GENERAL DISCUSSION (continued)
DEBAT GENERAL (suite)
DEBATE GENERAL (continuación)

INTRODUCTION - PROCEDURE OF THE SESSION (continued)
INTRODUCTION ET QUESTIONS DE PROCEDURE (suite)
INTRODUCCION Y CUESTIONES DE PROCEDIMIENTO (continuación)

Second Report of the Credentials Committee
Deuxième rapport de la Commission de vérification des pouvoirs
Segundo informe del Comité de Credenciales

CHAIRMAN: I would now briefly like to break from the general discussion and revert to the first our agenda for this Twelfth Plenary Meeting. That is, the Second Report of the Credentials

Committee as represented in document C 85/LIM/11. In that regard, I would like to call upon the Chairman of that Committee, Ambassador Laube of Austria, to present the Second Report of the Credentials Committee.

H. LAUBE (Chairman, Credentials Committee): The Credentials Committee, at its Second Meeting on 13 November 1985, examined the credentials of four nations and found them to be in order, thus bringing the total to 147 credentials.

Two member nations have not registered to date. In addition to the three member nations which have already notified the Organization that they will not be attending the Twenty-third Session of the Conference, the following six member nations have also advised that they will not be represented: Bahamas, Democratic Kampuchea, Fiji, St. Christopher and Nevis, Samoa and Sierra Leone.

The credentials of the Permanent Observers of the Holy See and of the Order of Malta were also examined and found to be in order.

The Committee also examined the credentials of the United Nations and Specialized Agencies and of Inter-Governmental and Non-Governmental Organizations and found them in order.

CHAIRMAN: I thank Ambassador Laube, as Chairman of the Credentials Committee, for the presentation of his Second Report. If there are no objections, I will declare that Report adopted by this Conference.

Adopted
Adopté
Aprobado

GENERAL DISCUSSION (continued)
DEBAT GENERAL (suite)
DEBATE GENERAL (continuación)

Gilles DESQUELLES (Communauté économique européenne): Je tiens tout d’abord à exprimer ma profonde svmpathie à la Colombie et à son peuple qui viennent d’être gravement touchés par une terrible catastrophe. Je puis vous assurer que la CEE est prête à participer aux actions d’urgence qui seront demandées par le Gouvernement colombien.

C’est un grand honneur pour moi de prendre la parole au nom de la Communauté économique européenne, à l’occasion de cette vingt-troisième Conférence de l’Organisation des Nations Unies pour l’alimentation et l’agriculture qui fête, en même temps, son quarantième anniversaire.

Il y a quarante ans, au lendemain de moments tragiques, se développait une volonté générale de coopération et de solidarité, la FAO voyait le jour, et cette Organisation est maintenant le forum international reconnu et incontesté où les responsables du Nord et du Sud peuvent délibérer des grands problèmes de l’alimentation et de l’agriculture.

La FAO est aussi et avant tout l’Organisation qui permet de passer à l’action et assure l’assistance technique aux pays en développement, ce qui leur permet d’accroître leur production alimentaire.

La Communauté économique européenne se félicite de l’oeuvre accomplie par la FAO, d’autant plus que sa politique vis-à-vis des pays en développement s’intègre dans la même perspective, à savoir la lutte contre la faim et pour le développement.

En effet, elle considère que le droit è l’alimentation est fundamental et inaliénable. C’est pourquoi, elle soutient le pacte de sécurité alimentaire soumis à notre Conférence. Il est para-doxal et inacceptable de constater que la faim, un des plus grands fléaux de notre époque, se perpétue alors que les progrès scientifiques donnent à l’homme de plus en plus de possibilités de mettre en valeur les capacités productives du milieu naturel.

Alors que certaines régions du monde continuent à subir la famine, d’autres régions connaissent des problèmes de surplus de production. Certes la CEE, mais aussi de nombreux pays industrialisés, et même certains pays en développement, contribuent à la création d’excédents qui deviennent de plus en plus structurels. Cet état de choses ne peut continuer car il porte atteinte à l’équilibre économique et social du monde. Il importe done de le modifier et cela passe obligatoirement par un ajustement des politiques nationales de tous les pays concernés et avec le souci d’un partage équitable des conséquences de tels ajustements. Voyons done ce que nous pourrions et devrions faire.

D’abord pour la Communauté économique européenne. Je rappelle que la politique agricole commune a été conçue pour soutenir le développement de l’agriculture dans une région du monde qui dans son histoire a connu des périodes répétées de pénuries. Cette politique a parfaitement réussi. Aujourd’hui, compte tenu d’une part des changements survenus dans l’économie agricole européenne qui l’ont conduit à une position d’exportateur net pour la plupart des productions agricoles tempérées, d’autre part de la situation à l’échelle mondiale, les institutions communautaires sont engagées dans un processus de réflexion, sur les perspectives de la politique agricole commune. C’est dans ce contexte que la Commission des communautés européennes a présenté un “livre vert” au sujet duquel des consultations avec les parties concemées sont en cours. Des conclusions opérationnelles seront tirées vers la fin de cette année. Dans l’état actuel de l’examen il ressort qu’il n’y a pas d’alternative à une politique de soutien plus adaptée aux réalités des marchés intérieurs et extérieurs, impliquant la responsabilité financière partagée par les producteurs, notamment si la production communautaire dépasse certaines limites. D’autre part, les problèmes des petites exploitations agricoles, notamment lorsqu’elles sont situées dans les régions défavorisées ou structurellement déficientes doivent trouver leur solution par des mesures spécifiques adaptées à la dimension sociale et écologique de ces problèmes.

La Communauté est à la fois le premier importateur mondial et second exportateur mondial de denrées alimentaires, et sa balance commerciale agricole est structurellement déficitaire; en 1984, 27,1 milliards d’Ecus, soit environ 25 milliards de dollars. Ce rôle comporte à la fois des responsabilités et des risques. C’est pourquoi pour la Communauté il est fundamental que soient restaurés l’ordre et la stabilité afin d’éviter le développement des tensions sur les marchés mondiaux. Elle attend de ses principaux partenaires commerciaux une attitude similaire afin que globalement la production agricole soit mieux adaptée à la demande.

Elle est aussi convaincue que la solution la plus importante pour régler les problèmes internationaux repose sur la croissance d’une économie mondiale ouverte. C’est dans cet esprit que la Communauté est favorable au lancement sur des bases saines d’une nouvelle négociation commerciale multilatérale dans le cadre du GATT.

La CEE est prête à oeuvrer à l’amélioration des règies et disciplines du GATT concernant tous les aspects du commerce des produits agricoles, en tenant compte des caractéristiques et de la spécificité de l’agriculture et des problèmes auxquels les pays en développement sont confrontés. En effet, la sécurité du monde exige que chaque pays rejoigne un large degré d’autosuffisance, et adopte de façon autonome le modèle de développement qui convient le mieux à ses besoins matériels et culturels, exploitant ainsi au mieux ses richesses naturelles.

Cette réalité s’applique tout particulièrement à l’agriculture du tiers monde qui n’arrive pas à nourrir sa population. En outre, dans certains pays africains, cette population croît plus rapidement que les productions vivrières et l’insuffisance de celles-ci se double de difficultés graves pour les cultures d’exportation.

La Communauté a concentré ses efforts sur l’Afrique, le continent oublié du développement. Nous assistons à un recul dramatique sur divers fronts, notamment l’alimentation. Plusieurs pays de ce continent viennent de connaître une grave crise aiimentaire. Grâce au système d’alerte rapide et aux appels répétés du Directeur général de la FAO, des moyens exceptionnels et une solidarité internationale se sont mis en place pour atténuer la famine.

A plus long terme, comme l’a déjà déclaré le Directeur général de la FAO, nous devons réfléchir et concevoir une stratégie globale. L’effort à entreprendre ne peut se faire seulement à l’échelle nationale avec l’appui européen mais demande la conjugaison de tous les pays du monde.

Les obstacles au développement sont si complexes que les solutions ne peuvent se réduire à des transferts financiers et techniques. Il faudra une volonté sans faille des gouvernements et une mobilisation des populations, notamment rurales, des pays en développement. La voie à explorer est difficile, mais ne la rejetons pas, car le temps qui accroît les écarts, ne travaille pas pour la communauté internationale.

Deux types de problèmes se posent:

1) ceux relatifs aux besoins d’approvisionnement;

2) ceux relatifs aux besoins d’exportation.

Besoins d’approvisionnement

Au cours de l’année 1984, la situation de la production aiimentaire s’était encore détériorée notamment au Sahel et dans la corne de l’Afrique. Heureusement, les récoltes de cette année en Afrique australe indiquent une amélioration et les conditions climatiques qui se sont quelque peu améliorées ces derniers temps en Afrique sahélienne laissent envisager que la tendance puisse être renversée.

En plus de son programme annuel régulier d’aide aiimentaire, pour faire face à la crise catastrophique qui s’est abattue sur l’Afrique, la Communauté a augmenté considérablement l’aide alimentaire, et conformément aux conclusions du Conseil européen de Dublin de décembre 1984, l’aide en faveur des 8 pays africains les plus touchés a dépassé l’objectif initialement fixé (1,2 million de tonnes de céréales ou équivalent). A la date du ler octobre 1985, ce plan a été intégralement exécuté.

Mais l’urgence c’est aussi le moyen et le long terme.

Il faut penser à l’avenir et à la relance structurelle de la production agricole.

C’est pourquoi la Communauté, dans le sens souhaité par le Directeur général de la FAO, sans attendre la mise en oeuvre concrète de Lomé III, va lancer un plan de réhabilitation et de relance des pays africains les plus affectés par la sécheresse.

Dans sa session toute récente du 4 novembre 1985, le Conseil des Ministres des Communautés européennes a fixé les grandes orientations de ce plan, dont l’objectif final est fixé à hauteur de 200 millions d’ECUS, soit environ 180 millions de dollars. Cent millions d’ECUS sont immédiatement mobilisables au titre du fonds européen de développement selon les procédures de décisions propres à ce fonds.

Il convient, en effet, de soutenir les efforts des agriculteurs par des mesures de développement de l’économie rurale en renforçant la capacité des pays:

- à faire face à des catastrophes qui pourraient se reproduire à l’avenir;

- à desserrer leur étranglement économique et financier.

A long terme, un des moyens principaux d’arriver à des politiques agricoles appropriées dans les pays en développement repose sur l’incitation à la production agricole grâce à des prix rémunérateurs. La Communauté soutient les efforts de plusieurs pays ayant mis sur pied des stratégies alimentaires.

A cet égard, nous ne pouvons que nous féliciter de l’engagement pris par les Chefs d’Etat et de gouvernement de l’Organisation de l’unité africaine d’accroître progressivement la part des investissements publics de leurs pays respectifs au secteur agricole pour tendre vers l’objectif minimum de 20 à 25 pour cent d’ici 1989.

La Commission des Communautés européennes a fixé la relance de l’agriculture et l’autosuffisance alimentaire comme l’objectif principal de la programmation en cours et de la mise en oeuvre de Lomé III. A cet égard, elle procèdera bientôt à une évaluation des stratégies alimentaires avec les quatre pays concernés. En matière de protection de l’environnement et notamment de lutte contre la désertification, elle prépare un plan d’approche globale qui, dans un premier temps, mettra l’accent sur les actions de reforestation. Dans ce contexte de l’environnement, la Communauté économique européenne se félicite de pouvoir participer pleinement à l’application du Code de conduite pour la distribution et l’utilisation des pesticides, initiative de la FAO dont nous nous réjouissons.

Besoins d’exportation

L’essor économique de bon nombre de pays en développement dépend de l’écoulement sur le marché mondial de leurs produits à des prix stables et rémunérateurs. La Communauté contribue à cet effort de deux manières.

