20.7 Increase in the Level of the Working Capital Fund (continued)
20.7 Relèvement du niveau du Fonds de roulement (suite)
20.7 Aumento del nivel del Fondo de Operaciones (continuación)
CHAIRMAN: May I inform the delegates that the Delegate for Cuba wishes to support the draft resolution under item 20.7 of our Agenda relating to the Working Capital Fund. A short statement to this effect has been inserted in the Verbatim Record (C 81/III/PV/3)of our Commission.
I wish to inform delegates that the closing time for nominations to the CCLM (The Committee on Constitutional and Legal Matters) and the CFA (Committee on Food Aid Policies and Programmes) is 18.00 hours tomorrow. As of this morning, there are six nominations for seven places on the CCLM and four nominations for five seats on the CFA. At least one nomination more for each country is thus required. We will now proceed to the regular agenda for this meeting. We are going to adopt the Commission's Report for submission to the Plenary. I give the floor to the Chairman of the Drafting Committee who has been working hard, and I would request him to introduce the draft report to the delegates.
ADOPTION OF REPORT
ADOPTION DU RAPPORT
APROBACION DEL INFORME
J. C. SAINSBURY (Chairman, Drafting Committee): I have only two points to make, one is to report to yourself and to the Commission that the Drafting Committee conducted its duties in a spirit of cooperation to ensure that we accurately reflected the views and concensus reached in the Committee discussions. The Drafting Committee hopes therefore that the draft report before you will meet with the full approval of the Commission. I would just like to thank my colleagues on the Drafting Committee for their valuable assistance.
CHAIRMAN: Thank you very much I now propose to proceed, item by item, and paragraph by paragraph.
Paragraphs l to 4 approved
Les paragraphes 1 à 4 sont approuvés
Los párrafos 1 a 4 son aprobados
Paragraphs 5 and 6 approved
Les paragraphes 5 et 6 sont approuvés
Los párrafos 5 y 6 son aprobados
Paragraph 7, including draft resolution, approved
Le paragraphe 7, y compris le projet de résolution, est approuvé
El párrafo 7, incluido el proyecto de resolución, es aprobado
Paragraphs 8 and 9 approved
Les paragraphes 8 et 9 sont approuvés
Los párrafos 8 y 9 son aprobados
Paragraph 10, including draft resolution, approved
Le paragraphe 10, y compris le projet de résolution, est approuve
El párrafo 10, incluido el proyecto de resolución, es aprobado
Paragraph 11 approved
Le paragraphe 11 est approuvé
El párrafo 11 es aprobado
Paragraph 12 approved
Le paragraphe 12 est approuvé
El párrafo 12 es aprobado
Paragraph 13, including draft resolution, approved
Le paragraphe 13, y compris le projet de résolution, est approuvé
El párrafo 13, incluido el proyecto de resolución, es aprobado
PARAGRAPHS 14 to 16
PARAGRAPHES 14 à 16
PARRAFOS 14 a 16
A. PETERS (Secretary, Commission III): Thank you Mr. Chairman. This refers only to the English text in tie Resolution. In 10.3 there are in brackets the words "ad interim" and it should read "and interim" The same remark is valid for the brackets on the top of page 8, English version, where "ad interim" should read "and interim".
Paragraphs 14 and 15 approved
Les paragraphes 14 et 15 sont approuvés
Los párrafos 14 y 15 son aprobados
Paragraph 16, including draft resolution, approved
Le paragraphe 16, y compris le projet de résolution, est approuvé
El párrafo 16, incluido el proyecto de resolución, es aprobado
PARAGRAPHS 17 to 20
PARAGRAPHES 17 à 20
PARRAFOS 17 a 20
J.C. SAINSBURY (Chairman, Drafting Committee): I wish to make one point and I think Mr. Skoufis, wants to make a point taken up in the Drafting Committee. The first point refers to line 2 in the English text. The words "of 1981 had been less favourable than any on record." Discussions prior to the meeting with several delegates indicated there was some difficulty with the translation and, therefore, with the indulgence of my colleagues on the Drafting Committee. I would suggest a small amendment to this line, dropping the words "less favourable" and substituting the words "lower", which would then translate into Spanish, being one of the problems we had.
CHAIRMAN: Thank you very much. I would like now to give the floor to Mr. Skoufis, the Assistant Director-General of the Administration and Finance Department.
P. J. SKOUFIS (Assistant Director General, Administration and Finance Department): Thank you Mr. Chairman. During my introduction of this item, at your meeting last week, I brought up to date the status of the outstanding contributions from the LIM document that had been presented to the Conference at that time, the 19th November, 1981. At that time the Commission will recall that I listed several countries whose contributions have not been made between the period 4th and 19th November. The Conference will also recall the intervention of the distinguished delegate from France concerning the outstanding portions of the contributions from his government. Last Friday after the' morning session the Organization was informed by the Chase Manhattan Bank in New York of the receipt of the balance of the French contribution on 17th November in New York and this was in the amount of US$4 370 466 and acknowledging the receipt of this contribution, therefore, with the permission of the Drafting Committee, the table that is now shown in the Appendix that is on page 17 of the English text has now been revised to reflect all of the contributions received. Those outstanding as of the 19th November -this chart on page 17 of the English text now reflects the contributions to the budget of the Organization outstanding at the 19th November 1981. Mr. Chairman, with your permission, I would also like to inform the Body, that yesterday the distinguished delegate from the Republic of Korea delivered a cheque in the amount of US$236 530 to the Treasurer of the Organization in payment of the oustanding contribution of its Government. In addition, we were informed yesterday by the distinguished delegate of Japan that its Government is to pay today in Japan half of its outstanding balance as reflected in this chart in the appendix on page 17, a payment of US$5 133 905, it is in the process of being paid in Japan today. Those last two payments will be reflected in subsequent editions of this chart.
