, Sweden. The Nordic countries are very much concerned about the payment record of the Organization. As at 26 October 1993, unpaid current Assessed Contributions and Arrears amounted to US$226 000 000. This is an alarming figure, taking into consideration that the Organization's regular budget for the biennium 1992-93 amounts to US$625 000 000. The picture is made even darker by the fact that the number of countries with outstanding arrears amounted to 73. The most worrying piece of information is that 86 member countries out of a total of 159 had made no payments at all. This is a picture of an Organization in deep crisis.
The Nordic countries would like to stress the shared responsibility of all Member Nations to pay their assessed contributions in full and on time. It goes without saying that the lack of adequate resources hampers the work of the Organization in many ways. In addition to the improvements in the payment pattern of Member Nations, there is an urgent need to scrutinize all ongoing programmes and agree on top priorities as well as the phasing out or deletion of obsolete programmes and of those with little priority.
Furthermore, we must be firm now on being much more selective in proposing and approving new programmes. Timely contributions and careful programme screening are important ways of addressing this problem. However, more fundamental measures are needed. Such measures should necessarily include due and prompt consideration of the overall capacity of FAO to respond to present and future demands. Priority setting and sharing of responsibilities as regards the Organization's involvement in a number of activities is required.
There is already within FAO an incentive scheme to encourage prompt payment of contributions. With reference to what has just been said about the payment discipline, the incentive scheme might not be the solution to the problem. The Nordic countries would be willing to consider the possibility of charging interest on late payments. We understand that the experiences gained in this respect with IPU and ITU are encouraging. We look forward to receiving the further thoughts of the Director-General on improved payment discipline later in this session.
I would now like to comment on the proposed measures to improve the Collection of Assessed Contributions as presented in document CL 104/LIM/18. Here I would like to adhere to what has already been said in this context by the distinguished representative of Switzerland. As a matter of principle, this important issue should have been considered by the Finance Committee before it was presented to the Council and thereafter to the General Conference. The matter is an important one which may have consequences for other parts of the UN system and therefore deserves thorough preparation. In the view of the Nordic countries, the proposed measures do not address the real problem. The failure to pay is not primarily linked to the lack of freely convertible currencies. Therefore, in principle, the Nordic countries are not in favour of the proposed measures set out in document CL 104/LIM/18. On the other hand if the Director-General can provide us with information that proves that such measures will have real impact and considerably improve the financial situation of the Organization, we would be willing to consider the proposal as a temporary solution on an experimental basis.
To conclude, all Member Nations, small and large, must take their share of the responsibility and pay their assessed contributions in full and on
time. In our view, the time has come for Member Nations to stop making excuses for not paying their assessed contributions. Solving the problem is in its entirety a question of political will.
Robert ANDRIGO (Canada): I would like to thank Mr Mehboob for the introduction that he gave to this subject. I would like initially to make a few comments on the documents C 93/LIM/17 and C 93/LIM/34 respecting the financial situation of the Organization. I find these documents to be somewhat disquieting in terms of the extent to which, as detailed therein, the membership is not meeting its obligation. Indeed, as we see from the statistics for 1993, we are heading towards a further increase in the outstanding contributions in this particular Organization. It also appears that our recovery of current and assessed contributions is stuck in the 90 percent or so range. This clearly is a very serious situation which needs to be addressed aggressively by the Organization.
I would like to comment on the document itself. What we have here is not so much a statement of the financial situation of the Organization as a statement of income, and I think it would be very useful if, in association with the income that is detailed, we could also have a detailing of the utilization and commitments of the Organization during the comparable period. I understand that as a membership we can have this by searching through the documents and the reports of the Finance Committee. Nevertheless, I think it would make the document considerably more useful for the membership if this were to be unified.
I would like to put a question on the development in respect of the accumulated arrears of the Organization. As we have learned in other fora, when this issue has arisen there has been a certain pay-down on this entry, and I would like some detail as to where exactly the accumulated arrears currently stand.
Turning to the proposal that is before us, I can but echo the sentiments that were expressed by the previous two speakers in respect of the obligations of the membership to the Organization. These obligations need to be discharged. Our support for the Organization must take material form; otherwise, the Organization will be precluded from doing its work. We cannot over-emphasize the need for membership to meet its obligations. That said, we have a problem and we have before us a legitimate attempt by the Secretariat to suggest a means of addressing a problem which to date we have been unable to resolve through the incentive scheme and other proposals that have been made.
As regards the proposal itself, other speakers have mentioned the fact that we have not had sufficient time to reflect on these particular proposals. An important element of this is the fact that FAO as part of the UN system cannot conceive of its actions in a vacuum; it must consider them on a system-wide basis. What happens here has precedential values elsewhere in the UN system and, as the delegate of Switzerland very ably pointed out, it is critical that we assess how this particular practice would fit into the general approach to this issue that is taken elsewhere in the UN system. I think that that is a critical issue to address. We need complementarity and uniformity within the UN system. If we are to create new precedents, we need to be fully aware of the potential implication of those precedents, not just for our Organization but also for elsewhere in the UN system.
This is something our capitals insist upon and the amount of time we have had to consider this issue has been insufficient to address the particular issue. I will not go into the many questions that were raised specifically by Switzerland. We had in fact exactly the same questions.
We have some additional issues in respect of this particular proposal. How do we define convertible currencies? For the purposes of this particular proposal, what is convertible, what is non-convertible? We need to define what the potential benefits to the Organization are or might be of entertaining or of approving this particular proposal. That certainly is not made clear. How many countries might be affected by this proposal?
We also need to address the implications for priorizing and programming of the activities of this Organization. I think this is a matter of significant substance that has not been addressed in the proposal that currently is before us, and there are legions of other questions.
Given that the amount of time available to us to consider it thoroughly and dispassionately as a proposal, I think that it is only appropriate that the matter be referred to the Finance Committee and subsequently to the Council, and if those two bodies agree that the proposal merits a further consideration, indeed if it merits operationalization; then I see no barrier to the Director-General, indeed to the Council, calling for a special session of the Conference in order to give its approval to this particular proposal. But, obviously in order to do that, the proposal must demonstrably have significant benefits to the Organization, and I think that can only be addressed through study and also it must be compatible with activities of a similar nature elsewhere in the UN system.
Mustapha-Menouar SINACBUR (Maroc): Il est vrai que, comme viennent de le dire les délégués qui se sont exprimés avant moi, le Comité financier n'a pas eu l'opportunité d'approfondir la réflexion sur cette question. Mais, compte tenu de la situation qui vient d'être relatée par ces mêmes collègues, situation assez catastrophique en matière de recouvrement des arriérés, nous pensons que par moment il faut faire preuve d'imagination.
Il est clair que certains pays connaissent des difficultés dues à des troubles civils, dues à d'autres facteurs qui font que ces pays-là ne disposent pas de devises. Nous pensons que cela donnerait à ces pays l'occasion de pouvoir respecter leurs engagements vis-à-vis de l'Organisation dans les délais. Notre collègue, M. Langenbacher, Représentant de la Suisse, a posé des questions fort intéressantes et j'attends également les réponses que M. Mehboob y apportera.
J'ai écouté également la déclaration faite au nom des pays nordiques. Bien sûr, nous avons mis en place un plan d'incitation pour le paiement rapide des contributions. Je crois qu'il est un peu tôt pour tirer les conclusions de la première année de fonctionnement de ce système. Il faudra donc attendre un peu pour voir les implications précises d'un tel plan d'incitation.
Mais je crois qu'un tel plan d'incitation seul ne suffit pas. Il faudrait lui associer une mesure du type de celle qui nous est proposée aujourd'hui.
Lorsque l'on a dit tout à l'heure dans une intervention qu'il fallait peut-être penser à mettre en place un système concernant les arriérés comme c'est le cas dans certaines autres organisations, un système d'intérêts sur
les arriérés, on a cité le cas de l'UIT. Je crois que la comparaison est un peu difficile parce que l'UIT est une petite organisation. Je ne connais pas exactement son budget, mais je crois qu'il est de l'ordre de 30, 40 ou 50 millions de dollars. Cela n'a rien à voir avec le budget de l'Organisation. Donc, le montant des arriérés est rapporté au montant du budget et le montant des intérêts lui-même est rapporté au montant des arriérés. Donc, ce sont des sommes modiques. Mais je crois que, sur le principe, le Comité financier lui-même et le Conseil de la FAO ont reconnu que ce type de mesure n'était pas recommandé. Comment pouvez-vous demander à des pays qui ont déjà une certaine somme à régler, à honorer vis-à-vis de l'Organisation, de payer en plus des intérêts?