Premièrement, en favorisant les importations agricoles et alimentaires en provenance des pays en développement. C’est ainsi que les pays en développement sont les premiers fournisseurs agricoles et alimentaires de la Communauté; leur part a progressé ces dernières années de plus de 5 points. Aujourd’hui, elle absorbe près de 30 pour cent de leurs exportations agricoles et alimentaires et constitue ainsi leur premier client. Il faut y voir les effets de l’action de la Communauté pour une plus grande ouverture de son marché aux pays en développement, grâce à des accords préférentiels, conformément aux recommandations des organisations internationales. Dans le même esprit, le Conseil des ministres de la Communauté européenne a décidé le 22 octobre 1985 d’anticiper d’un an au ler Janvier 1986 la dernière étape des réductions tarifaires concédées par la Communauté dans le cadre des accords du GATT négociés lors du “Tokyo Round” de 1979. Nous espérons que d’autres grands partenaires commerciaux décident des anticipations analogues.

Deuxièmement, elle contribue par le soutien qu’elle apporte aux pays de la Convention de Lomé dans le cadre du système STABEX, dont les moyens ont augmenté de 66 pour cent dans la nouvelle Convention. Dans ce contexte, nous annonçons l’accord en date du ler octobre 1985 sur une initiative de la Communauté relative à un nouveau système de compensation des pertes de recettes d’exportation élargi en faveur des pays moins avancés qui ne font pas partie des pays ACP.

Par ailleurs, elle participe activement à ceux des accords internationaux qui permettent de stabiliser les prix des matières premières dont l’exportation représente un intérêt notoire pour les pays en voie de développement.

C’est dans cet esprit que les Etats Membres de la Communauté ont tous signé et ratifié l’Accord portant création du Fonds commun. Nous prions tous les Etats qui ne l’ont pas encore fait de signer et de ratifier sans plus tarder l’Accord portant création du Fonds.

Je voudrais aussi souligner que le développement rural des PVD est notre objectif majeur. Des efforts particuliers doivent être déployés en faveur des petits producteurs. Nous espérons que la reconstitution du FIDA se fera rapidement. Il importe en effet que cet instrument essentiel puisse disposer des moyens financiers nécessaires à sa tâche.

Si les paysans africains sont pauvres, c’est parce qu’ils ont perdu la maîtrise de leur milieu. Etant pris entre une économie d’autosubsistance dont l’équilibre a été rompu et une économie de marché qui échappe à leur contrôle, ils n’ont pas la possibilité de réaliser la transition entre les deux.

Il est done plus urgent que jamais que la solidarité entre les peuples et les hommes contribue à une société plus généreuse et d’assurer la sécurité alimentaire dans le monde, partout et pour tous.

Pour terminer, Monsieur le Président, outre les décisions que la Communauté vient de décider en faveur des pays en développement et que je viens de rappeler, je peux vous assurer que les discussions du “Livre vert” devant conduire à la restructuration de l’agriculture européenne tiendront dûment compte de la situation des pays en développement. Ainsi la Communauté économique européenne continuera de participer à l’oeuvre initiée par la FAO au service de l’humanité, et à son action de lutte contre la faim et pour le développement.

José E. Lois MALKUN (República Dominicana): Señor Presidente, señor Director General, distinguidos delegados. Quiero destacar mi especial complacencia al asistir a esta 23^a Conferencia de la FAO en representación del Gobierno dominicano. Al mismo tiempo, felicitar al señor Presidente por su elección y eficiente conducción de esta Conferencia, donde se tratan aspectos que son vitales para erradicar el hambre y la desnutrición de nuestros pueblos.

La FAO es una Agencia de extraordinaria importancia dentro del Sistema de las Naciones Unidas, ya que no sólo atiende un aspecto tan relevante para la humanidad como lo es el desarrollo agrícola para la producción de alimentos y el bienestar rural, sino que su activa presencia a nivel mundial contribuye también a aliviar los problemas del hambre mediante la cooperación internacional.

Es justo señalar y destacar la eficiente gestión de su Director General, Sr. Edouard Saouma, quien ha empujado a la Organizacion a convertirse en un instrumento cada vez más importante para nuestros países.

Señor Presidente, agradeciendo la benevolencia de los distinguidos delegados y observadores, voy a referirme especialmente a la situación econonómica por la que atraviesa nuestro país, la República Dominicana, después del acuerdo firmado con el FMI, hace aproximadamente un año, y a ofrecerle algunas ideas de lo que consideramos un justo equilibrio dentro de la comunidad internacional que es necesario establecer para que nuestro sacrificio político y económico tenga alguna posibilidad de dar frutos en el futuro.

La agricultura ha sido por mucho tiempo la base angular de nuestra economía. Hoy todavía lo es e indiscutiblemente también lo será en el futuro. Quizá no existe otro sector productivo de la economía dominicana donde el análisis de la intervención estatal tenga mayores implicaciones, por ser el sector más intervenido. Hay razones obvias para ello. Siendo el sector que de forma dinámica genera más divisas y que consume menos dólares en su proceso de producción, ha sido el más penalizado a través de las diferentes formas de intervención del mercado y la política fiscal y monetaria.

Quizá sería conveniente referirnos a la estrategia global de desarrollo que nemos seguido en el pasado, y la política de sustitución de importaciones de productos manufacturados, es, sin lugar a dudas, la característica más relevante de nuestra historia económica reciente y que todavía hoy día mantiene su relevancia e implicaciones en los esfuerzos que se encaminan por reorientar la estructura productiva del país.

No pretendemos, ni es nuestra intención, reiterar los aspectos positivos o negativos de la anterior estrategia, de la que hoy se nos hace difícil desprendernos, cuestión ya ampliamente discutida por expertos en la materia. Sin embargo, creo oportuno dilucidar algunos puntos que, enmarcados dentro de esa estrategia, han tenido efectos importantes y profundos en la estructura y evolución de la produccción agropecuaria en la República Dominicana.

Las políticas conducentes a lograr la producción de bienes manufacturados en el país, para sustituir lo que en ese período se importaban y con el propósito explícito de ahorrar una cantidad creciente de divisas que se demandaban para ese fin, generó y profundizó un conjunto de problemas que la política seguida estaba llamada a resolver. Es decir, aunque se logró un aumento significative en la producción de esos bienes industriales y en realidad redujo el gasto de divisas por este concepto, no menos cierto es que una importante debilidad de la política diseñada fue el no proveer una organización de la producción que demandara una alta creciente proporción de valor agregado doméstico.

La demanda cada vez mayor de insumos importados condujo a un consumo progresivo de divisas para sostener el crecimiento de ese sector. Pero aquí no termina lamentablemente todo el panorama de implicaciones de esta estrategia, pues no menos importante es cuestionar hasta qué grado se alcanzaron los objetivos desarrollistas de la misma en lo que concierne a la generación de empleos y redistribución del ingreso y que produjera los excedentes de recursos que permitieran desarrollar una infraestructura productiva que asegurara un crecimiento de la economía en forma progresiva y sostenida.

Al analizar el productos generado, llegamos a la conclusión de que, si bien es cierto que el modelo desarrollista logró algunos objetivos, en general dejó muchas aspiraciones insatisfechas. Decimos esto, no porque sólo logró absorber mano de obra muy por debajo de las expectativas supuestas y de la cantidad que el país demandaba, sino que tuvo la característica de tener que ser promovida a niveles de salarios que colocaban esa gran masa de empleados en un nivel de ingreso que colindaba con el mínimo de pobreza absoluta. Entonces concluimos que ni se logró generar los empleos esperados, ni se redistribuyó el ingreso hacia las masas más empobrecidas. A esto se agrega la necesidad que tuvo el sector público de mantener los precios de los alimentos a niveles que se correspondieran con la política de bajos salarios para la mano de obra del sector urbano.

Por esta decisión de política que distorsionó los precios de los productos agropecuarios para favorecer a la clase industrial, que ha generado efectos negativos permanentes en la agricultura y que ameritaban ser corregidos de manera que ésta asumiera el papel preponderante que le corresponde en el desarrollo politico, social y económico de la República Dominicana. Por otra parte, la política de precios de los productos agropecuarios complicó el panorama aún más y trajo consigo costos socio-económicos inimaginables, al pretenderse, a través de otras políticas de subsidios, compensar al productor por los efectos negativos que ésta creaba. Es así como vimos el Estado subsidiando los servicios de preparación de tierras, de venta de agroquímicos, semillas y crédito al productor, sin un entendimiento más profundo de la cotnplejidad del problema. Simplemente los subsidios no llegan a todos los productores, ni en la cantidad ni en la cobertura necesarias, para compensar el impacto negativo y deprimente de la política de precios implementada. Contrario a la política de subsidios a los insumos de producción, la política de precios afecta a todos los agricultures de los productos intervenidos.

Entonces no debe causarnos sorpresa que la producción doméstica de alimentos no se correspondiera con la demanda, y que para mantener niveles adecuados en disponibilidad de alimentos, el Gobierno tuviera que recurrir en forma creciente a las importaciones de granos, grasas comestibles y productos lácteos, que en otras circunstancias pudieron ser producidos domésticamente.

Las importaciones de alimentos fueron subsidiadas fuertemente a través de una política de tasa cambiaria irrealista que no solo facilitó el que las importaciones crecieran de una manera desmedida, sino que también, al no reflejar éstas su verdadero valor real, condujo a un sobreconsumo de las mismas. En suma, los precios subsidiados al consumidor a través de la política cambiaria generó un estancamiento de la producción doméstica de alimentos que, al acompañarse de un mayor consumo, provocó una mayor importación para cubrir el déficit existente. La sobrevaluación del peso dominicano hacía más baratos los alimentos importados y hacía más caros nuestros productos de exportación en el mercado internacional. Erróneamente se fomentó una política a largo plazo que solo era permisible a corto plazo, sin producir efectos negativos en la producción de alimentos.

Es con la gestión del actual Gobierno dominicano, que se decide con la firmeza y perseverancia que demandaban las circunstancias, tomar medidas heroicas que condujeran a reducir el gasto corriente del sector público, reducir la masa monetaria, revisar la tasa de interés y racionalizar el endeudamiento externo, no sin un alto costo político y social, que todos los presentes ya habrán visto en los medios de comunicación de todo el mundo.

A partir de las negociaciones con el Fondo Monetario Internacional para enfrentar el déficit creciente de la balanza comercial del país y el monto casi inmanejable de la deuda externa, las autoridades se ven obligadas a reorientar la política fiscal y monetaria seguida hasta el momento. Ante esta situación, como es lŏgico suponer, se desprende la necesidad impostergable de aumentar las exportaciones y así generar las divisas para financiar las necesidades mínimas de importación de bienes de capital para sostener el desarrollo del país. Por otro lado, se hacía necesario el disponer de dólares suficientes para cumplir con nuestras obligaciones del servicio de la deuda externa.

La negociación con el Fondo Monetario Internacional, concluida hace aproximadamente un año, trajo consigo, además, el requerimiento de unificar el mercado de divisas del país para así eliminar las distorsiones que existían hacia algunos sectores de la economía. Este instrumento de política es, sin lugar a dudas, el más importante enmarcado dentro del reordenamiento estructural de la producción nacional. Esto es así por varias razones, aunque para nuestros fines nos limitaremos a discutir sus efectos en el sector agropecuario.