CHAIRMAN: We are all glad that the speed is picking up. The Assistant Secretary of the Commission has an observation on the fringe versions of the Report.
D. ALHERITIERE (Secrétaire adjoint, Commission III): Les délégués auront déjà remarqué que dans la version française du texte une erreur de mise en page s'est glissée. La page 15 devrait se lire en réalité page 12, et les pages 12, 13 et 14 devraient respectivement devenir les pages 13, 14 et 15.
Paragraphs 17 to 20 approved
Les paragraphes 17 à 20 sont approuvés
Los párrafos 17 a 20 son aprobados
Paragraph 21 approved
Le paragraphe 21 est approuvé
El párrafo 21 es aprobado
Paragraph 22, including draft resolution, approved
Le paragraphe 22, y compris le projet de résolution, est approuvé
El párrafo 22, incluido el proyecto de resolución, es aprobado
Draft Report of Commission III, Part 1, was adopted
Projet de Rapport de la Commission III, première partie, est adopté
El proyecto de informe de la Comisión III, parte 1, es aprobado
CHAIRMAN: The first item in Part 2 of the Draft Report of Commission III is the amendment to the Provisions of the Special Reserve Account, We shall proceed to deal with these items paragraph by paragraph.
Paragraphs 1 to 4 approved
Les paragraphes l à 4 sont approuvés
Los párrafos 1 a 4 son aprobados
Paragraph 5, including draft resolution, approved
Le paragraphe 5, y compris le projet de résolution, est approuvé
El párrafo 5, incluido el proyecto de resolución, es aprobado
CHAIRMAN: We will now move to item 20.3, paragraph 6 of the Report, Regional Office of the Near East.
PARAGRAPH 6
PARAGRAPHE 6
PARRAFO 6
H.F. NAJEB (Iraq) (Original language Arabic): I would like to propose that the text be more precise in the light of the discussions that took place in Commission III when we spoke of the Regional Office to the effect that at the end of paragraph 6 we add the following sentence, bearing in mind that I shall be reading at dictation speed: "Bearing in mind that the circumstances that lead the countries of the Region to close down the Regional Office in Cairo still persist (or are still prevailing)."
S. JUM'A (Assistant Director-General, Regional Representative for the Near East): Mr. Chairman if you will accept it, I will speak in Arabic so that my colleague from Iraq can understand me maybe more clearly. ["Continued in Arabic]. (Original language Arabic) : The remark which the delegate from Iraq has raised was not mentioned by any of the speakers when this matter was discussed by the Commission. Therefore the present text of the Resolution under discussion is a very accurate conclusion or summary of the discussions that took place. Therefore any additions might distort the meaning of it. Therefore I would suggest that this paragraph should be maintained as in the document before the Commission.
M. DESSOUKI (Egypt) (Original language Arabic): When this subject was discussed by the Commission the number of speakers was limited and this sentence was not mentioned in any of the statements of the various delegations that took the floor. Therefore I wish the Report to reflect the exact discussions and would kindly request the delegate of Iraq to accept that the paragraph be maintained as it is in the Report.
H.F. NAJEB (Iraq) (Original language Arabic): I do not believe that the addition of this sentence should attract such objections. I share the views of all those who preceded me to the effect that the number of speakers was very limited. The text which I requested should be added tries to reflect the spirit of the discussions. Though the number of speakers was limited, one delegate has requested that the Regional Office be transferred to another site and another speaker supported this proposal and made a similar suggestion. There was even a request that the Regional Office should operate again from within the Region. Hence the spirit of the discussion has indeed shown that the circumstances or conditions that led to the closure of the office still prevail or otherwise we would have requested that the Regional Office be reopened. This sentence at the end of paragraph 6 is intended to express the real and exact spirit which prevails or was reflected by the discussions. That is why I would kindly request its addition.
H. HAMMAD (Jordan) (Original language Arabic): With respect to paragraph 6 on the Regional Office for the Near East, I believe that the explanation called for by the Iraqi delegation already exists in the text before us. Therefore I find no need to make any addition to it.
S. JUM'A (Assistant Director-General, Regional Representative for the Near East) (Original language Arabic): I believe that the delegate of Jordan was perfectly right when he said that the last sentence of this paragraph is to the same effect as that requested by the delegate of Iraq, because we say exactly that the Office will be reopened when the circumstances are more convenient. Therefore this simply means that the closing of the Office will be maintained until such time as the circumstances are more convenient. Hence the requested addition can serve no purpose at all, whether added or not the status quo still prevails, because actually the last sentence reads: "The hope was expressed that the Regional Office would be able to operate again within the Region when more favourable circumstances permit." And this already implies the idea of the delegate of Iraq.