On aurait pu appliquer des mesures autres que financières: des mesures d'ordre institutionnel (vous verrez que dans le rapport du Comité financier de la dernière session cette idée y figure) qui concerneraient la participation des pays ayant des arriérés vis-à-vis de l'Organisation. La limitation de la représentation au Conseil est déjà prévue par les Textes de base mais on pourrait élargir cela également aux Comités restreints. Notre délégation est prête à discuter de ce type de mesures d'ordre institutionnel. Mais nous ne pensons pas que les mesures de type financier comme les intérêts sur les arriérés nous permettrons d'avancer.
Nous avons également entendu parler d'uniformité, du fait qu'il ne fallait pas que notre Organisation prenne une telle initiative sans concertation avec le reste des organisations. Pour ma part, je ne partage pas tout à fait cet avis et, de toute façon, il est tout à fait contraire à l'avis qui a été exprimé auparavant puisque l'on a bien vu que l'UIT avait mis en place ce système de paiement d'intérêt sur les arriérés sans qu'il y ait eu ni concertation ni coordination. Ce n'est donc pas le but recherché.
Comme je l'ai dit tout à l'heure, je crois qu'il faut faire preuve d'imagination. Quel risque prenons-nous en adoptant une telle mesure? Nous avons beaucoup réfléchi à la question mais nous n'avons pas trouvé la réponse. Nous n'avons pas pu évaluer quel était le risque si la Conférence prenait aujourd'hui une telle décision.
Nous avons un garde-fou. Tout à l'heure, M. Mehboob a dit que cela n'allait pas être l'initiative du Secrétariat seul, que les propositions du Secrétariat allaient passer devant le Comité financier qui est un Comité du Conseil, et que celui-ci prendrait la décision. Nous pensons que cela fait tout à fait partie du mandat du Comité financier et nous estimons qu'un comité restreint de ce type peu prendre ce genre de décision.
On a parlé d'une session spéciale de la Conférence pour éventuellement approuver certaines modalités quant à cette mesure. Je ne vois pas comment on pourrait convoquer une session spéciale de la Conférence. Et à quel prix en rapport avec le but recherché!
Nous pouvons considérer que nous allons entrer dans une période probatoire. Le Secrétariat va faire des propositions plus concrètes en affinant et en approfondissant un peu toutes ces questions de critères: jusqu'à quel niveau? Qu'entend-on par monnaie convertible?
Le Secrétariat ferait donc des propositions au Comité financier à sa session de mai et le Comité financier pourrait prendre une décision soit à la session de mai, soit à la session de septembre, s'il voulait disposer d'un peu plus de temps.
Mais, pour ma part, je ne vois pas pourquoi on reporterait cette question à plus tard. Je pense que nous avons les éléments suffisants pour prendre une décision de ce type.
Je posais tout à l'heure la question du risque d'une telle mesure si on la prenait aujourd'hui. Rien ne nous empêche, au cours du prochain biennium, à la prochaine Conférence de 1995, de tirer les conclusions. Si le système n'est pas opérationnel, on abroge cette résolution; si le système mérite quelques réaménagements, on apporte ces réaménagements; et si le système fonctionne, on continue.
Mais, allons de l'avant et faisons preuve d'imagination.
C. KIEMTORE (Burkina Faso): Je voudrais tout d'abord remercier M. Mehboob pour son introduction très concise. La situation des contributions des pays membres de la FAO est très préoccupante et elle est à la lumière des difficultés que rencontrent de nombreux pays, surtout ceux en voie de développement.
Nous regrettons très sincèrement cette situation qui, à terme, réduirait les capacités de l'Organisation à faire face aux besoins croissants. Nous espérons que la situation économique s'améliorera et que de nombreux pays, dont le mien, acquitteront à temps leur contribution à l'avenir.
Dans ce contexte de difficultés et de récession économique générale, il est du devoir des pays membres d'imaginer toutes les solutions pouvant améliorer la situation financière de l'Organisation eu égard à sa spécificité et sans attendre que des mesures similaires soient prises par d'autres agences.
Le document C 93/LIM/18 aborde de façon concrète et très courageuse cette question, car la mesure proposée n'est pas la solution pour régler globalement les questions des arriérés mais une solution pour augmenter le flux de la trésorerie de la FAO.
Ma délégation approuve donc cette mesure visant à améliorer le recouvrement des contributions ordinaires et souhaite qu'elle soit mise en oeuvre le plus rapidement possible en prenant en compte les différentes questions qui ont été abordées par certaines délégations.
Harald HILDEBRAND (Germany) (Original language German): I should like at the outset to refer to the documents we have, and the quite serious situation of the Organization with regard to payment of the contributions in accordance with the Statutes. My country on various occasions at Council and Conference called attention to the obligations of Member Nations to meet their obligations in terms of payment.
Secondly, like other delegations, we operate on the important principle that one can only spend money that is available or money that one can rely on coming in.
Despite the improvement of the financial situation in the meantime, inasmuch as some countries have paid some of their arrears, my delegation fully shares the concerns expressed here with respect to the latest status of contributions as there are a large number of Member States that have considerable arrears and others that have not yet made any payments in the course of the current year.
After referring to these general principles perhaps I could say something about the proposal of the Secretariat in document C 93/LIM/18, which is set out in a very clear way. My delegation feels that in certain cases and under certain specific conditions contribution payments to FAO could be accepted in non-convertible currencies. I think we would be in favour of this in principle. The proposal has the evident advantage that a large number of countries not in good standing would be enabled to make up some of the arrears. Subsequently, the Organization would not find itself obliged to require contributions in hard currencies which it would later exchange for a soft currency for a particular project.
At the last Council meeting a number of countries referred to the fact that a measure of this kind is of considerable significance and its effect would go beyond FAO and, therefore, should be thoroughly considered within the Finance Committee, including reference to the degree of compliance with FAO's financial regulations. This would be specifically the case with respect to the question of the criteria for acceptance of the proposed measure.
Accordingly, my delegation takes the view that the proposal of the Director-General should be further considered by the Finance Committee. In the view of my delegation it is perfectly conceivable that final approval of a thoroughly reviewed and perhaps amended proposal should not be held over until the next Conference but could be authorized to some degree by this present Conference, and thus come in effect before 1995, subject to review by the Finance Committee as to how far the FAO Council would be authorized to arrive at a determination concerning the proposal and its practical implementation.
Shahid RASHID (Pakistan): My delegation would like to express its full support for the proposed measures to improve the collection of Assessed Contributions. We believe that this is a very timely proposal, perhaps a little overdue, and a sensible one too which to a certain extent could ease the rather grave situation of arrears.
Many of us in developing countries are acutely aware of the economic difficulties being faced due to recession, structural adjustment programmes and unrest. These difficulties have prevented many Member Nations from making full or even partial payments. The proposal to accept a portion of the assessed contributions in non-convertible local currencies appears to us to be a useful device to help alleviate the arrears situation.
We have noted that the Secretariat has proposed certain strict guidelines for acceptance of local currency contributions. These guidelines and conditions are understandable as we accept the need for caution.
These conditions can ensure that proper financial management takes place and the Organization is protected from uncertainties arising from accepting non-convertible currencies. We also particularly note that acceptance of local currencies will be done on a case-by-case basis with full involvement of the Finance Committee in the decision-making in order that the proposed measures can be closely monitored during the initial stages of implementation.
Therefore, we would like to extend our endorsement to the proposal and commend the Resolution for approval at this Session. We are not in favour of deferment of this proposal as it would mean a postponement for two
years, which would inevitably further aggravate the situation. However, we do agree that implementation of these measures must be closely monitored and scrutinized so that it can be fine tuned subsequently in order to ensure that it serves the interests of the Organization and its membership.
Ernst ZIMMERL (Austria) (Original language German): May 1 offer some considerations concerning document C 93/LIM/17. The table on page 3, "Percentages of Current Assessed Contributions Received", shows that there is a trend to pay later and later. This is more evident if we consider the situation in 1988 and 1987. At the end of June 1987 we has 61 percent of the payments made whereas this year it was 54 percent. Although in 1993 we introduced the early payment incentive scheme, we have to observe that this incentive scheme, at least in the first year of application, has not lived up to expectations.