La unificación cambiaria con respecto a la producción de alimentos para abastecimiento interno es importante debido a que esta decisión trae consigo el que las importaciones de bienes agrícolas se realicen a la tasa cambiaria existente en el mercado paralelo de divisas. Con ello se elimina el subsidio implícito que se transfería a los consumidores urbanos a través de la aplicación de una tasa cambiaria irreal. Ante esta nueva perspectiva, el productor doméstico de los bienes importados asume una posición de precios que se corresponde más con los precios mundiales y de libre comercio. Nuestras expectativas en el mediano y largo plazo, es una sustitución total de las importaciones de alimentos, si es que no surgen nuevos elementos que distorsionen los términos de intercambio en contra de la agricultura. Esto exceptúa, por supuesto, los que tecnológicamente no son factibles de producir, o los que, dentro de un riguroso análisis de las ventajas comparativas del comercio exterior, deben sustituirse por otros cultivos.

El problema que tenemos ahora es cómo resolver nuestra crisis interna con medidas fuertemente restrictivas en cuanto al presupuesto y al financiamiento interno y externo, que implica continuo crecimiento, y con una política de precios ampliamente competitiva, pero sin subsidios ni controles de precios, que son requerimientos del FMI, cuando los agricultures de los países más desarrollados reciben sostenidamente excesivos subsidios para incentivar la producción creando un fuerte excedente que deprime los precios y provoca la salida del mercado de nuestros productos tradicionales de exportación.

Los principios en favor de la liberación de las trabas al comercio y la promoción hacia el desarrollo están perdiendo vigencia por la actitud de esos países, y es una pena, porque el esfuerzo para lograr estos acuerdos costó tiempo y sacrificios y fueron propuestos precisamente por los países desarrollados.

Todos los países tienen el derecho a mejorar el nivel de vida de sus pueblos, pero hacerlo a costa del sacrificio de nuestros pueblos y en forma deliberada, no es razonable.

Entiendo que la FAO tiene un gran reto por delante, precisamente porque abordará el problema de las políticas de precios y el proteccionismo agrícola, ya que es urgente dar respuesta a estas demandas, que han sido la nota común de la mayoría de los países en desarrollo.

El Director General, en su declaración en el 55º período de sesiones del Comité de Problemas de Productos Básicos señalaba lo siguiente, citamos: “El precio del azúcar en el mercado libre había bajado a menos de 3 centavos de dólar EE.UU. por libra, el más bajo en términos reales de este siglo”. Continúa la cita: “De hecho, muchos de los productores más eficientes de azúcar del mundo tienen que interrumpir sus actividades, mientras que productores con costos elevados no se ven afectados”.

En esa misma declaración el Director General señaló: “Gran parte del comercio mundial de productos agrícolas incluido el de productos primarios elaborados que tienen una importancia vital en los países en desarrollo sufren los efectos de un proteccionismo generalizado”. Compartimos plenamente estos punfos de vista del Director General y confiamos por ello en que la FAO podrá jugar un papel relevante en el restablecimiento de un equilibrio más justo en este contexto. Esto podrá restaurar nuestra confianza en el sistema comercial internacional.

Finalmente, nuestro Gobierno quiere dejar constancia de que comparte plenamente el objetivo y contenido del pacto de seguridad alimentaria mundial. Asimismo, invitamos a los países miembros de la comunidad internacional a que aúnen esfuerzos para lograr en el menor plazo posible la aprobación de la segunda reposición de fondo para el FIDA. Países como la República Dominicana pueden dar testimonio de la importancia y trascendencia que tiene el FIDA en el desarrollo agropecuario y su impacto económico y social en zonas marginales que se considera un ejemplo sobresaliente en materia de política financiera.

Confío en que de este congreso surjan nuevos esfuerzos para mejorar nuestra estrategia y perspectivas futuras.

Mathias NTIBARIKURE (Burundi): Monsieur le Président, Monsieur le Directeur général, Messieurs les Ministres, Mesdames, Messieurs, je voudrais m’associer aux orateurs qui m’ont précédé pour vous féliciter pour votre brillante élection à la présidence de cette conférence et vous souhaiter plein succès dans la conduite des travaux qui vont animer cette session.

Mes félicitations s’adressent également aux nouveaux membres qui viennent d’entrer dans notre Organisation.

Je profite de cette occasion pour exprimer mes condoléances à la Colombie pour la catastrophe qu’elle vient de connaître.

La vingt-troisième session de la Conférence générale de la FAO se tient au moment où notre Organisation fête son quarantième anniversaire et c’est l’occasion de jeter un regard en arrière pour voir combien elle a contribué, depuis sa création, à l’amélioration de l’alimentation et des conditions de vie dans le monde et plus particulièrement dans les pays en voie de développement.

Depuis son existence, la FAO a concentré ses actions sur la diffusion et la collecte des connaissances techniques à travers tous les pays du monde et a permis ainsi un transfert des technologies en faveur des pays les plus pauvres et les plus menacés par la famine et la malnutrition.

De même, une assistance a été octroyée aux différents gouvernements pour les aider à élaborer des stratégies de développement agricole capables d’augmenter la production et les disponibilités alimentaires. Pour assurer une bonne réalisation des projets conçus à cet effet, la FAO a mis à la disposition des pays membres des experts de haut niveau. Grâce à l’action de la FAO, des progrès sensibles ont pu être enregistrés dans une grande partie du globe, la production agricole a fortement augmenté suite à l’amélioration des techniques culturales et à l’utilisation de semences améliorées et la faim et la malnutrition ont pu être vaincues.

Mais, dans d’autres régions du monde, et particulièrement en Afrique, la situation alimentaire reste critique et mérite une attention particulière de la communauté internationale.

Depuis plus de dix ans, la sécheresse sévit dans les pays du Sahel et pose de sérieux problèmes alimentaires aux pays de la région. En Afrique orientale et australe, les perturbations climatiques ont fait diminuer la production agricole: des pays traditionnellement excédentaires en denrées alimentaires se sont trouvés dans l’obligation de faire recours aux aides provenant de l’extérieur.

Dans les autres pays de l’Afrique, la production stagne, les rendements restent très faibles alors que les besoins sont en augmentation en relation avec une croissance démographique soutenue.

Même si l’amélioration des conditions climatiques laisse présager des productions plus élevées dans une grande partie de l’Afrique, la situation reste très précaire et va sans doute s’aggraver à terme si les conditions de production actuelles restent inchangées.

Les Gouvernements africains sont très préoccupés par l’évolution des disponibilités alimentaires de leurs pays respectifs et ont déjà lancé collectivement ou individuellement des appels à la communauté internationale pour qu’elle leur vienne en aide.

Cette aide ne devrait pas avoir un caractère sporadique pour répondre à une situation d’urgence, mais s’intégrer dans le cadre des politiques de développement des pays concernés afin de créer les conditions économiques et sociales nécessaires pour produire en permanence des denrées alimentaires suffisantes pour couvrir les besoins de nos populations.

Certes, dans certains cas, l’aide alimentaire d’urgence est indispensable pour combattre la famine due à des circonstances imprévisibles, mais elle doit intervenir plus tôt pour éviter les graves souffranees que nous venons de déplorer dans quelques pays africains.

De plus, la production agricole doit augmenter dans les zones menacées par la famine. Pour cela, il faut donner aux producteurs agricoles les moyens techniques et financiers nécessaires.

Les pays africains, compte tenu des ressources dont ils disposent, ne peuvent pas à eux seuls assurer ces moyens et ont de plus en plus recours à l’aide internationale.

Nous constatons malheureusement que cette aide tend à diminuer; les financements en faveur du secteur agricole tendent eux aussi à diminuer suite aux difficultés de ses principaux bailleurs de fonds comme le Fonds international pour le développement agricole et les Fonds de l’IDA.

C’est pour cela que l’occasion m’est offerte pour lancer un appel à la communauté internationale pour la reconstitution des fonds de ces organisations dont l’action pour l’augmentation de la production agricole a été particulièrement efficace durant ces dernières années et pour l’accroissement de l’aide financière et technique en faveur de l’agriculture africaine.

Monsieur le Président, jusqu’ici j’ai parlé des problèmes alimentaires et des besoins d’aide de l’Afrique tout entière. Je voudrais maintenant vous parler brièvement de la situation qui prévaut dans mon pays.

L’agriculture burundaise a connu une période de croissance rapide dans la deuxième moitié des années septante et dans les premières années de cette décennie, à la suite des décisions politiques et économiques prises par la Deuxième République sous la conduite de Son Excellence le Colonel Jean-Baptiste Bagaza, Président de la République.

Le Gouvernement du Burundi, en accordant la priorité au secteur agricole et à l’autosuffisance alimentaire, traduit sa ferme volonté de lutter contre la faim et la pauvreté dans notre pays.

Cette volonté s’est concrétisée par un effort d’investissement remarquable dans le secteur rural: depuis 1977, la part de ce secteur est d’environ 30 pour cent du total des investissements publics alors qu’elle ne représentait que moins de 10 pour cent avant cette date.

De nouvelles orientations dans la stratégie de développement rural ont été également données. Compte tenu de l’exiguīté des superficies cultivables, aggravée par une croissance démographique soutenue, il a été décidé de mettre l’accent sur l’intensification de la production agricole afin d’améliorer la productivité de nos sols.

Pour y arriver, des actions concrètes sont conçues et mises en exécution par les services techniques de notre Ministère de l’agriculture. Citons par exemple l’intégration agriculture-élevage, la lutte anti-érosive, l’application d’engrais, l’utilisation des produits phytosanitaires, l’encadrement des populations pour qu’elles adoptent de meilleures techniques culturales.

Afin de mieux coordonner sur le terrain l’action des différents services, des sociétés régionales de développement rural ont été mises en place. L’amélioration de la productivité au niveau des exploitations agricoles s’accompagne de l’organisation de la commercialisation des produits agricoles afin de favoriser les échanges interrégionaux, de procurer des débouchés aux agriculteurs et d’augmenter ainsi leurs revenus monétaires.

Par ailleurs, le développement du secteur agricole permet de créer des emplois additionnels et de lutter ainsi contre le chômage et la pauvreté rurale.

Grâce à l’action de notre gouvernement et à la mobilisation des populations rurales, la production agricole a connu une augmentation soutenue au cours du troisième Plan quinquennal de développement économique et social 1977-82: le taux moyen de croissance annuelle a été en effet de 3,5 pour cent, ce qui a permis de couvrir les besoins alimentaires de notre population.

Malgré ces résultats appréciables, nous devons constater que la situation de l’alimentation dans notre pays est fragile et peut devenir rapidement critique dès que les conditions climatiques deviennent défavorables.

C’est ainsi qu’une sécheresse de quatre mois, survenue en deuxième saison culturale de l’année agricole 1983-84, a fait baisser la production agricole de 30 pour cent et nous a obligés à faire recours à l’aide alimentaire dont on se passait depuis plusieurs années.

Pour faire face aux pénuries soudaines provoquées par la perturbation des conditions climatiques, on encourage actuellement le développement des cultures dites de réserve comme le manioc, la patate douce, et on étudie la possibilité de créer un stock de réserve de denrées alimentaires.

De même, la mise en place d’un dispositif de prévision des récoltes et d’alerte rapide est en voie de constitution afin de prendre à temps les mesures qui s’imposent en cas de diminution prévisible des disponibilités alimentaires. Mais la meilleure façon de faire face aux problèmes alimentaires de façon durable reste l’augmentation de la production et des disponibilités alimentaires. C’est dans ce sens qu’est orientée la politique agricole de notre pays. Pour que cette politique porte des fruits, il faudra beaucoup de moyens que mon gouvernement s’emploie avec acharnement à réunir.

La communauté internationale a jusqu’ici soutenu notre action en nous assurant les financements et l’assistance technique nécessaires à la réalisation de nos programmes de développement agricole. Nous souhaitons vivement que cette aide puisse continuer.