H.F. NAJEB (Iraq) (Original language Arabic): I find that the discussion is taking place between myself and the Conference Secretariat, and hence I should reserve my right of reply to the Secretariat of the Conference. My impression of the sentence referred to by Dr. Jum'a, i.e. the last sentence of paragraph 6, to the effect that "the hope was expressed that the Regional Office would be able to operate again within the region, when more favourable conditions allow this." Egypt is from within the region but we were compelled to request the transfer of the Regional Office from Cairo and the closure of the Cairo office. But as the situation has not changed this sentence could be interpreted in several ways. The sentence that says "the Regional Office would be able to operate again within the region" could also mean Egypt. Egypt is a country of the region and this we do not agree to. That the office would be able to operate again within the region, this is something we agree to, provided, we say, that the conditions or circumstances which led to the closure of the Regional Office are still prevailing.
E.B.M. BARVA CHELE (Kenya): Kenya was a member of the Drafting Committee and I believe the Drafting Committee consisted of a number of delegates from all the regions, and I think perhaps that this paragraph was unanimously passed by members of the whole region without any reservations. While very much appreciating the views of my very dear colleague from Iraq I wish to put a question perhaps in the English text. It is very very clear that the proposal from Iraq is actually a reverse of what is in the text because the English text reads "The hope was expressed that the Regional Office would be able to operate again within the region when more favourable circumstances permit." In my view of the English interpretation this means that the circumstances that led to the closure of the office if it was closed at all are persisting. Therefore adding another sentence as proposed by my very dear colleague makes the whole paragraph redundant. So may I perhaps request my dear colleague from Iraq not to insist with his proposal to add that sentence. In fact for those of us who are English speaking it would make the sentence redundant and it would not be to the interests of the Committee and the Conference perhaps to present a redundant item to the Conference. So may I request once more my dear colleague from Iraq not to insist.
CHAIRMAN: Is the delegate from Iraq willing to accept this explanation? Egypt has the floor.
M. DESSOUKI (Egypt) (Original language Arabic): If the distinguished delegate from Iraq is satisfied with these explanations I believe we ourselves are satisfied with it.
H.F. NAJEB (Iraq) (Original language Arabic): I must indeed apologize for having to request the floor another time. The distinguished delegate from Kenya has stated that this subject was discussed in the Drafting Committee. We know that it was discussed in the Drafting Committee and that the region was represented in the Drafting Committee, and yet this need not in any way or manner prevent my request for the introduction of a change or making a remark on the Report or otherwise why are we sitting here to adopt this Report? It could be adopted by the representatives of the region themselves. This is on the one hand. On the other hand, we heard the remark of the distinguished delegate of Kenya to the effect that the sentence would be redundant in the sense that it would contain repetition or it would drag along if we were to add the sentence I requested to be added to paragraph 6. Here I do not believe that the addition of just one line to bring more clarity to a paragraph would mean either redundancy or ambiguity. On the contrary I do not believe that this small addition would be so lengthy as to distort or spoil the paragraph. Rather, there are very many other resolutions to which a line or half a line were requested to be added and this was done and found acceptable.
M. DESSOUKI (Egypt) (Original language Arabic): The text as we have it before us does not give rise to any ambiguity. It expressed what the delegates who have taken the floor have said and what the delegate of Iraq requests is exactly already contained here within this part of the paragraph and in the light of the statements made.
CHAIRMAN: As the item has been discussed and plenty of opportunity has been given to everyone to express his views and the proposal of the delegate from Iraq has not been supported by others the discussion is closed.
Paragraph 6 approved
Le paragraphe 6 est approuvé
El párrafo 6 es aprobado
Paragraphs 7 to 9 approved
Les paragraphes 7 à 9 sont approuvés
Los párrafos 7 a 9 son aprobados
Paragraph 10, including draft resolution, approved
Le paragraphe 10, y compris le projet de résolution, est approuvé
El párrafo 10, incluido el proyecto de resolución, es aprobado
Paragraphs 11 to 13 approved
Les paragraphes 11 à 13 sont approuvés
Los párrafos 11 a 13 son aprobados
Paragraph 14, including draft resolution, approved
Le paragraphe 14, y compris le projet de résolution, est approuvé
El párrafo 14, incluido el proyecto de resolución, es aprobado
Draft Report of Commission III. Part 2, was adopted
Le projet, de rapport de la Commission III, deuxième partie, est adopté
El proyecto de informe de la Comisión III, parte 2, es aprobado
CHAIRMAN: We have now concluded our business on the adoption of the Report and we must thank the Chairman of the Drafting Committee, the members of the Drafting Committee and the delegates who took a very active and cooperative interest in the discussion and I, on my own behalf, thank you all.
The meeting rose at 11.10 hours.
La séance est levée à 11. h.10
Se levanta la sesión a las 11.10 horas.