If we consider the next table on page 3 of the document C 93/LIM/17 and look at 1988 and 1987, then there is a very disturbing picture. The number of Member Nations that have made full payment in the last six years has reduced from 86 to 60 whereas the number of countries that have not made yearly payments has risen by about 70 percent from 47 to 79. The number of arrears has gone from 41 to 52. Over 50 countries currently have arrears representing 200 percent or more of their yearly payments. A couple of years ago it was 41 states. Consequently, we have to observe that the number of countries that are in arrears is growing and, secondly, that the amounts are on the increase.
It would be interesting to know about the payment situation in other international organizations over the last few years. Perhaps the Secretariat could provide similar tables to those that we have in C 93/LIM/17.
I mentioned the fact that the early payment system has not brought any effective results, but that was to be expected because there is a question of interest incentives and so on. It is simply said that the payments should be made within 30 days of notification by the Director-General. Perhaps I might say that my country has always paid its assessed contributions in full at the beginning of the year, but we note from the table on page 3 of C 93/LIM/17 that very few Member Nations have met that statutory provision. At the end of March 1993 not even 30 per cent of the contributions had been paid, which is the lowest level in the last six years.
The Secretariat mentioned in the introduction that the discount scheme had not been a success. In document C 93/LIM/18 we have a fresh proposal that would facilitate matters for the poorest Member Nations. My delegation in principle would be favourable to this if it was helpful to the Member Nations with the greatest problems. I think it is worth attempting but should be limited to the next two years, and in 1995 we could revert to this subject. Switzerland raised the question as to what Member Nations would be affected by this new arrangement. I mentioned that we are positive towards this if we are thinking of the countries with the greatest problems, that it to say, the least developed countries.
There is also the question, what do we do about the arrears? If we look at Appendix D of C 93/LIM/17, we can see that many developing countries, including LDCs, have always met their obligations. Many have even already paid their 1993 contributions. If we look at the countries that have
arrears, if we now enable these to pay in local currency, we are not creating inequities. There is also the question of whether one has the possibility of paying in local currency covering the whole of the contribution or, as mentioned by Pakistan, limiting this to just a part. This and other points raised by Switzerland and other countries ought to be clarified. We should, however - and I think this is important - not lose sight of the time factor. A decision should be reached rapidly, and then we could see how matters develop further. I think that then we could provide an authorization of the Council and Finance Committee so as to provide some solution for the next two years. My delegation would welcome this.
Sra. Ileana DI GIOVAN BATTISTA (Argentina): En beneficio del ahorro de tiempo que usted nos pidió, la delegación argentina no hará comentarios sobre el documento C 93/LIM/17 que ha sido muy bien presentado por la Secretaría y en cambio se asocia a los comentarios ya pronunciados por las Delegaciones de Suiza, Suecia - en nombre de los países nórdicos - y Austria, en los comentarios a ese documento. En cambio con relación a las medidas propuestas para mejorar la recaudación de las cuotas, que nos ofrece el documento C 93/LIM/18, sí desearíamos hacer algunas reflexiones y formular algunas preguntas.
El Apéndice E del documento citado nos recuerda que la Organización realiza actividades en los muchos países en desarrollo por medio de las Oficinas Regionales, las Representaciones, o llevando a cabo proyectos en esos países. En consecuencia, pensamos que la idea de gastar en esos países en moneda nacional, en ciertas condiciones, es una idea que merece ser explorada y que merece ser puesta en práctica. Por eso mi Delegación considera que esta propuesta de recaudar parte de la contribución de algunos estados en desarrollo en moneda nacional, en ciertas condiciones, es una propuesta que puede contribuir eficazmente a solucionar el problema de la recepción de contribuciones por parte de la Organización.
Dicho esto quisiera hacer algunas reflexiones sobre el mismo párrafo 7 del Apéndice E del documento mencionado. La delegación argentina quisiera plantear cuatro puntos :
En primer lugar sería conveniente, como ya lo han anticipado algunas delegaciones, que la Secretaría preparara un escenario sobre cuántos países en desarrollo, cuyas monedas no son libremente convertibles y en los cuales la Organización está realizando actividades, podrían utilizar esta iniciativa y cuáles serían los efectos en las finanzas de la Organización.
En segundo lugar mi Delegación se pregunta qué significado tiene la expresión: "sólo para su utilización durante un tiempo relativamente breve". Sabemos que los países en desarrollo que no tienen monedas libremente convertibles generalmente atraviesan este tipo de situación no por un período breve. Sería difícil determinar que sí se acepta la contribución por un período breve y no en una base más o menos duradera.
En tercer lugar, se nos dice, en el párrafo 7, que en los casos en que el tipo de cambio operacional difiera, se tomará en cuenta el tipo de cambio que la FAO hubiera obtenido. Permítame decirle a la Secretaría, por su intermedio, señor Presidente, que la Argentina, que ha vivido períodos de devaluación constantes y de desequilibrios en su balanza de pagos pronunciados, entiende que es muy difícil determinar el tipo de cambio obtenido y, lamentablemente, se presta a la mayor de las distorsiones y efectos perversos.
Puede sugerirse que en cambio de eso se explore la posibilidad de que se evalúe la contribución al tipo de cambio que resulta de los registros de operaciones del Fondo Monetario International o del Banco Mundial.
Finalmente, el otro punto que quiero señalar es el que restringe la aplicación de esta medida a los países cuyas monedas no tienen riesgo de pérdida de cambio, porque no se aceptaría la propuesta con respecto a países cuyas monedas estuvieran sujetas a una devaluación continua. Aquí, nuevamente, mi Delegación desea señalar que esto es, nuevamente, de aplicación bastante difícil, porque los desequilibrios de balanza de pagos y las previsiones sobre la devaluación de monedas no libremente convertibles, son muy difíciles. Por lo cual, vuelvo a reiterar, mi Delegación reitera, que la propuesta contenida en este documento debe ser analizada a-los fines de ser puesta en práctica, pero que evidentemente implica complejidades que deben ser cuidadosamente analizadas por el Comité de Finanzas y por el Consejo antes de ser considerada por esta Conferencia, a fin de evitar que establezcamos un mecanismo inadecuado que introduzca distorsiones o efectos no deseados, o pueda afectar de manera durable la solidez de la Organización que todos queremos ver mantener.
Ray ALLEN (United Kingdom): I would like to strongly support and echo the sentiments expressed by the Swiss delegation. We have really had very little time to consider the implications of these proposals put forward in LIM/18 in any detail nor the possible repercussions. I can generally support the idea behind the proposal, and indeed, I do not think anyone has spoken against them. Clearly, with the number of countries unable to meet their Assessed Contributions - and Mr Mehboob just told us there are 79 Members who have made no payment, and there are 69 Members in arrears -I mean, clearly, something has to be done. We need to consider all the options to relieve the burden on those who cannot pay. We also need to consider the implications of non-payment on the Organization itself. It was for this very reason that we took the position that we did on the budget earlier this week. So what can we do? There are a large number of delegations who have had very little time to consider the proposals. I think it would therefore be wrong to rush into decisions on this. We need to ensure that there are proper safeguards built into the proposals. We have already heard from quite a number of delegations about the type of safeguards that they would like to have. They suggest we be given time to reflect on this and ask for the advice of the Finance Committee. After all, that is what they are there for. I agree with Mr Mehboob's comments in his introduction that it may not really be appropriate to wait a further two years until the next Conference before we reach a decision. I can therefore support the proposal that we put this matter to the Finance Committee in the spring. We could also consider, as the German delegate proposed, that this Conference, as an absolutely exceptional measure, could delegate the authority to the Council to make the final decision on how the matter should be handled and to ensure that all the necessary safeguards that members have spoken about this morning are put into place. There has already been a suggestion made earlier this week that there could be a Council session in the summer so that our new Director-General could consider the budget. So, as the delegate of Switzerland said, let us be prudent. We are, after all, only talking about a six-month postponement. Would it not be more prudent to get it right before we implement it, than to have to live with the problem for the next two years or for however long? So my proposal would be that this Conference authorizes the Council in the summer to make the decision after having received the advice of the Finance Committee, which would meet in the spring.