La FAO peut jouer un rôle particulièrement important pour mobiliser suffisamment de ressources et les canaliser vers l’agriculture de notre pays.

Pour cela, il lui faudra des moyens financiers suffisants pour remplir sa mission.

C’est pourquoi nous demandons à la Conférence générale de lui accorder le budget nécessaire pour la période 1986-87, en tenant compte du programme de travail présenté par le Directeur général de la FAO.

Abdul Ghaffar LAKANWAL (Afghanistan): It is my pleasure and honour to address the Twenty-third Conference of the FAO. On behalf of the Afghan Delegation let me congratulate you, Mr Chairman and the other members of the bureau on your election. We firmly believe that under your leadership and active participation of the distinguished delegates, this Conference would be able to achieve its objectives in the realm of agricultural development by spelling out specific and proper solutions to the problems of food and agriculture all over the world.

This year the Twenty-third Conference of FAO coincides with the fortieth anniversary of the establishment of FAO and at the same time this year, 1985, is the year of forestry. On behalf of the Afghan Delegation, I offer the warm and best wishes of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan to the FAO and wish it greater successes in the fulfillment of food and agricultural objectives.

This year the World Food Day, which coincided with the 40th Anniversary of FAO, was celebrated all over my country on October 16th. On this occasion, a message from Babrak Karmal, General Secretary of the Central Committee of th People’s Democratic Party of Afghanistan and the President of the Revolutionary Council, was delivered. The message says:

“The noble and humanitarian objective of the establishment of FAO is assistance for the elimination of the danger of hunger, poverty, malnutrition and famine in the world.

The activities of the FAO during the last forty years in providing necessary technological and financial assistance to boost food production in the developing countries are highly appreciated by the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan.

FAO as an important specialized organization of the UN has continuously endeavoured to help member nations in increasing total food production, improving quality of foodstuffs, providing technology of food preservation through scientific research, and obtaining numerous statistics, goals through which the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan is being benefited.”

Among the various other activities included were official gatherings, radio and television programmes and film shows, etc., which helped the public to know the importance of food production in the country.

The problems of agriculture, land reform and irrigation are of particular importance to my country because 80 percent of the population is engaged in agriculture and livestock and 59.5 percent of our national gross income comes from this sector. Out of 65.2 million hectares of land, only 14.12 million hectares are appropriate for agriculture in Afghanistan. At present, 8 million

hectares can be cultivated. However, due to very little rainfall (32 cm.) and shortage of irrigation water only 3.8 million hectares are cultivated annually, of which 2.8 million hectares are irrigated and one million hectares have no irrigation facilities.

The above figures clearly indicate that irrigation water in my country is the most limiting factor in agriculture. Despite the above-mentioned problems, water resources in the country exceed 55 million cubic metres, which, if tapped properly, can irrigate the entire agricultural land of the country. But this backwardness has been left to us from the past, so that from 2.8 million hectares of irrigated land, only 0.33 million hectares are irrigated using the modern methods. The rest is irrigated by the old methods, by the seasonal floods, underground water, or by very small numbers of spring water.

Prior to the April Revolution, land and water belonged to feudal landlords. Thirty-five thousand landowning families owned 28.6 percent of the total land and the area of their farms was more than one million hectares. Of the total of 11.5 million farm residents in the rural areas, more than one million families had no or had very little land. Farmers who cultivated farms for landlords would get 25 percent of the crops they harvested and the rest, 75 percent, would go to the owners. If they borrowed any money from them, it resulted in repayment with high interest and amounted to almost four times the original amount borrowed. Moreover, the farmers had to pay taxes and duties to the government too. All these factors discouraged farmers and caused great inefficiencies in agriculture. In the year just before the Revolution, the average yield of wheat was 1.2 tons per hectare - the lowest in the world. Now, farmers have benefitted from the Democratic Land Reform, are assisted in improved agricultural technologies and are receiving all yields for themselves. Thus the road for agricultural development is paved in Afghanistan. This is why the first action after the Revolution was the termination of feudalism and enforcement of the decree abolishing the debts of the farmers to their landlords (feudals). This decree helped 11 million people and through it the farmers were spared 30 billion Afghanis.

The next step was the renewal of land ownership, where extra land belonging to landowners was taken and given to farmers who did not have any, or very little, land. Until now, 692 306 hectares of land have been distributed among 323 820 farmers free of any charge. The People’s Democratic Party of Afghanistan will continue this progressive policy in establishing a new society.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Land Reform supplies fertilizers, improved seeds, farm machinery, insecticides, pesticides, vaccines and other agricultural services to the farmers either free or at subsidized rates and, in some cases, under credit with easy terms. As Babrak Karmal, General Secretary of the Central Committee of the People’s Democratic Party of Afghanistan and the President of the Revolutionary Council said: “This year should be the year of basic improvement in extending material and technical assistance to the farmers.” To effectively utilize all Government resources and assistance, the farmers are organized as follows:

Cooperatives: Now there are 345 cooperatives in the country. Prior to the Revolution, there were only 135 cooperatives. These cooperatives contain 91 000 hectares of land.

Farmers’ Councils at the village level: These serve the purpose of organizing the active participation of farmers in implementing land and water reforms, in solving problems of improved utilization of land and water, and in democratizing land and water relations in the village.

Peasants’ Consumer Cooperatives: These serve the purpose of providing essential commodities to farmers, as well as the purchase and sale of agricultural products and in the cities and workers’ centres.

Through the specific activities of the Government:

710 000 hectares of land has been reformed and irrigation water is supplied and well organized.

17 000 tons of improved varieties of seed are distributed annually.

130 000 tons of chemical fertilizers are given to the farmers every year.

Pests and diseases of the fields are taken care of by the Government.

Prices for the above are subsidized by the Government.

The mechanization of agricultural activities in ten provinces.

For rapid development of agriculture in our country, the contribution of international organizations and those of the brother Socialist countries - at the top of which is the Soviet Union, the great friend of the people of Afghanistan - play a very important role. The Soviet Union has assisted and continues to assist the people of Afghanistan in constructing irrigation projects, in mechanising agriculture, in developing animal husbandry and poultry, in developing animal and plant protection programmes, and in providing chemical fertilizers and improved seeds.

After the April Revolution, particularly during its new and evolutionary phase, agricultural production increased considerably. The total production of cereals is 4 500 000 tons this year, of which 2 850 000 tons alone are wheat. These figures are slightly higher than those from last year. The production of fruits, vegetables and other agricultural crops has also increased this year as compared to projected targets from last year. Despite the low precipitation levels this year, agricultural production is normal. The evaluation of the first half-year reports indicated a remarkable increase in livestock production as compared to the target fixed for this year. Major steps have been taken for boosting animal production in the country. They include free veterinary services to livestock owners. During the first six months, 10 million animals were treated against different diseases and 9.5 million doses of various vaccines were produced. The assistance received from FAO in this connection is highly appreciated by the Government of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan.

The total amount of forest land in the country is 1.9 million hectares, about 3 percent of the total land area of the country. Nearly 30 million hectares are range land. Although livestock production is given much attention in the country, forests, pastures and water-sheds are not exploited properly and are not given adequate attention.

Soil erosion, desertification and depleted wild resources are common problems needing corrective measures to be undertaken by the Government. To find solutions to these and other problems, it is necessary to undertake an overall comprehensive and integrated study of forestry; watershed management; range land, agro-forestry, and prevention of desertification; soil conservation; and wild life preservation and national parks management.

The successful implemetation of such programmes necessitates trained personnel and expertise. We believe that with the extension of the existing FAO projects and the addition of some other new projects proposed by my Government, greater successes will be achieved.

As in the past, Afghanistan, as a least developed country, urgently needs a world food programme for its workers. My Delegation thereby once again requests the creation of this programme in Afghanistan and pledges that this aid will be used in the most: appropriate and useful manner in the country.

The Government of Afghanistan appreciated the assistance from UNDP and the FAO which was very useful in the socio-economic development of the country. We hope that such assistance will continue in other ventures and furthermore request that pipeline projects be approved and financed for my country. Assistance for agricultural development is needed in local personnel training programmes, in advisory services and in the supply of equipment and materials. The Democratic Republic of Afghanistan has been and will be a loyal and active member of the FAO and UN. The resolutions and the decisions of the FAO and UN have always been honoured by Afghanistan and put into action.

It is a matter of great pleasure for my Delegation to attend this Conference and at the same time to exchange the views and the goodwill of the people and Government of Afghanistan with the Delegations from other FAO member-nations. The peace-loving people and the Government of Afghanistan give highest priority to friendship, security, food supply and stability all over the world. We hope that the implementation of the decisions made in this Conference will entail greater successes in the realm of agricultural development and a higher standard of living for all people.

J.T. H0PA (Vanuatu): Earlier in the proceedings of the Conference we voted for the admission of two new members and I would like to join previous colleagues in welcoming them to the Organization. As you are all by now, no doubt, aware, the Solomon Islands and the Cook Islands are two small island, economies located in the Pacific Ocean. It is on the features and problems of the South Pacific member nations, especially as they affect their food and agriculture sectors, that I wish to

focus my address this afternoon. I do this in the hope that an appreciation of the problems peculiar to our region is obtained, and that a better allocation of the resources of the aia agencies in meeting our needs will result.

Although I am focussing on the Pacific, I believe that much of what I have to say applies equally to the other small island member nations of this Organization - those located in the Indian Ocean and the Caribbean. We all have common features which impinge on our agricultural economies. Vanuatu, for one, would certainly welcome increased attention from FAO in seeking ways to overcome these constraints so that our small population may improve its livelihood and so that the nation may be put on steadier economic footing.

The first, and most apparent, feature of the Pacific islands to the outsider must be that of distance. The enormous distances to the major markets for our export produce mean that we have suffered, and continue to suffer, from economic isolation. The cost and time needed for export crops to be delivered to the overseas markets and for essential imports required by our farmers to be transported from the developed countries are high, while product deterioration during this time is often considerable.

This is further aggravated by the difficulty and high cost of transportation within each of the small, but highly fragmented, island states themselves. Indeed, the cost of shipping a tonne of copra or cocoa from one of the islands in the archipelago of Vanuatu to our main export port is higher than the cost of shipping that same produce to Australia or Japan!

The Pacific island nations are particularly prone to natural disasters - mostly earthquakes and cyclones which, given the small size of our countries, affect a relatively large area of land. Earlier this year, Vanuatu was struck by two tropical cyclones that caused considerable damage to both food and export crops_t as well as to houses, wharves and roads over a large part of the country. We were fortunate to receive immediate assistance in overcoming food shortages from several donors - and here I would like to pay special tribute to the speed with which the FAO Regional Office and the Regional Representative ensured that assistance was mobilised to relieve suffering in our outer islands. Nevertheless, the more long-term impact has been a reduction in the tonnage of export crops produced - copra output, for example, is down by 20 percent on 1984.

Both Fiji and Tonga have suffered similar damage to their agricultural economies from cyclones in recent years.

Most of the countries in the Pacific have only recently gained Independence. Vanuatu, for example, celebrated its 5th anniversary of independence in July. The colonial powers left behind them economies which were, for the most part, underdeveloped. Recurrent budget support from Britain, France, Australia and New Zealand is a common feature of the countries in our region, while shortages in development capital and skills are continuing constraints to economic progress.

Given our small populations and paucity of natural resources, our economies are characterized by a narrow production base.- We are totally reliant on the export of a limited range of primary products to generate a flow of foreign exchange earnings to be used in our development efforts. Vanuatu, for example, receives more than three-quarters of its visible foreign exchange earnings from the export of one commodity - copra, while 95 percent of our export earnings come from just three agricultural commodities.