Shri Vishnu BHAGWAN (India): So there are two issues here, which have been very well defined and explained by Mr Mehboob, and I must thank him for that. When we look into C 93/LIM/34 and C 93/LIM/17, we find a lot of satisfaction because the figures over the years show a lot of improvement in the receipt of assessed contributions by the Organization. From 74.8 percent in 1989, we were 92.28 percent last year in December, and in 1992 we were 90.72 percent. We should be expecting to be around that figure this year as well. So there is a lot to be said by way of satisfaction that the recovery of the assessed contributions has improved. What is, however, unsatisfactory and rather alarming is a very large number of Members not discharging their obligations and, as Mr Mehboob put it, there are about 79 who have not paid their Assessed Contributions for 1993, and 69 Members have not paid their Assessed Contributions for previous years. This is where I feel that we have to stand up and look into the causes of the non-payment of the Assessed Contributions. It is not as if the Organization, the governing bodies, the administration, have not been considering the issues and the ways to improve the Assessed Contributions. The incentive scheme which was introduced from this year onwards has been one of such measures. However, I think it is too early to pass judgement on the incentive scheme. I do not know whether every Member, all the Members of the Organization, are even aware now of the exact details of the scheme. I shall recommend that we make it known to all the Members in detail so that the Member Nations are induced to adopt it. We should also think of other measures, and we can think of other measures once we have identified the causes of non-payment of Assessed Contributions on time. We will have to be not only innovative, but we will have to exercise and contact as many members as possible to identify the causes. I must thank the Secretariat and the Members who have suggested this idea. To my mind, this is an innovative idea, and we should really seriously think about implementing this idea in practice. I have heard the previous speakers on this proposal of the Secretariat to recover a part of the Assessed Contributions in local currency. I do not find that there is a disagreement on this issue. On the other hand, my perception is that everybody in this hall appears to be favourably inclined towards this proposal and adopting it.
What, however, appears to me the objection would be termed, in my opinion, as a word of caution; and I most admire the distinguished delegates of Switzerland, Canada and the United Kingdom who have pointed out that this proposal really needs to be worked out in detail so that everybody can understand the proper import of it and proper meaning of it, so that we have all the details. And I am really looking forward to Mr Mehboob giving an explanation to all the queries that have been raised by these speakers.
I also agree with the distinguished delegates of the United Kingdom, Germany and Austria and with my colleagues from the developing countries like Pakistan and others, who have expressed their agreement and support for this proposal. I also join them, Sir, and I also support this proposal, and I agree with the proposal made by the distinguished delegate of Morocco that we must give it a try and not defer it to the next Conference. The Canadian suggestion would perhaps allow this proposal to wait until the next Conference. I am not in favour of that, Mr Chairman. However, I am willing to go along that we authorize the Finance Committee and this special session of the Council which is scheduled to take place next year to examine all the details and provide for the necessary safeguards and implement this proposal so that we have the information by the next Conference and we are able to get all the information on this matter and
appreciate how far this measure has succeeded in enhancing the recoveries from the Member Nations.
In conclusion, I am, and my delegation is, in favour of implementing this proposal after consideration by the Finance Committee and the Council and providing for the necessary safeguards suggested by other Members.
Ms Faith INNERARITY (Jamaica): The Secretariat must be commended for its initiative in proposals contained in document C 93/LIM/18, "Measures to Improve the Collection of Assessed Contributions". This is a very creative proposal but, of course, the modus operandi has to be fine-tuned.
It could also probably lead to a strengthening of FAO activities in the field and an overall shift in the structure of the budget of the Organization. The proposal should not be treated lightly but should be subjected to further and more careful study so that details such as those mentioned by Switzerland could be worked out.
Clearly there may be difficulties in implementation due to unstable currencies, et cetera. However, the presence of obstacles does not mean that we should abandon a course of action. Instead we should seek solutions to overcome these obstacles.
I do not want to be unduly philosophical but must say that there is an element of risk in whatever we do, whether in our personal lives or in the public sphere. Risk, therefore, should not be something that prevents us from moving forward. There is a proverb from the Bible (Ecclesiastes) which says: "He that observeth the wind shall not sow, and he that watcheth the clouds shall not reap; so in the morning sow your seed and in the evening gather into barns, as you do not know what will come of it whether good or ill."
The Jamaican delegation supports this proposal, being cognisant of the fact that it must be fully studied by the relevant Governing Bodies before implementation. However, we believe that a decision should be made in the earliest time possible.
Jean-Paul RIVAUD (France): Je suis content de voir que M. Mehboob nous a rejoints dans le débat. Je voudrais attirer l'attention de l'ensemble de la Conférence sur le fait qu'elle a adopté un budget particulièrement tendu puisque nous savons très bien, cela a été souligné par de nombreux orateurs, que l'impasse budgétaire qui a été couverte par les effets de trésorerie, couverte par des contributions en retard, risque de se répéter dans les bienniums ultérieurs. Comme je l'ai dit à plusieurs reprises, il est bien évident que cette impasse ne disparaîtrait fondamentalement que si toutes les contributions étaient payées à temps. C'est donc dire qu'il faut que la Conférence fasse preuve de responsabilité en ce qui concerne le paiement des contributions.
Or, nous savons que la situation est préoccupante. Peu de jours avant l'ouverture de cette vingt-septième session, au 3 novembre, le montant total des arriérés s'élevait encore à près de 108 millions de dollars, soit le tiers du montant des contributions courantes dues pour cette année 1993. Sur ce total d'arriérés, 74 pour cent étaient dus par un seul Etat Membre.
Mon Ministre, le Ministre de l'agriculture, M. Puech, disait il y a quelques jours: "N'oublions pas (...) la responsabilité des Etats Membres dans la qualité du travail fait dans les Conseils et les Conférences et leur responsabilité financière, car la FAO ne peut rendre de bons services qu'en s'appuyant sur un budget régulièrement approvisionné. Les Etats qui ne payent pas ou payent avec des retards insupportables leurs cotisations sont responsables d'une partie des insuffisances qu'ils dénoncent par ailleurs. Cette situation n'est pas acceptable."
A l'ouverture de la vingt-septième session de la Conférence et à la veille de l'élection d'un nouveau Directeur général pour notre Organisation, 22 Etats Membres n'avaient pas versé une part suffisante de leur contribution ordinaire pour conserver leur droit de vote à la Conférence.
Le Bureau a proposé à la Conférence, qui l'a accepté, de faire une exception pour permettre à tout le monde de voter. Cette exception, du point de vue de la délégation française, doit être la dernière. Dans d'autres organisations du système des.Nations Unies, l'application des sanctions prévues par les Textes est automatique. Il faudrait qu'il en soit de même ici. A la FAO, l'interprétation de l'exception mentionnée à l'Article III.4 de l'Acte constitutif (défaut de paiement dû à des circonstances indépendantes de la volonté de l'Etat Membre concerné) devra, à l'avenir, faire l'objet d'une définition très stricte en ce qui concerne son application, c'est-à-dire les critères permettant de faire jouer cette exception. Il n'y a pas de comparaison possible entre un Etat qui est soumis à la guerre, à des troubles civils ou à une agression extérieure, et des Etats qui fonctionnent normalement, qui disposent de recettes et qui sont parfaitement capables de payer à temps leur contribution. Nous estimons donc qu'il faudrait être plus strict sur l'interprétation de cette exception. De même, les autres incapacités aux sanctions prévues, notamment à l'Article XXII.5 et XXII.7 du RGO s'agissant de l'élection et de la participation au Conseil, doivent être mieux appliquées. Nos positions sont constantes sur ce point.
Nous pensons, sur un plan de politique générale, que notre nouveau Directeur général, précisément parce qu'il va s'inscrire dans des perspectives de trois bienniums, doit bénéficier des paiements à temps par les Etats Membres.
Bien entendu, cette rigueur pourrait avoir deux contreparties pour les pays en difficulté. La première consisterait à favoriser la remise des compteurs à zéro pour les pays se trouvant dans des situations les plus difficiles, comme je l'ai suggéré au cours du 104ème Conseil, en trouvant un système idoine de rattrapage des arriérés, par exemple la réduction du montant à payer en cas de règlement à temps des nouvelles contributions.