Faced with this severe concentration of production, Vanuatu is highly vulnerable to the vagaries of the international economic environment. Our development planning and foreign exchange management efforts are frustrated by the instability of international prices which make it difficult for us to target our commodity export earnings from year to year. By way of an example, Vanuatu earned US$27 million from its copra trade in 1984. Our latest projection is that revenue from this source during the current year will slump to less than one-half of this figure (US$13 million).

This example illustrates how the economic fortunes of the small island countries are closely linked with world market fluctuations of a narrow range of beverage’s and agricultural raw materials. Thus our economies are fully exposed to the effects of imported international instability and we can do little to counter them. This is our penalty for being small, remote, resource-poor and trade-dependent.

The bulk of the agricultural export production in the Pacific islands comes from poor, small-scale farmers who comprise a large proportion of the total population and who therefore make the largest contribution to the gross national output. Not surprisingly, they have been adversely affected by the considerable price instability which, certainly since 1970, has been a characteristic of the international market for these commodities. I would ask the FAO to focus on ways of reducing these excessive price fluctuations. A useful start has already been made with the publication of the study of Agricultural Price Policies.

Not only are our export commodities’ prices subject to a high degree of instability, but the gross earnings from their sale have also not increased fast enough to enable us to purchase additional non-agricultural imports which are needed for our development programme. A look at the terms of trade of copra against manufactures shows that, although there are extreme figures in some years, they have steadily worsened since 1950 - and, in 1985, we are receiving a lower real price for our copra exports than we did in the early fifties. The projections for the future add further to the pessimism. Foreign exchange earned from each tonne of copra purchases a decreasing value of imports.

This deterioration in the purchasing power of agricultural exports from the Pacific region is not confined to copra. Cocoa, coffee and sugar show similar trends.

It would seem obvious that more must be done in international policy, particularly by the developed countries, if our agricultural exports are to provide a reliable and growing source of foreign exchange.

Recent FAO publications have noted that protectionism has had serious global consequences. It has had an adverse impact upon the orderly and stable expansion of world agricultural trade, and it has distorted prices and further aggravated commodity price instabilities.

The macro-economic policies of the developed countries still largely determine the prices which the developing world receives for its exports. As the New Zealand and Malaysian Ministers of Agriculture and President Mitterrand of France have so eloquently pointed out at the Conference, the lowering of protectionist barriers and the active opposition to current attempts to introduce new, cleverly disguised protectionist measures would be a major contribution which the developed countires could make to helping our small island developing economies.

Above all, economic stability coupled with steady growth appears to be a pre-condition for the satisfactory development of our commodity export markets. The attainment of this stability is the responsibility of the world’s major economic powers, most of which are represented here today. Our economic well-being is dependent on your policies and your actions. We look to you for progress on this issue.

Finally, on a more general note, there can be no denying that the development effort required by Vanuatu - and the other small island countries - particularly in the diversification of our economic base, will be a lengthy process. We will need the long-term commitment of both funds and technical assistance of the external assistance agencies in order to supplement our own efforts. I hope that my short talk has provided adquate justification for such a request.

Jenö VÁNCSA (Hungary) (original language Hungarian): Please allow me to congratulate you and the Vice-Chairmen on your election. The Director-General and his staff, by presenting to us a series of well-arranged documents and thoroughly prepared studies, have lived up to expectations, for which we wish to commend them.

Indeed, their description of the present state of food and agriculture in the world and in the individual regions of the world adds new features to our conception of the main economic and social developments in our world. Despite considerable achievements in the developed countries and in some parts of the developing world, the unfulfilled obligations remain considerable, the tasks we face are complex and there are no easy solutions.

The greater part of our planet’s population is lagging behind in economic development and the gap is desperately great. To overcome it, tremendous efforts and a considerable time would be necessary, even if international economic conditions were fair. But at present we are very far from that state of affairs. The unprecedently high real interest rates, increasing protectionist measures in the international trade of food and other agricultural productions and deteriorating terms of trade aggravate the burdens of underdevelopment.

In our view, given the cirucumstances, FAO does what it must do and what it is able to do by alerting nations, organizations and individuals to the magnitude of the dangers and problems. And to do so in time, is one important achievement of FAO.

It is unfortunate that despite the early warnings by FAO of the unfolding natural calamities and human disasters in Africa, the response - which in the end was very generous - came a little late. We sincerely hope that the political will and the plans of action drawn up by the African governments and set out in the Harare Declaration, together with the assistance of the international community, result in a complete rehabilitation of that continent’s agriculture and in its further real development.

The bulk of its endeavours is the elaborate work which aims at preventing disasters, at solving problems and of ensuring agricultural and social development. The Director-General’s Programme of Work and Budget for 1986-87 is a good reflection of those many activities. We are convinced that FAO’s ever-increasing capacity to fulfill its four principal tasks is in the interest of both developing and developed nations alike.

We can all take advantage of statistics collected, processed and disseminated by the Organization, and of the excellent studies carried out and published by the FAO on agriculture’s prospects for the long term, like Agriculture Towards 2000 or Potential Population Supporting Capacities of Lands. Other useful policy-studies on different problems, like the international price-movements, the role and characteristics of national price policies, or the Africa studies presently under preparation are also of great value.

Even if discussions are sometimes heated and may be sometimes too time-consuming, in the end they are extremely useful and the forum for them is provided for by the FAO.

The quality of technical assistance and of know-how provided by FAO, mostly in the field, is highly valued. Although the quantities can only be influenced by the Organization within quite narrow limits, FAO’s efforts to extend the flow of concessional international assistance and aid are well known.

The Technical Cooperation Programme, which is a comparatively new feature of the Organization’s regular daily activities, in general has operated well and has increased its capability to make more assistance available to developing countries.

The concrete priorities set by the Director-General’s work programme for FAO for 1986-87 also meet with our support. In view of this, and bearing in mind the enormous tasks of many developing countries in the development of their agriculture and food industries, we generally approve the budget proposed by the FAO, despite our own economic difficulties.

In the name of my Government I wish to pay tribute to the FAO for its unrelenting efforts and purposeful but, at the same time, very patient work which has now resulted in the draft resolutions on the World Food Security Compact on the Distribution and Use of Pesticides and on the very promising activity dealing with plant genetic resources.

Even if the draft resolutions - and it could be because of the problems with which they deal - are not entirely free of compromises, and even if they do not comprise legally-binding commitments, their effects in the future will be benevolent and widely felt.

Besides the discipline and fruitful work of FAO, the.very important above-mentioned draft resolutions demonstrate that the Organization has indeed been addressing itself to the most important problems and tasks we face in the field of food and agriculture.

In commemorating and celebrating the foundation of FAO and of the other United Nations organizations, this is an important fact to bear in mind. My compatriots were happy to participate in and to follow with attention the worldwide observances of the World Food Day this year, together with the Fortieth Anniversary of the foundation of the FAO, the first specialized agency in the United Nations System.

For a considerable time, Hungary has shown in practice that it very much appreciates the activities of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization. Collaboration with these organizations represents an organic element in Hungarian agrarian policy. Besides paying great attention to the Year of the Forests in 1985, my country has had the honour of hosting several important international meetings in the past two years. Among them I would like to mention the Twenty-second session of the FAO European Forestry Commission, the Seventh session of the FAO/ECE Working Party on Agrarian Structure and Farm Rationalization, and a study tour on Rural Employment and Pluriactivity in Agriculture. We shall also strive in the future to actively participate in FAO’s work, and within the limits of our modest possibilities, to contribute to the efforts of rehabilitating and developing the agriculture of several developing countries. We are working to further extend our participation in these activities, especially in the field of training and extension, in cooperation with the FAO.

In Hungary the major part of our agricultural production comes from large socialist state farms and agricultural cooperatives. Small scale production, which in certain areas is quite important, is closely integrated with the production of these farms and cooperatives. Our experience has demonstrated that a stable, longer run agricultural policy which provides adequate material incentives, technical conditions and human resources is a significant factor without which we could not have ensured the good results achieved in the last decades. All these conditions can be ensured and applied to large and small-scale farms.

We plan to continue contributing, within the limits of our possibilities, to the resources of the World Food Programme. We lend our support to all the initiatives designed to further strengthen international cooperation in the field of food and agriculture.

The efforts made by FAO and other international organizations as well as by governments and individuals in the fight against hunger and malnutrition over the past decade have taught us that we cannot succeed if we operate in isolation.

Therefore, we earnestly hope that in the coming decades food will not be used as a means of applying political pressure, and that an improving international atmosphere will make it possible to channel more funds to the development of agriculture in the poorer parts of the world, thus facilitating a new impetus, and affording developing countries a new impetus in their economic and social development.

Siddiq ABDEEN MOHAMED (Sudan) (original language Arabic): Mr Chairman, allow me first of all to express on behalf of the Democratic Republic of Sudan and in my own name our deep sorrow and sympathy to the people of Colombia for the devastating catastrophe that-occurred in their country a few days ago. I am fully convinced that this brave country will overcome its difficulties.

It is a pleasure for me to express to you our congratulations and to pay tribute to your capacities and abilities. I should also like to congratulate all on the 40th Anniversary of the establishment of this Organization. I should like to congratulate the members of the bureau on their election to chair the proceedings of this Organization. I am convinced that, under your wise leadership, we shall establish a sound policy that will enable us to set out the foundations of development of agriculture in the world.

This year we are celebrating the 40th Anniversary of the establishment of this Organization. I should like to pay tribute here to the major role undertaken and being played by the Organization in the field of agriculture, and in solving the problems of agriculture in the world. I should like to commend here the noble role undertaken by the Organization over the past few years to counter the effects of drought and the drop in production in many countries, especially in Africa south of the Sahara. The Organization has provided them with food aid and urgent assistance in the form of production inputs. This has enabled drought-afflicted countries to overcome their problems and to emerge safely from this crisis.

Here, I would like more specifically to express to FAO our thanks and gratitude for the aid and assistance it has extended to the Sudan over the past few years. The amount of aid extended so far has financed about fifty national projects for a total cost of US$ 40 million, and has contributed to an additional twenty regional projects greatly benefitting the Sudan.

We believe that the expansion in the programmes of the Organization is due to the decentralized policy adopted by the Director-General for the past five years which is based on giving regional offices a greater flexibility to better respond to problems and development requirements in the countries concerned. This is in addition to the food requirements of a million and a half refugees who have drifted in from neighbouring countries. This has increased pressures on our national economic resources.

FAO and the World Food Programme were the initiators in helping us to solve the food crisis from the very beginning of the emergence of the drought and desertification crisis. In 1983/84 a group of experts assessed our deficit in food in drought-affected provinces. They sought to provide a large share of food aid to meet emergency needs. FAO also participated in preparing and implementing rehabilitation programmes for the drought and desertification-affected regions, as well as several displaced persons’ resettlement projects. It has also undertaken an investment plan for the savannah belt area with an estimated cost of US$ 26.6 million. In fact, FAO has authorized the implementation of some projects for 1985-86. This includes crop production, fodder production and distribution.

Several friendly countries as well as international and regional organizations have helped us in providing a large amount of food aid as well as transportation and distribution facilities. This has helped us to overcome the climax of the crisis.

Past agricultural policies have accorded priority to cash crops at the expense of food crops. This has led to a large deficit in providing production inputs for food production. It also led to a drop in production in a manner that made us unable to face the additional problems of drought and desertification. We have started to correct our policies and included the targets of improving food production in the present season’s goalss, as well as improving our overall development projects. This has become the main feature of our policy to enable us to improve the food situation of a large section of our population in towns and rural areas. This should also enable us to cut back on the importation of food products as this heavily draws on our foreign currency resources.

To ensure the success of this plan, we are basing our policies on smallholdings, which is one of the traditional sectors, and it is in fact the main source of production in our country. This will be achieved through the implementation of a number of development projects as well as through integrated rural projects. These require, among other things, agricultural extension, plant protection, the provision of improved seeds and financing, as well as road networks.

We shall also improve our storage capacity and our social policies. However, concentration on the traditional sector will not reduce the attention we accord to irrigated agriculture due to the insecurity of rainfed agriculture.

We are therefore undertaking a number of rehabilitation projects in areas of rainfed agriculture to fully benefit from an improvement in our production capacity and increase food production. We are also setting remunerative prices for farmers to improve their production. I should like to add that the approved agricultural plans have accorded the necessary importance to the development of animal production and fisheries resources, as these are the main sources of food in improving the nutrition of our people. We hope to step up these efforts over the next years so that food production can become a main component of our plans and our agricultural development programmes. Thus we shall ensure a high degree of food self-sufficiency.

Here I would like to express my thanks and gratitude to the European Economic Community and the United States, as well as a number of friendly countries who have extended a helping hand in providing a large part of the production requirements which have thus enabled us to meet the needs of the present season and ensure its success.

The documents submitted to the Conference clearly indicate the need to provide soft loans and means of finance to developing countries in order to enable them to finance their development

projects at a minimum burden to them. However, a drop in resources over the past few years is something that should be regretted. The failure to replenish the resources of IFAD and other financing institutions is an example of this. A continued difficulty in these financing institutions will further halt the agricultural development of developing countries, as concessional economic aid is important in the harsh economic circumstances currently prevailing.

The solution can only be that of international solidarity and one of provision of investment and financing facilities and their wide use. We have urged in the past, and do so again, that food surpluses should not be used by developed countries to exert pressure on international markets, nor should they be used to pressure developing countrie’s. Protectionism and customs barriers should not impede trade, and efforts must be undertaken to remove them. I believe that certain conflicts which have occurred on the international market are due to the fact that some individual countries give their national ambitions priority over international interests. We therefore urge all to uphold the welfare of the world and the international community, because increased trade conflict could lead to a loss for both exporters and importers. We call at the same time for a strengthening of cooperation between developing countries.

Sudan approves the celebration of 1985 as the International Year of the Forest. Forests are a main source of energy in our country and represent about 74 percent of the overall energy consumed. Fuelwood and charcoal are an important source of energy in our country and the forests are a source of fodder for our livestock population. We would like to express our concern as the destruction of forests has proceeded at a high rate. This is due to bad planning and a conflict between the interests of forestry and agricultural expansion resulting in the failure of our national resources policies to protect the overall interests of our country.

Our government has therefore set up a Supreme Council for Natural Resources to establish policies and special programmes that protect our natural resources and to monitor related projects. We are presently engaged in drafting legislation, with the help of FAO, to strengthen our policies and plan our land investment plans. Another draft legislation deals with the protection of forests. FAO is also helping us to plan a roundtabie meeting for the drafting of an agricultural development plan that would include in its various aspects, the protection of natural resources.

I shall not speak at length, but shall make a few summary comments on the Organization’s programmes over the next two years. I would like to commend the policy undertaken by the Director-General and the selected programme priorities. We approve the priority given by FAO to Africa. This is an encouraging trend that we hope will be emulated by other agencies and by friendly countries. This attitude enhances our faith in FAO and its leadership and in its ability to rehabilitate African agriculture.

We also commend the Organization’s TCPs as they are a means of supporting relief projects and are suited to the economic conditions of developing countries and their emergency needs. I therefore hope that during our debates we will succeed in agreeing to support this programme and increase its resources.

The crisis and the difficulties that we encountered this year have proved to us that we cannot, in fact, improve our lot without sound policies.

Mr Chairman, at the end of my statement I would like to express my thanks to all participants and wish this Conference continued progress and success.

Messaoud OULD BOULKHETR (Mauritanie): Je voudrais m’associer aux félicitations qui vous ont été adressées, Monsieur le Président, à l’occasion de votre élection à la tête de notre Conférence. J’y ajoute mes voeux de plein succès.

Ces felicitations et ces voeux vont également aux deux nouveaux membres de notre Organisation, les îles Cook et les îles Salomon.

Le Gouvernement de la République islamique de Mauritanie, par la voix de ma délégation, renouvelle sa haute appréciation et sa profonde gratitude pour le travail remarquablenient accompli et les efforts inlassablement déployés par le Directeur général de la FAO, le Docteur Edouard Saouma, pour faire de notre Organisation un instrument très utile et efficace au service du développement de la coopération et particulièrement de la solidarité internationale.

Cette Conférence m’offre la meilleure occasion pour vous présenter un aperçu rapide sur le bilan et les perspectives de la politique de développement rural suivi par mon Gouvernement durant la dernière période avant de traiter des principales questions inscrites à l’ordre du jour.

Malgré les contraintes d’ordre structurel et conjoncturel qui pèsent lourdement sur la Mauritanie, mon gouvernement n’épargne aucun effort pour améliorer les conditions de vie du monde rural et tendre vers la sécurité alimentaire; comme notre agriculture s’intègre de plus en plus à l’économie mondiale à mesure que le déséquilibre s’accentue, nous assistons à une aggravation des contraintes du développement suite à la détérioration de la conjoncture économique mondiale et la sécheresse qui sévit dans les pays du Sahel. Cette sécheresse interdit partiellement les cultures de décrue et presque totalement les cultures pluviales. La désertification entraîne des coûts élevés pour la protecion contre l’ensablement et l’enclavement des zones rurales ne facilite guère les communications nécessaires au développement.

Ainsi l’investissement privé participe peu à l’expansion du secteur rural à cause des difficultés de produire en l’absence de circuits économiques bien établis et la cadence d’aménagement des périmètres irrigués est limitée par les coûts des études et des travaux trop élevés. La mise en valeur est ralentie paV les problèmes de maintenance des équipements, d’approvisionnement en intrants; la productivité et l’intensité culturale sont freinées par le manque de formation et d’encadrement des producteurs. Ainsi l’ensemble de ces contraintes réduit la valorisation des investissements publics et décourage les investissements privés.

Consciente de ses responsabilités, la Direction nationale a officiellement déclaré sa volonté politique de donner la priorité au développement du secteur rural en lui accordant plus du tiers du volume total des investissements programmés dans le Plan de redressement de l’économie du pays. Pour atteindre les objectifs prioritaires fixés, elle a adopté une stratégie basée sur les axes suivants:

- Augmentation de la mise en valeur agricole et pastorale par la consolidation des aménagements existants, la réhabilitation des oasis, la mise en oeuvre de mesures d’appui aux producteurs et une gestion rationelle des ressources naturelles;

- Augmentation de la productivité de l’agriculture et de l’élevage par la recherche agronomique, la formation des producteurs et l’intégration de l’élevage a l’agriculture;

- Sécurisation et augmentation de la production par l’extension des surfaces irrigables dans la vallée du fleuve Sénégal, la réhabilitation et le développement de l’agriculture d’oasis mieux adaptée aux régions arides à pluviométrie aléatoire, le développement des petits barrages en terres et de la décrue avec maîtrise de l’eau et par le reboisement et la protection des terres productives contre l’ensablement et l’erosion;

- Réallocation des ressources financières et répartition des charges par l’augmentation de la part du budget national affectee au secteur rural, la participation de l’aide alimentaire internationale aux actions de développement, la responsabilisation des producteurs à prendre en charge leurs propres affaires et la couverture de certaines charges récurrentes par le financement extérieur;

- Participation du secteur privé par une-politique de prix incitateurs et des mesures d’encouragement;

- Interventions efficaces des opérateurs publics par l’etude rapide et la mise en application des conditions optimales de décentralisation des services, la connaissance précise du milieu rural et le suivi et l’évaluation permanente des opérations du secteur rural.

Il va sans dire que toute notre stratégie est basée sur l’effort national et sur la participation effective des populations concernées comme le stipule la déclaration de la treizième Conférence Régionale de la FAO pour l’Afrique, Harare 1984, qui reconnaissait que la responsabilité du développement agricole incombe essentiellement aux gouvernements africains. Cette déclaration s’engage à accorder-plus d’attention et à consacrer plus de fonds a l’agriculture.

Toutefois l’assistance extérieure reste requise pour une phase “transitoire”. Cette aide bilatérale et multilatérale continuera à être nécessaire pour l’exploitation correcte des ressources agri-coles et halieutiques, la réduction des pertes après récolte, l’amelioration de la commercialisation des produits agricoles et du poisson, et le renforcement de la collaboration interpays en matière de développement et d’aménagement d’agriculture et de peche, les services de vulgarisation pour donner aux cultivateurs des informations régulières et appropriees, le renforcement des institutions de recherche en mesure d’améliorer les cultures, les variétés et les méthodes.

Jusqu’à présent, cette aide extérieure nous a été d’un grand secours et les efforts récents de financement prouvent que l’on se rend compte de la nécessité d’un appui international intensif pour relancer notre agriculture; telle les initiatives:

- du Programme FAO de relèvement de l’Agriculture en Afrique en mars 1985,

- des facilités de la Banque Mondiale pour l’Afrique subsaharienne pour appuyer les efforts de reprise économique à court et moyen terme,

- et la réponse à l’appel lancé par l’Organisation des Nations Unies au debut de mars 1985 en vue d’obtenir des secours d’urgence pour l’Afrique.

Hélas! Cet appui financier international doit être considérable et de longue durée si on veut prévenir toute dégradation ultérieure de la situation économique et alimentaire de notre région.

Parallèlement à ces efforts, la coopération bilatérale a essayé d’intervenir de son mieux pour pallier des besoins ponctuels et conjoncturels, faute de programmation pluriannuelle.

Monsieur le President,

J’ai fait cet exposé pour mieux rendre compte de la situation qui prévaut dans mon pays, afin que notre honorable assemblée puisse en être informée et proposer aux gouvernements membres de notre Organisation des solutions appropriées.

Des solutions existent. Elles figurent sous forme de propositions dans les discours du Directeur general. Ces propositions resultent d’etudes et analyses approfondies et objectives de la situation économique et sociale internationale.

Elles se retrouvent aussi réparties dans les différents points de l’ordre du jour de la présente session et peuvent constituer une approche susceptible de contribuer à la solution des contraintes évoquées.

Il s’agit notamment du Pacte mondial de la sécurité alimentaire, du premier Code international de conduite pour la distribution et l’utilisation des pesticides, de l’Engagement International sur les Ressources phytogénétiques et des recommandations de la grande étude des politiques de prix agricoles. Mon Gouvernement souscrit fermement à l’adoption de ces Actes qui garantissent une certaine moralité aux relations internationales entre les pays.

Quant à la politique propre de la FAO, en matière de programme de terrain, de programme de Coopération Technique (PCT) et de décentralisation des activités par la création de representation par pays, la Direction générale a tout l’appui de mon Gouvernement pour continuer dans cette orientation.

Je ne peux terminer sans saisir cette occasion pour confirmer au nom de la Délégation maurita-nienne, notre entière adhesion à ces orientations et pour réitérer notre haute appréciation et notre soutien indéfectible au Directeur général de la FAO, le Dr Edouard Saouma, pour le travail accompli et le programme proposé pour 1986-87.

Enfin pour la célébration du quarantième anniversaire de la FAO, i1 me plaît de vous informer que la Mauritanie a célébré avec éclat la Journée du 16 octobre 1985, sous le haut patronnage du Chef de l’Etat, le Colonel Maaouya OULD SID’AHMED TAYA au cours d’une sympathique cérémonie sous ma présidence et celle de Monsieur le Représentant de la FAO en Mauritanie.