La seconde consisterait à envisager la suggestion à première vue séduisante, mais dont il faut examiner tous les effets à long terme, d'un éventuel paiement en monnaie non convertible d'une partie de leur contribution. Cette partie en monnaie non convertible pourrait correspondre aux achats de monnaie local auxquels l'Organisation est obligée de procéder pour réaliser ses activités.
Certes, le paiement en monnaie locale n'est pas forcément la panacée. Les Etats-Unis paient en monnaie locale, mais c'est le seul pays qui paie en monnaie convertible et en monnaie locale.
Plus sérieusement, la question du paiement en monnaie non convertible mérite d'être examinée de façon approfondie, dans toutes ses conséquences, par le Conseil sur la base d'un rapport du Comité financier et, si celui-ci le juge utile, d'une étude du Vérificateur externe des comptes.
Je me rallie, sur ce point de vue en particulier, à ce que les délégués de l'Allemagne et du Royaume-Uni ont dit avant moi pour ce mécanisme qui devrait être mis en oeuvre, quoi qu'on en pense, le plus rapidement possible avant la Conférence de 1995.
Avant de terminer, je souhaiterais interroger le Secrétariat sur une question qui nous préoccupe. La France, qui a réglé sa contribution avant le 31 mars comme chaque année, se trouve remplir les conditions pour bénéficier du plan d'incitation au paiement rapide de contributions. Quelle forme serait susceptible de prendre la ristourne prévue? Déduction du montant des prochaines contributions dues, par exemple? Et à quelle date celle-ci devrait-elle intervenir?
Enfin, je voudrais faire une remarque générale devant la Conférence. Avoir des idées, c'est bien. Proposer des études, c'est encore mieux. Mais ceci ne doit pas conduire à une seule tactique consistant à gagner du temps jusqu'à la prochaine Conférence, c'est-à-dire à nous retrouver devant une situation qui serait la même que celle où nous étions il y a quelques jours, avec un nombre de pays qui ne paient pas leur contribution, un nombre de pays qui s'élargirait au cours de la prochaine Conférence. Cette situation n'est pas acceptable. Ce serait la mort de l'Organisation.
Mme Colette TAQUET (Belgique): Pour suivre votre conseil, je me bornerai à aborder le deuxième sujet soumis à notre examen. Nous avons pris connaissance de la proposition du Directeur général de permettre sous certaines conditions le paiement de contributions en monnaie non convertible. Nos autorités poursuivent l'examen de cette proposition dont elles saluent, d'ores et déjà, l'esprit constructif.
D'autres collègues avant moi ont mis l'accent sur les interrogations que suscite cette proposition qui est, il faut le reconnaître, assez vague dans son état actuel. Il importe, selon nous, que la mesure proposée n'induise pas de discrimination injuste entre les pays en difficulté de paiement selon leur situation financière et selon le profil des relations de coopération qu'ils ont établies avec la FAO.
Bien sûr, tous les Etats Membres devraient bénéficier en dernière instance de cette mesure dont l'objectif est de favoriser le recouvrement des arriérés. Mais nous devons garder à l'esprit le principe d'égalité de tous face à leurs obligations de membres.
S'agissant des aspects techniques de cette mesure, le document qui nous est soumis ne fournit pas suffisamment d'informations. En conséquence, nous suggérons, comme d'autres l'ont fait avant nous, que le Comité financier soit chargé d'étudier les critères et modalités d'application de cette importante proposition.
Nous pouvons difficilement accepter que l'on confie au Comité financier le soin de se prononcer sur les demandes d'application de cette mesure dont les critères d'application n'ont pas encore été fixés par un organe directeur de cette Organisation. Nous espérons pouvoir approfondir ces
questions dans des délais acceptables pour tous, selon la procédure suggérée par notre collègue allemand et appuyée par le Royaume-Uni.
Mrs Melinda L. KIMBLE (United States of America): 1 very much appreciate the preliminary remarks made on this subject by Mr Mehboob. The United States favour a postponement of action at least until a full review of the proposal can be undertaken by the Finance Committee and recommendations made by that body. We believe that the cautionary notes voiced by Switzerland, United Kingdom and others should be carefully heeded. We could then, as other speakers have suggested, empower the Council to take action in the interim if the study warrants it, so as not to wait two years.
That said, I have listened carefully to other interventions and the evident and justifiable interest in this scheme. Given these concerns, I would suggest that, if implemented, this proposal be implemented on a trial basis and that reports be made regularly and monitored closely by the Finance Committee. The criteria proposed by the Secretariat should also be regularly reviewed. In this regard, I note particularly that the enforcement of a maintenance of value mechanism has had problems in other agencies and could risk further arrears, something which we clearly want to avoid. Comprehensive recommendations could then be made by the Finance Committee to the next Conference based on our experience during this biennium. It is also important that the Secretariat quickly undertake a report on applications on similar practices in other UN organizations so that we can benefit from these experiences.
In addition to the questions raised by Switzerland, I would also ask what is FAO's exposure - the amount of outstanding contributions and arrears that might be eligible for payment in non-convertible currencies or the total amount of programme activities that FAO undertakes in such currencies? This is an important distinction with potential serious implications for the financial viability of FAO.
Many speakers have discussed the possibility that a portion of assessments be paid in local currency. This is clearly different from the thrust of the Resolution before us and more in line with what is being done in the United Nations as a result of the decision of the 46th General Assembly. In fact, the Draft Resolution speaks of Arrears of Contributions in the preambular paragraphs, and only Assessed Contributions in the operative paragraphs. We need to be clear in our intent about what we are about here. Given the broad sentiment for fine-tuning expressed in this debate by all speakers, we need as a minimum a careful redrafting of this Resolution before we proceed. This redrafting must take into account the concerns expressed and must reflect the need for a trial before we go further in implementing such a proposal on a long-term basis.
A brief note on incentive schemes: a study of this practice in the UN system has proved that countries who can pay on time, for whatever reason, get a slight rebate. Others who pay late, for whatever reason, generally continue to pay late. I believe that the experience to date in FAO is consistent with the review that we have had of this practice in other agencies.
Takafumi KOJIMA (Japan): My comment is very, very brief. First of all, my delegation appreciates Mr Mehboob's introduction. Mr Chairman, my delegation is fully aware that many Member Nations are in arrears because
of their economic difficulties. Unfortunately, this situation has not been improving. My delegation understands that appropriate measures should be taken at an early opportunity in order to overcome this situation. I understand that the proposed measures could be one possible solution. However, before we come to the decision, we need further study on this subject, and especially essential is the study of the Finance Committee from the technical point of view. Unfortunately, we did not have an opportunity at the 104th Session of the Council to discuss the substantial context of the proposed measures. In this context, my delegation supports the proposal from the distinguished delegate of Switzerland to refer the matter to the Finance Committee for further study.
Ato Assefa YILALA (Ethiopia): Even though it is late, I would still like and feel obliged to congratulate you on your election to chair this Commission, the lateness being because this is the only time I have requested the floor under your chairmanship and the first time that I have spoken in Commission III.
We would also like to express our due regard for the introduction that was given by Mr Mehboob on the item under discussion.
Like most speakers who expressed their views earlier, we also believe that all members should respect and fulfil their obligations in respect of assessed contributions to the Organization. However, the economic situation of the developing countries has had unhealthy developments, and this situation was more reflective on causing constraints on hard currencies because of a number of other requirements, particularly payment of debts and debt servicing. When member countries are willing to pay their share of assessed contributions and yet not able today because of shortcomings in hard currencies, this becomes morally unacceptable to most of us, particularly when some possible arrangements for payment in local currency could be made. In effect, this view of not letting member countries pay in local currency is discouraging the member countries from participating in the international forum. We believe that the Organization has some local cost and that this contribution in local currencies could be used for local expenses, thus reducing the transmission of hard currencies from the Organization to the member countries requesting to pay in local currencies.
We therefore would like to express the support of our delegation for approval of the draft resolution that we have before us. It should be understood that the convertibility of the currency, or any currency for that matter, is dependent upon economic strength rather than the unnecessary stigma that is being attached to any given currency. We believe that the multilateral institutions, particularly the UN agencies, should be able to see that all currencies are seen on an equal footing as much as possible. When we know that some incentives have been taken as measures in the past so as to encourage timely payments, and when we are aware that this has not provided encouragement towards timely payments, we think that the proposals which we have before us could be considered as one more step towards encouraging timely payments.