Ma présence, aujourd’hui, à cette Conférence me donne encore une fois le plaisir d’assister personnellement aux principales manifestations prévues pour cette célébration au siège de l’Organisation à Rome.

Je formule les meilleurs voeux de succès, d’efficacité et de pérennité aux oeuvres exaltantes de la FAO.

Scott G. TOWEH (Liberia): It is with great honour that I head my delegation to the Twenty-third session of FAO Conference in order to address myself to pertinent issues of the Third World and to participate in the deliberation on matters of great importance to our Organization, the FAO.

May I first of all express sincere thanks and gratitude to the Director-General for so ably and efficiently conducting the affairs of this Organization, especially at this time when it is passing through its Fortieth Anniversary. We commend FAO for the laudable achievements of its work since its inception, and we also thank the President of Italy, H.E. President Cossiga for laying the first stone of a new building marking Italy’s acceptance to expand the activities of the Organization.

Even though indicators have revealed that the world economic recession is over, many Third World countries are still faced with intractable debt burdens, the serving of which requires devotion of 20-27 percent of their export earnings. As a result of this, economically weaker countries of the Third World, particularly in Africa, have been constrained to reduce their importation of inputs essential for development, including food, just to survive the adverse economic conditions. This disastrous tendency coupled with the evil of protectionism has impeded economic growth in the world and has made it impossible to achieve a new social and economic order.

Looking at food and agriculture, the world food report revealed that the 4 percent increase in 1984 was one of the best results of the past decade in regard to world food and agriculture production. On the contrary,, the food and agriculture situation in Africa is still not far from being catas trophic unless concerted efforts are again mobilized from donors and the developed world.

In Africa, statistics continue to show that while the population is rapidly increasing, food production is on the decline. About 28 percent of the African people are undernourished and more than half of the independent African countries are experiencing food shortages. But the main problem is the lack of suitable developed irrigatable land. Africa has 800 million hectares of potentially arable land of which only 170 million hectares are currenly used for agriculture. Rainfall varies enormously from season to season and year to year. Presently only one-fifth of the continent receives dependable rainfall.

Many parts of Africa have now suffered from drought for three consecutive years. For most of them, soils and pastures have deteriorated and the rate of desertification has quickened. Most of Africa has only been able to meet its food shortfall mainly through imports from the northern hemisphere.

As a result of the African nations dependence on imported food over the past years, policy decisions have been taken which have adversely affected the development of agriculture in these countries. The most important factor has been systematic under-investment in agricultural development, and the second has been the introduction of inappropriate farming systems which have not brought adequate investment returns. It is therefore necessary for the governments of Africa to face up to the urgency of adopting effective food production policies geared towards combating hunger and malnutrition. One of the most immediate policies should be to switch priorities from the production of export crops to domestic food production. Until a proper solution to the African food problem is found, my delegation will continue to echo the food crisis in Africa in gatherings like this just as we have done in the past FAO Conferences, in the Lagos Plan of Action, and recently in the Harare Declaration. I thank all of those who have joined us in this appeal. I must underline our appreciation for FAO’s decision and commitment to tackle son.e of the hostile problems affecting agriculture through practical agricultural rehabilitation programmes.

My delegation extends its compliments to the Director-General and his staff for their awareness of these crucial problems in preparing the Programme of Work and Budget 1986-87 that needs our support.

My delegation supports the Programme of Work and Budget, and is in agreement with priorities and strategies outlined in the 1986-87 budget. Nevertheless, we regret the low level of the budget when at this time muchmore is needed to support the efforts oriented towards agricultural development in all developing countries.

My delegation is also disappointed with the zero growth concept still advocated by some richer countries. We hope that such an idea will be reconsidered in the interests of improving the lot of the suffering humanity in the Third World, especially Africa.

My delegation is pleased with the treatment of agriculture, fisheries, and forestry, and the TCP. We welcome and support the idea of increasing the TCP fund allocation per project from 250 000 dollars US to 400 000 dollars US.

My delegation realizes the significance of agriculture as the major tool for socio-economic development, and as the source of maintaining the basic livelihood requirements for the rural poor. In recognition of this, my Government continues to institute relevant and important changes in its economic and social programmes in order to involve small farmers in the monitized economy by encouraging them to increase their per acre yields in food and cash crops production.

The continuous efforts of my government to provide services such as extension, credits, marketing, and input supply underline our basic agricultural policies. Agricultural extension remains the major thrust of our agricultural development programmes as it is the only means through which we can reach the farmers. Other agricultural development strategies including small- and large-scale farming and integrated rural development projects.are also being implemented.

Our integrated rural development programmes, whose major objectives are to improve the overall quality of lifestyle in rural areas and provide basic inputs and facilities in increasing the income level of the rural poor have also gained some measurable success.

Our thanks go to the World Bank, The United States Government, the Federal Republic of Germany, the Commonwealth Development Corporation (CDC), and the African Development Bank for their assistance in our development efforts.

Forestry resources, including timber and logs, account for one of our important exports. We are happy for the FA0 plan to assist the African Timber Organization in promoting the marketing of our forest products on a regional basis.

The Liberian Government assisted by the FAO and other external donors is making greater progress in incorporating forestry into its community development programme. Apart from agricultural extension, and the provision of necessary marketing and credit arrangements, support for cooperative organization, research and human resources training are among, the strategies formulated by my government in expanding agricultural product ion.

Our human resource training programme is intended to cover all aspects of theory together with the practical implementation of packages in order to enable extension workers to acquire a comprehensive understanding of different subjects to adequately.respond to the needs of farmers, and to problems relative to various crops and livestock. We have approached the FAO to come to our assistance in training through the TCP project. It is our passionate hope that this TCP project will not be delayed in providing us the means for training our extension workers and programme technicians.

We also hope that assistance will be forthcoming not only from FAO, but also from developed countries and donor organizations to develop a small farmers’ marketing system, and an agro-based cannery and processing industry, as there is a dire need for assistance in these areas.

We would appreciate assistance in our Planning and Evaluation of the WCARRD programme of action which is a component of our development process. We hope to report to the next FAO Conference about our achievement, and about the implementation of the recommendation of the World Conference on Agrarian Reform and Rural Development that took place in 1979. We consider those recommendations essential- for

materializing growth with equity. I should underline that we in Liberia have been trying to orient our development strategy along these principles.

We hope that the negative effects resulting from the uneven distribution of income and the unfavourable conditions of nature contributing to crop failures in Africa and which compel most of our inhabitants in the poorer regions to suffer starvation will soon come to an end.

We welcome and support the Director-General’s proposals concerning the World Food Security Compact, and my delegation is appealing to all nations unanimously to support this Compact, which only represents a moral commitment by governments, non-government organizations and individuals to work together for food security.

In the context of food security, we also see how useful food aid has been in helping to solve short-term problems and in providing development assistance. Our congratulations is extended to the Executive Director of the WFP for his valuable contributions in making the WFP a success, and also for being able to arrive at the pledging target of 1.4 billion dollars US which we hope all countries will support.

Even though my Government remains committed to make every effort to improve Liberia’s food situation, we are still faced with underproduction. The increase in demand for rice in urban centres and the growing population have also continued to adversely effect our rice supply situation. From 1983 to 1984, rice production increased from 145 000 metric tons to 148 metric tons, representing an increase of 2.0 percent above the 1983 level, while imports increased from 76 000 metric tons to 83 000 metric tons during the same period representing over 50 percent of domestic rice production.

Our thanks is extended to IFAD for financing a small-holder rice seed project to produce high-quality seed for distribution to small farmers. In view of the success of this programme, we appeal to the donor countries to support the budget of IFAD’s second replenishment as this Organization is the only established agency for financing small farmers and rural developments.

We also hope that assistance in fertilizers, insecticides, herbicides and training will be forthcoming from the FAO to assist and improve the availability of important agricultural input to our small farmers. As we have great hope and potential for livestock development and for artisanal fisheries, much technical assistance and investment support are being solicited to transform these potentials into viable realities.

Before I conclude, I wish to underline the fact that accurate and timely statistics on food and agriculture are most important inputs for adequate planning in monitoring rural development in general and agriculture in particular.

We have been trying to improve our agricultural statistics, but we are not yet able to conduct large scale data collection activities such as a census of agriculture. Technical assistance in this field is needed. I am glad to note that FAO has prepared the programme for the 1990 Census of agriculture which is included as an item on our agenda. My delegation therefore, would like to take this opportunity to again appeal to other international Organizations-Institutions for financial assistance in order to upgrade our agricultural situation and to assist us in -achieving self-sufficiency in our food needs.

Finally our special thanks to FAO for all of its current and proposed agricultural development programmes in Liberia. We also appeal to all Nations for their generous support for FAO field programmes and its proposed Programme of Work and Budget for 1986-87.

TEKOLA DEGENE (Ethiopia): It gives me great pleasure to have the honour of addressing this august body, the Twenty-third Conference of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations particularly at a moment when its Fortieth Anniversary is commemorated.

Since the Twenty-second Conference of the FAO, the major topic of discussion and major area of concern of the international community has been the drought in Africa. Despite the tremendous

efforts made by each nation to increase production and attain self sufficiency in food production, some countries have proved vulnerable even to minor climatic changes and suffered serious consequences.

The drought that struck many countries in Africa, had its worst blows on Ethiopia, stretching over a period of four years and affecting about ten million people at its climax in 1983-84 in twelve of the fourteen administrative regions.

The subsistence level of production during normal years coupled with the drought situation caused a catastrophe for the single most important source of income for the dominant majority of the Ethiopian population.

The effects of this drought on food production and attempts for economic recovery are far reaching and beyond the signs of the good rainfall that Ethiopia received in 1985.

The small rainfall came late and its full utilization was impaired because of shortage of essential inputs, implements and draft animals.

The big rainfall was adequate in most parts of the country with the exception of the northern and eastern part of the country where the rain stopped too early.

Ethiopia’s food shortage problem will, therefore, continue to require emergency and relief attention by the international community both for the remaining part of 1985 and also 1986.

Our agriculture has been and still remains vulnerable to the vagaries of nature because of its dependence on rain. Though the country is endowed with numerous streams, rivers and other water bodies, the rugged terrain of the country, the heavy investment required, the country’s inability to avail these resources, together with other factors, inhibited the development of irrigation.

Other factors such as complete denudation of tree cover, depletion of soil resources, overgrazing, and lack of capabilities to control diseases and pests - contributed to the slow progress in our agriculture.

These anomalies have been responsible for the death of many of our compatriots, the debilitation of those who have survived, the loss of our animal resources and the destruction of our natural resources.

Since the national economy is based on agriculture, the decline in the overall agricultural production has weakened economic growth in general and those subsectors which have direct or indirect linkage with agriculture in particular. This has put a heavy strain on foreign exchange earnings, has curtailed employment opportunities, and has driven up prices on food and manufactured goods beyond the purchasing power of the masses. At a time when access to adequate and balanced food is difficult, health deterioration is one of the first visible outward symptoms. A person with poor health cannot maintain his production activities and as a result, this phenomenon, by depressing production and productivity, has further aggravated the problem.

Although the depression imposed on the agricultural sector and specifically on food supplies is attributed to natural impediments, the sector in general suffered from problems which emanate from its unique nature and level of development.

Backward farming methods which have existed over many centuries are still practised today due to our limited capability to apply scientific and technological findings and to produce suitable technology.

Our limitation in introducing and producing appropriate technologies for the changing conditions of the country, coupled with low levels of investment, are major drawbacks in increasing labour and land productivity in rural areas and, hence, our capabilities in increasing overall agricultural production.

The difficulties faced by developing countries are not totally controlled by local situations. The problems at the international level, which I need not recount here, are additional pains that we have to bear. However, with all our limited capacities and possibilities, my Government, Party and people spare no chance to avert the disasters befalling us.