We are therefore in favour of the implementation of the proposal on Collection of Assessed Contributions in local currencies on a case-by-case basis, even though a careful study by the appropriate body could not be resisted, as long as this is made as soon as possible.
P.R. JANUS (Netherlands): First of all, I would like to thank Mr Mehboob for his introduction of this agenda item. I shall be very very brief.
On the subject of the status of contributions, the Netherlands has said on many occasions that we consider prompt and full payment of contributions essential for the Organization in order to enable it to carry out its Programme of Work, and we continue to do so.
Regarding the proposal contained in document C 93/LIM/18, we share the views expressed by Switzerland, Canada and Sweden on behalf of the Nordic countries. My delegation has questions similar to those expressed by Switzerland, for instance concerning practices in other parts of the UN system and the implications of the proposal for the UN system as a whole.
My delegation considers it important that this proposal be thoroughly discussed in the Finance Committee. We understand that this has not yet been done. Therefore, my delegation would support the idea expressed by many delegations to refer this proposal back to the Finance Committee for its consideration. Although my delegation would prefer that the final decision be taken by the next Conference, it could accept Germany's proposal to delegate authority on this matter to the Council.
MA GENG-OU (China) (Original language Chinese): I would like first of all to thank Mr Mehboob for his introduction. Sir, we have noted that, thanks to the combined efforts of the Director-General and Member Nations and in particular, the major donors, FAO's financial situation has shown a certain amount of improvement in 1992-93 as compared to past years. As a Member Nation of the Organization, we are very pleased with this situation because it shows that some progress has been made here. Nevertheless, the fact is that the financial situation of the Organization has not really fundamentally improved, and that is worrying. Indeed, according to the figures contained in document C 93/LIM/17, by 3 November of this year, the total amount of arrears in contributions was still US$108 million.
Quite a number of Member Nations have very high arrears and some even have arrears due for earlier years. This state of affairs affects the smooth running of the Organization's Programme of Work, and therefore we do express the hope that Member States will make every effort to meet their financial obligations towards the Organization by paying their current assessments on time, and also their arrears for previous years as soon as possible, in order to contribute to a radical improvement in the financial situation of the Organization which, of course, will allow it to carry through its Regular Programme and to work well.
Moreover, we have taken note of the proposal made by the Director-General which was transmitted by Council to Conference in order to resolve the problem of delayed payments and, in particular, to help countries in difficulties by allowing them to pay in local currencies. We have noticed that this is accompanied by some very strict conditions, and we feel that the proposal constitutes one of a number of measures that could help resolve the problem of countries in particular difficulty. We express the hope that these strict conditions can be rigidly applied without affecting or in any way putting the Organization at risk, because this involves the interest of the Organization and consequently the interests of all Member States and the practical difficulties of certain Member Nations, so we have to move cautiously. We have noted at the Council Session, at its 104th Session, that different opinions were expressed by Council members. Some
countries did appreciate the positive nature of the proposal but asked questions, which means that we need to reflect carefully. We support the proposal in principle, and at the same time we hope that in its application the effect and any other problems linked to the application of the measure will be carefully analysed so that the proposal may be applied surely and effectively.
DEPUTY DIRECTOR-GENERAL: While I was not able to listen to all of the debate, I have listened very carefully to that part of it that has taken place and I have been briefed by my colleagues on the other part, and taking all things into account I would like to suggest for the consideration of the Commission that the Conference authorize proceeding on a trial or experimental basis; that the Finance Committee be authorized to approve proposals received by the Director-General and assessed in accord with the criteria approved by this Conference; that the Secretariat be requested to prepare a report for Finance Committee consideration on the experiences of the UN and the other Specialized Agencies; that the Finance Committee report to the November 1994 Council on revised criteria if necessary, and of course that the Secretariat provide any other assistance as required by the Finance Committee or the Council; and finally that the Council, based on the experience of the Finance Committee during the current biennium, report to the Conference containing any necessary amendments to criteria or even, if at that point it believes desirable, to the Basic Texts of the Organization.
In other words it is a plea for this Conference to authorize proceeding on a trial or experimental basis, with all of the necessary conditions, to see that the matter is not in any way distorted or that it is implemented in as fair and reasonable a manner as one could conceive. Fundamental to this, of course, is amending the proposal that is before you to grant approval, not to the Director-General, but to grant approval to the Finance Committee on the matter.
K. MEHBOOB (Assistant Director-General, Administration and Finance Department): Mr Chairman, several delegations expressed concern that the proposal may go against or upset the scheme of things in the whole UN system. Mr Chairman, as we heard today, different organizations are applying different methods with regard to contributions. We heard that the ITU and the UPU were charging interest. We ourselves have a discount scheme in force. The UN accepts 14 currencies so there seems to be not a uniformity as we envisage. So there may not be that much of a risk in going against any common system criteria, but as the Deputy Director-General has said, we would be prepared to provide a report to the Finance Committee on the practices within the UN system for their review at their spring session.
There was a question from the distinguished delegate of Switzerland on how this proposal fitted into or related to the Basic Texts of FAO and that this was an exception. Mr Chairman, Financial Regulation 5.6 inter alia, states that each Member Nation and Associate Member shall pay the remainder of this contribution in lire or in its own currency which, for the purposes of its contribution to the Organization, must be freely convertible into lire, the convertibility being the responsibility of the contributing government.
It is true that what is being put forward in the proposal is a request for a derogation from this financial regulation but, Mr Chairman, this would not be the first time. There are precedents. For example, in 1983, the Conference delegated certain decisions to the Council and the Resolution states "delegates to the Council the authority to decide notwithstanding Financial Regulation 6.1(b)." Similarly, in 1987 again it decided to delegate to the Council notwithstanding the provisions of Financial Regulation 6.1(b). So, Mr Chairman, this would not be the first time that such a derogation is approved.
The distinguished delegate from Switzerland also asked how this would fit into the system of other UN agencies. I believe I have commented in that aspect.
Another question which he raised was which countries would this apply to. The criteria in paragraph 7 of the document, one of the criteria states that the proposal could only be applied in the case of those Member Nations whose currency was not clearly convertible as defined in Financial Regulation 5.6. So it would be the countries whose currency was not freely convertible.
As to how long it will be applied, Mr Chairman, every month we have to procure local currency in various countries for our operations there. It is done through the interest accounting system, so it will be applied through the interest accounting system. Whenever we need local currencies for a particular country, instead of procuring local currency from the banks as it were, we would credit the country and accept local currency and the criteria would specify which rate would be used and how we would go about it.
Another question was: would it apply to the arrears as well, or only current assessment? Mr Chairman, it would apply to both - arrears and current assessments.
The distinguished delegate from Sweden supported the idea on charging interest on delayed payments, and that UPU and ITU were doing this and having encouraging results. Mr Chairman, we submitted a proposal a few years ago on specifically this aspect, whether to apply any punitive measures to those countries who were late in the payment of their contributions, and it was overwhelmingly rejected by the Council who were against any punitive measures on Member Governments.
The distinguished delegate of Sweden also said that if he has evidence that it would improve the arrears situation, Sweden would be prepared to agree to the institution of this measure.
First of all we have had a few requests from some countries which we have turned down, requesting whether they could pay in local currency and, Mr Chairman, it would affect the arrears situation because, like I explained a while ago, we have local currency expenditure in various countries and we do actually convert dollars into local currency to honour that expenditure.
Therefore, it would have a big impact on the arrears situation.
The delegate of Austria requested a table similar to the one in C 93/LIM/18. At the present time we do not have it available but such a table is issued regularly by the CCAQFB, and we could provide this
information to the Finance Committee when it reviews the situation in the spring.
There was a question from the distinguished Ambassador from France about the discounts and how it would be paid. It would be deducted from the next year's assessment.
There were some questions from the delegate of Argentina which I will ask my colleague, the Director of Finance, to respond to. Otherwise, I believe that I have responded to all the questions.
E.S. OWENS (Director, Financial Services Division): The delegate from Argentina requested information on the number of Member States of the Organization that have non-convertible currencies and the number where we have FAO activities.
Currently, 105 Members of the Organization have currencies that are either not freely convertible or conversion is restricted. Out of those 105 Members the Organization has activities in 67 through Regional Office representations or projects.
A question was asked on the definition of the relatively short time as described in paragraph 7 of C 93/LIM/18. By relatively short time it was meant that the currency would be able to be used at the same UN operational rate of exchange. The operational rate of exchange is revised on a monthly basis and, therefore, we are talking about the currencies to be used primarily over a one-month period.
There were also questions raised about the exchange rate to be applied. I think those are described adequately in the paper.
I believe that that responds to the questions posed by the delegate of Argentina.
CHAIRMAN: I would like to restate in slightly different language what the Deputy Director-General has said as to what I feel is the consensus of this meeting with regard to the proposal in document C 93/LIM/18. No doubt the wording can be rephrased by the Legal Counsel: "This Commission recommends to the present Conference that a further study be made of this item by the Finance Committee and the CCLM, if required. They will then submit their proposals to the Council next June, if appropriate, or in November 1994 and the Council will be empowered by the Conference, if they accept the scheme, to implement it for a trial period of either one year or until the next Conference, and they will report on the results of the scheme to the next Conference where a decision will be made whether to continue the scheme or not. "
I feel that this is more or less the consensus of this meeting.
Mouin HAMZE (Liban) (Langue originale arabe): La situation financière actuelle de l'Organisation est directement liée au recouvrement des contributions des Etats Membres. Or cette situation requiert sans doute des mesures pratiques susceptibles de garantir les intérêts de l'Organisation, l'exécution des projets de développement agricole et le renforcement des capacités des pays en voie de développement à les absorber.
La proposition du Directeur général contenue dans l'annexe E du document C 93/LIM/18 autorisant sous certaines conditions, le paiement des contributions en monnaie locale, est une proposition importante et digne d'être expérimentée, de même qu'elle s'adapte à la situation financière et économique d'un grand nombre de pays en voie de développement.
Je m'empresse d'affirmer que la faisabilité de cette proposition, son efficacité et sa capacité à garantir les intérêts de l'Organisation dépendent de sa mise en oeuvre, compte tenu de critères clairs et inéquivoques.
Nous ne pouvons pas garantir le succès de cette proposition tant que les conditions claires de son application ne sont pas réunies.
Pour atteindre l'objectif visé par cette proposition, il faudrait assurer sa mise en oeuvre sur le terrain et en suivre l'évolution, le cas échéant, d'une manière conforme à la situation économique des pays bénéficiaires.
Le Liban a souffert d'une grave situation économique qui a affecté sa contribution dans de nombreux programmes internationaux. Mais cela ne l'a jamais empêché d'honorer ses engagements à l'égard de l'Organisation et de ses projets. Notre appui à la proposition du Directeur général s'inspire de la nécessité de respecter la conjoncture des pays en voie de développement et ne pas aggraver leur isolement économique et le poids de leur dette.
Christian BONAPARTE (Haïti): Je vous remercie vivement d'accorder la parole à la délégation haïtienne, surtout étant donné la synthèse qui a déjà été faite et le fait que vous ayez permis au Secrétariat de s'exprimer avant que tous les membres de la Commission aient pu faire part de leurs interrogations concernant les avis émis par les délégations ici. Nous sommes un peu scrupuleux de prendre la parole à ce niveau des débats. Ce sera peut-être pour clarifier les choses ou permettre à certaines délégations de s'exprimer plus clairement.
Pour sa part, la délégation haïtienne sera très claire et n'interviendra qu'une fois.
Nous n'avons pas d'objection majeure à cette proposition. Nous aimerions également avaliser plusieurs remarques de différentes délégations qui se sont exprimées ici en faveur de la proposition qui nous est soumise, notamment celle faite par la délégation du Maroc concernant la possibilité de payer des intérêts sur les arriérés. C'est à notre avis un non-sens.
Nous voulons aussi appuyer très fortement ce qu'a dit la Jamaïque qui pense que la proposition qui nous est soumise est une proposition très créative. Haïti est en faveur de cette proposition.
Mme Amina BOUDJELTI (Algérie): Je répondrai d'autant plus favorablement à votre appel de brièveté que je vous suis reconnaissante de me donner la parole à ce stade du débat. Je ne reprendrai donc pas l'inquiétude de ma délégation face à la situation financière de notre Organisation, ni non plus les arguments fort pertinents développés par de nombreuses délégations, dont celle du Maroc, de l'Ethiopie ou de l'Inde.
A ce niveau du débat je voudrais donc tout simplement apporter le soutien de ma délégation à la proposition contenue au LIM/18, telle qu'amendée et corrigée ici, c'est-à-dire donnant la possibilité dé déléguer au Conseil
l'autorité d'appliquer les mesures qui sont contenues au document C 93/LIM/18.
Juan NUIRY SANCHEZ (Cuba) : En primer lugar, pido disculpas por no haber estado a tiempo en esta importante reunión, pues desde hora temprana estamos en otra del Comité General, razón por la cual no oimos, por tanto, ni la presentación del tema ni algunas importantes intervenciones sobre este amplio tema. Sí queremos dejar sentado, señor Presidente, que estamos totalmente de acuerdo con lo propuesto por el Director General Adjunto Sr. Hjort, pero quisiéramos se nos permitiera unas breves reflexiones y consideraciones pues, como repito, el tema es amplio.
Partimos de-un principio: Todo país membro de la Organización debe pagar sus contribuciones; pero esto, dicho así, no se puede tomar mecánicamente. En este mundo complejo no se puede deliberar en términos generales sin hacer un análisis particular de cada país, de cada caso. Hemos visto que en este Consejo se le ha dado un gran peso a esta situación. Y hemos visto que se han distribuido los nombres de los distintos países llamados en mora. Todos, señor Presidente, son países en vías de desarrollo; todos son países que necesitan totalmente la ayuda alimentaria; todos son países que no vamos a enumerar, porque precisamente en esta sala se han escuchado, la deuda externa, la guerra, bajo la bandera de combatir el hambre; países bloqueados, sin guerra, y se han distribuido los nombres de esos países, inclusive se ha hablado de multas. Nosotros quisiéramos, como ya hemos repetido que estamos de acuerdo en lo que ha planteado el Director General Adjunto, pero que se valorara también el grado de responsabilidad de un país que no paga, a un país que paga parcialmente, solamente para tener derecho al voto. ¿Qué peso tiene ese país, pequeño, chiquito, que tal vez el pago es moral, al lado de un pago parcial de ese país que, sencillamente, mantiene la Organización en opción cero? ¿Ese no va a tener castigo? El pequeño país subdesar rol lado, el pequeño país que necesita de la ayuda de todos, es al que se le habla de multas y se le habla de, sencillamente, de que no pueda tener derecho ni aspirar a cargo, ni poder tener derecho a voto, no puede tener derecho a nada. No, no; no quiero con esto decir que esto es un sentido para justificar el pago; de principio dije que no. Pero, señor Presidente, yo quisiera que esto se valorara, se sopesara y se vieran, también, cuáles son las cuestiones de peso que todo esto que estamos diciendo tienen o no tienen. Esto, señor Presidente, son estas reflexiones y estas consideraciones que usted tan amablemente me ha dado la oportunidad de decir.
Mrs Melinda L. KIMBLE (united States of America): I regret wanting to take the floor again, but I wanted to make very clear my support for the conclusions you drew on the consensus of this debate. I thought your summing up was exactly in the right direction. At this stage, we believe it premature for this Conference to take final action on authorizing the trial experiment or to decide on criteria until we have further information that is reviewed in the Finance Committee.
Robert ANDRIGO (Canada): I wanted to make a similar point to that of the United States respecting the need not to take definitive action at this point, but rather to work through the Finance Committee and eventually authorize the Council at a special session in June, or subsequently to actually approve (or otherwise) this particular scheme, and that before that, the matter would continue to be studied by members in capitals and
elsewhere. That brings me to my second point, and indeed to the absence of information that we have in respect to this particular issue. Now perhaps the microphones were not working when I spoke earlier, but I posed a number of auestions, none of which were responded to by the Secretariat. One was indirectly addressed in response to a question raised by Argentina. Accordingly, I would still appreciate a response to the very specific questions that I put. These are - and I will repeat them - What is the definition of a convertible or non-convertible currency? What is the benefit to the Organization of this scheme? By that I mean, what is the total amount of money that might or might not be implied as being collected according to the proposal that is put before us? And specifically, as regards the number of countries that are possibilities for use of this particular scheme, to what extent do the assessments and arrears exceed (or otherwise) the costs that are being incurred by the Organization in those countries? Thirdly, the question of the implications for prioritizing and programming the activities of the Organization also has not been addressed, and I think that that is an important issue. Obviously, this may not be possible today, and I will be quite happy for that to be considered subsequently by the Finance Committee before a final decision is taken.
Dominik LANGENBACHER (Switzerland): First a word to our Canadian colleague who was asking himself whether the microphones were working or not. Mine has been working throughout, so all I have to do is remove the cup, and then I can take the floor.
Two points. First, thank you very much for your precise summary which makes it clear that the matter will be referred to the Finance Committee for further study and discussion and later on, authorization of the Council for action. The second point - I made this clear in my first intervention - I did not expect the questions raised by myself and other delegations to be answered here and now. I do hope that the Finance Committee in its discussion, and the Secretariat enhancing those discussions in the Finance Committee, will be led by these questions we have all formulated today here.
Chadli LAROUSSI ( Tunisie) (Langue originale arabe): Très rapidement, je voudrais vous parler de l'opinion de mon pays. Je remercie M. Mehboob pour ses éclaircissements ainsi que M. Hjort. Je partage l'incertitude et la perplexité de tous les délégués qui m'ont précédé quant au montant très élevé des arriérés.
A cet égard, je voudrais proposer un simple amendement concernant les arriérés de la Tunisie, c'est-à-dire 7 000 dollars, figurant dans le document: ces 7 000 dollars ont été versés. Je voudrais que ce soit corrigé.
Je suis donc tout à fait perplexe à l'égal des autres délégués. Cependant, je ne suis pas tout à fait d'accord concernant les solutions, car je ne pense pas que la situation puisse se perpétuer. Nous ne pouvons pas rester coi. Il faut que nous puissions trouver des solutions positives et pratiques afin d'éviter tous ces problèmes.
Je suis tout à fait reconnaissant au Secrétariat pour le document C 93/LIM/18, bien que ses solutions ne soient pas tout à fait complètes. De toute façon, je suis tout à fait d'accord avec le résumé que vous avez présenté, M. le Président, quant aux initiatives proposées et pour que nous
puissions tenir compte de toutes les précautions afin de ne pas glisser dans un piège s'agissant de la mise en exécution de ces initiatives. Je pense que nous devrions penser à d'autres initiatives pour ce qui est du recouvrement des contributions, des mesures incitatives. Je pense que des mesures institutionnelles également pourraient être prises, mais d'une façon tout à fait drastique quant à leur mise en oeuvre de sorte que les questions conjoncturelles ou à caractère spécial ne puissent pas s'imposer, comme l'a dit M. le délégué de la France.
Ashraf Mohsen Mohammed M0HSEN (Original language Arabie) (Egypt): The question that concerns us is contributions and arrears, matters, in our view, of paramount importance. We have to be able to guarantee the future of the Organization, and we agree with others who have spoken to the effect that arrears should be paid up. So the proposal we have in C 93/LIM/18, these measures are of vital importance so as to improve the collection of assessed contributions and thus enable all countries to pay their contributions and pay their arrears. We also believe that this could have implications on the financial situation of the Organization. I think that it is for the Finance Committee to look into the matter, and subsequently the Council could then have this document placed before it.
Mrs Elena ASKERSTAM (Estonia): May I thank Mr Mehboob for his introduction. I refer to documents C 93/LIM/4 and C 93/LIM/17. May I say that I am making this statement also on behalf of the two other Baltic countries who find themselves in an identical situation. I note with dismay the continued listing of the scale of contributions for Estonia for 1992-93 at the level of 0.07 percent, and with even greater dismay, an increase for 1994-95 to 0.08 percent. Estonia is very aware of its responsibilities to FAO and its budget. This was stressed in our statement in the Plenary. The situation of the scale of contributions listed in document C 93/LIM/4 is even more disturbing to us, as at the time of our application for FAO membership, we were informed by FAO that the level of contributions for Estonia was established at 0.01 percent. We are, hence, held responsible for an eight-fold increase, apparently on the basis of our past connection with the exchange rate of a currency which is no longer ours. We find it astounding that a country which has for two years struggled with a profound restructuring of its economy and its agriculture is being charged at a rate, or higher than the rate, of many countries with long-established and stable economies. The listing of Estonia as not having paid its obligations for 1992-93 in document C 93/LIM/17 is most embarrassing to us, and we sincerely hope that the negotiations which still continue on this subject in New York will soon give positive results. I wish to stress that we are already now willing - and able - to pay our contribution to FAO at the level originally requested of us.
Herald HILDEBRAND (Germany): I have a very short comment from my delegation regarding Mr Mehboob's answer as to the applicability of the proposed system to arrears. My delegation thinks that a very careful consideration should be given to that specific aspect because we should try to ensure fair treatment to all countries which are in arrears. My delegation thinks that circumstances and conditions are very different, and there are quite poor countries that have made great efforts in paying and in coming up to their obligations and have paid arrears. So this is a delicate issue that should be taken into account.
Waleed A. ELKHEREIJI (Saudi Arabia, Kingdom of) (Original language Arabic): Very briefly, at this late hour, I should simply like to say that we are not against the measures proposed by the Director-General. We make no objection to them. Nonetheless, a large number of Member Nations would like to have these measures studied in greater depth; thus the suggestion that this go to the Finance Committee for study is a judicious one, after which the proposal would go to the Council.
E.S. OWENS (Director, Financial Services Division): 1 would like to apologize to the delegate of Canada for not answering his questions the first time. I believe the first question deals with the definition of what is a convertible or non-convertible currency. A non-convertible currency is a currency where there are restrictions or prohibitions on the movement of that currency outside of its own home country; and currently, as I said earlier, there are 105 Members of the Organization whose currency is not freely convertible, which fall under that definition.
Benefits to the Organization: The Organization currently spends US$3.2 million a month from all funding sources in non-convertible currencies. We use our US dollars to procure those currencies to cover those expenditures. While the total potential benefit is not US$3.2 million a month, by the proposal that has been put forward some of those funds could come from the payment of assessed contributions and would not require us to use the dollars out of the dollar accounts to procure those local currencies.
On the programming of activities, I am not sure I understand the question clearly, and I would be glad to discuss that with the delegate at a later time, but I am not sure I can answer that question at this time.
While I have the floor, Mr Chairman, also the US asked the question about exposure, and we failed to answer that question. I believe the answer of US$3.2 million a month is how much we spend monthly on non-convertible currencies. I hope that responds to the question on exposure. If the delegate needs more information, I will be glad to provide that also.
Robert ANDRIGO (Canada): The Director of Finance just suggested that 3.2 million is your exposure in non-convertible currency. The point of the benefit to the Organization is how much of that US$3.2 million can be converted into payments under this particular scheme, and the related question to that was what is the stock of Arrears and Current Assessed Contributions which have not been paid, against which this scheme might be imposed.
E.S. OWENS (Director, Financial Services Division): I do not have the answer to the delegate's question immediately available, but we could provide some information later; and also, once we have had some experience on this scheme, we can provide information.
Moomi TE AVELELA SAMBA (Zaïre): Le point en discussion en ce moment est d'une importance capitale pour notre Organisation.
D'après la délégation du Zaire, l'accumulation des arriérés que nous déplorons aujourd'hui est due essentiellement à un manque de moyens. Car,
comme d'aucuns le savent, la plupart des pays en développement sont des exportateurs nets de matières premières. C'est la commercialisation de ces matières qui leur rapporte des devises fortes leur permettant d'honorer leurs engagements.
Or, à l'heure actuelle, la baisse des cours et la détérioration des marchés mondiaux sont telles que tout paiement en monnaie forte relève de la gageure pour nos pays.
En conséquence, le Zaire soutient la proposition du Directeur général relative au paiement des contributions en monnaie locale et se rallie à l'idée de voir cette proposition se concrétiser dans l'intérêt bien compris de la FAO.1
The meeting rose at 12.50 hours.
La séance est levée à 12 h 50.
Se levanta la sesión a las 12.50 horas.
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1 Texte recu aceu demande d'insertion au procès-verbal.