A decade ago, we brought about a change in the production relations in our agrarian society. That was necessary. But a change in the social production relations, as you know, is not an end but only a means to induce improvements in the productive forces so as to increase productivity in achieving food self-sufficiency and other national goals. We have given top priority to the agricultural sector and to food self-sufficiency as primary goals.

The goal of food self-sufficiency cannot be met out of sheer wishes but requires, in the first instance, scientific information and the production of suitable technologies based on research, the conservation and development of soil, water, forests, etc., as well as the proper utilization of these, and policy measures to improve the agricultural trade.and income of the farmers.

In order to meet the food requirements, the production of traditional crops like cereals, oilseeds and pulses will be intensified. The production of non-traditional foods like vegetables would also play an important role in fulfilling the food needs. Appropriate measures are being taken to this effect. Aware of the significance of livestock as a source of food and income, programmes are now being designed to further increase their contribution to society.

We believe that nothing can substitute the endeavour of a particular country to meet the food needs of its people. Supports and aids are supplementary to national efforts and are needed to expedite the achievement of the desired objectives.

In connection with this, I should not fail to recognize that a significant number of international organizations, governments and NGOs have extended various kinds of supports and aids to our country. We admire and remain grateful for the substantial aid extended to us by the international community and organizations. With such cooperation from the international community and the determination and endeavours of our people, our agriculture should be rehabilitated soon.

My delegation would also like to indicate its position on the various agenda items presented to the Twenty-third Conference of FAO.

First of all, we would like to commend the well-balanced Programme of Work and Budget presented to the Conference by the Director-General. Our due regards also to the Secretariat and the Council which have all contributed towards this excellent presentation. In this regard, we would, however, like to note that the Programme of Work and Budget should further reflect the concern and attention of the world on the critical food situation of Africa, with specific attention on the situation and people affected by the drought.

The priorities of the work programme, which reflect the development needs of developing countries, are in line with the guidelines of our rural development policies and, therefore, have our support.

The World Food Security Compact, which is rightly described as a “crystalization of a set of feelings which were widely held rather than creating new obligations” are in agreement with our views and we would like to indicate our firm support for it.

The Code of Conduct on the Distribution and Use of Pesticides, which was continuously reviewed by different groups of experts and governments for the last three years,is an excellent voluntary action and a tool for creating an environment of human well-being, and awareness of the need to establish such a regulatory system and to create a sense of obligation concerning the ethica 1 Droduction of pesticides. We, therefore, would like also to indicate our support for the adoption of the Code.

The Technical Cooperation Programme has increasingly become a very important means of channelling FAO’s technical assistance to support member countries and to meet urgent and unprogrammed needs, and essential components in the overall development efforts to increase food production.

The awareness of its existence by the developing Member Nations and the cooperation of FAO in the decision-making process has increased its utilization. Requests for this source of assistance have increased very significantly and limitations of its scope, both in terms of total volume and ceiling that might be allocated for a single project, have become hindrances in accommodating most of the requests. We believe that a further increase of the TCP resources will enable us to alleviate some of these

shortcomings. The Ethiopian delegation, therefore, would like to indicate its support for the request outlined in the Programme of Work and Budget, in line with the requested increase of the TCP and also the proposed total budget.

The Ethiopian delegation considers plant genetic resources a heritage and agrees with their conservation. We therefore would like to indicate our support for the establishment of the commission in principle. However, we do strongly feel that such resources are bound to be governed by rules and regulations of the country concerned, and the international undertaking in this regard will have to be adjusted to such regulations. Due to a number of difficulties, the views of the Ethiopian Government were not adequately incorporated fn the principles of the international undertakings at an earlier stage, and therefore we will discuss them further in the appropriate Commission. We would however like to express our reservations on the unrestricted use and free exchange of plant genetic resources, which in the view of the Ethiopian Government will require further adjustments, and subject to these adjustments, support and adherence to the international undertaking communicated through appropriate channels.

Finally, our due regards to the Director-General of FAO, Dr Edouard Saouma, who in both his official capacity and through personal commitments alerted Member Nations and the international community at large on the grave food shortage situation in my country, and also convened a donors meeting on the rehabilitation of Ethiopian agriculture.

The Ethiopian delegation also welcomes the Cook Islands and Solomon Islands to our Organization and congratulates them upon their admission as members of the FAO.

Our cooperation and strong support for the FAO will continue.

Aurel ANTONIU (Roumanie): Il m’est particulièrement agréable de vous adresser, au nom de la délegation roumaine, les plus cordiales félicitations pour votre élection à la haute fonction de président de la vingt-troisième session de la Conférence générale de l’Organisation des Nations Unies pour l’alimentation et l’agriculture.

Je suis convaincu que sous votre direction, avec l’appui des autres distinguées personnalités du Bureau de la Conférence générale, auxquelles j’adresse mes sincères félicitations pour leur élection, et avec le concours actif et compétent de toutes les délégations participantes, nos travaux seront couronnés de plein succès.

J’adresse en même temps la bienvenue aux nouveaux membres de notre organisation: Les îles Cook et Salomon.

Je voudrais également remarquer que notre Conférence générale a lieu au moment où l’Organisation fête son quarantième anniversaire, moment qui nous incite à réfléchir sur le chemin parcouru et les tâches qui nous restent à accomplir et qui, d’ailleurs, sont fort nombreuses.

Monsieur le Président, Mesdames, Messieurs,

A l’ordre du jour de notre Conference générale sont inscrits des problèmes d’une grande importance, dont la solution est décisive pour le sort et l’avenir des populations de certaines régions du monde.

L’un de ces problèmes est celui de la perpétuation de la crise économique mondiale, l’aggravation de la situation des pays en développement, dont les efforts intenses pour l’accélération de leur progrès économique sont sérieusement affectés. Une situation paradoxale continue à se maintenir, en ce sens que, sur les principaux marchés du monde, on constate de sérieux excédents en produits agro-alimentaires tandis que la crise alimentaire persiste en différentes régions du monde, où le phéno-mène de la faim et de la malnutrition continue à se manifester.

Monsieur le Président,

Ainsi que nous l’avons souligné dans d’autres occasions, la Roumanie estime qu’une solution viable et durable aux problèmes alimentaires réside essentiellement dans la prise de mesures concretes

pour l’augmentation et la diversification de la production agricole et dans le développement soutenu de l’agriculture, surtout dans les pays en développement. Cela est d’autant plus nécessaire que l’agriculture représente une branche de base de l’économie nationale des pays en développement.

La réalisation de cet objectif exige l’élaboration et la mise en pratique par chaque pays d’une politique et d’une stratégie propres de développement de l’agriculture, comme partie intégrante de la politique et de la stratégie générale du développement socio-économique.

La Roumanie socialiste, elle-même un pays en développement, a toujours prêté une attention particu-lière au développement de son agriculture, à l’accroissement et à la diversification de la production agricole à travers l’allocation de fonds importants pour la réalisation d’objectifs agro-industriels, pour la dotation de l’agriculture en machines et en outillages nécessaires à la mécanisation des travaux à hauts rendements, aux besoins en engrais et en produits chimiques pour la protection des plantes, à l’aménagement des terrains agricoles et a l’irrigation.

Certes, l’expérience montre que la réalisation de l’objectif de l’accroissement de la production agro-alimentaire, du développement général de l’agriculture, ne peut être conçue sans une mobilisation extrêmement forte des efforts propres de chaque pays, sans l’utilisation d’une manière effi-ciente des propres ressources matérielles et humaines.

En vue de la solution du problème du sous-développement et de celui de l’alimentation à la fois, le Président Nicolae Ceausescu faisait remarquer récemment que “pour mettre sur des bases nouvelles, saines et fructueuses, les relations économiques internationales, pour l’élimination de l’insta-bilité qui les caractérise, il est nécessaire de faire des changements complets et fondamentaux qui puissent mener à l’éradication du sous-développement, à l’instauration d’un nouvel ordre international correspondant aux exigences générales de progrès dans le monde d’aujourd’hui”.

Nous pensons que pour la solution et la réalisation de cet objectif, une contribution parmi les plus importantes peut être apportée par la FAO et par d’autres organismes internationaux specializes. Nous retenons qu’il serait d’utilité qu’à l’actuelle conference soient trouvés des voies et des moyens nouveaux qui puissent mener à la participation plus substantielle des organisations internationales à l’appui des efforts des pays en développement visant à l’accélération du développement de l’agriculture. J’aimerais à la fois mettre en évidence les efforts faits par la FAO et par son Directeur général, visant à l’aide des pays d’Afrique atteints par la sécheresse. Il est naturel que l’élaboration d’un programme ample à longue échéance pour le développement de l’agriculture en Afrique ou dans d’autres zones soit faite en collaboration avec d’autres organisations internationales et avant tout avec la Banque Mondiale et le Fonds International du développement agricole (F1DA), conformément aux besoins specifiques des pays en développement concernés.

Selon la conception de la Roumanie, la dimension et la gravité du problème de l’alimentation réclament des programmes spéciaux d’aide aux pays en développement dans le domaine de l’agriculture, de l’industrie de transformation des matières premières agricoles, lesquelles puissent assurer le progrès éco’nomique et social de ces pays et, avant tout, de ceux étant les moins développés.

La délégation roumaine a très attentivement étudié le texte du pacte mondial sur la sécurité ali-mentaire soumis aux débats et à l’approbation de cette Conférence. Le Pacte mondial sur la sécurité alimentaire sera à même de mobiliser l’appui et les initiatives au bénéfice d’une sécurité alimen-taire mondiale réelle, de sorte qu’il permette à tous l’accès aux aliments essentiels.

Son adoption sous la forme actuelle constituera un acte de solidarité de la communauté internationale avec ceux qui souffrent à cause de la faim et de la malnutrition, document auquel notre délégation se rallie afin qu’il soit adopté sous sa forme actuelle.

Au sujet du Programme de travail et budget pour la période 1986-87, il nous paraît que les propositions présentées par le Directeur général visant les stratégies et les priorités liées aux acti-vités spécifiques reflètent la préoccupation de l’organisation tendant à trouver des solutions aux problèmes qui sont posés par les besoins actuels de l’agriculture des pays en développement.

La Roumanie en tant que pays européen est intéressée à appuyer et à encourager le développement de la coopération économique et technologique entre les pays de l’Europe, dans le domaine de l’agriculture et de l’industrie alimentaire au niveau bilatéral, multilatéral et sous-régional.

J’aimerais souligner que mon pays déploie une activíté soutenue de collaboration et de coopération dans la production, y compris dans le domaine de l’agriculture et de l’industrie alimentaire, des biens de large consommation, avec les autres pays en développement et avec tous les Etats qui pourraient y être intéressés.

Mon pays est decidé à amplifier et à diversifier davantage la coopération avec d’autres pays, en partant de la conception que par des efforts communs, à travers une plus large coopération entre eux, les pays en développement peuvent et doivent solutionner les problèmes auxquels ils se voient confrontés à présent.

C’est la conviction de la délégation roumaine que le problème de l’alimentation ainsi que les autres problèmes importants du monde d’aujourd’hui ne puissent trouver leur solution que par une action conjointe des peuples, visant à l’instauration d’un nouvel ordre économique international, qui puisse assurer l’essor plus rapide de tous les pays, notamment de ceux moins développés, et leur progrès général.

La Roumanie participe activement aux actions initiées par la FAO et elle continuera à collaborer aussi à I’avenir avec l’Organisation, en apportant sa contribution à la mise en oeuvre des programmes que la Conférence générale approuvera.

Avec l’appui de la FAO, nous avons bénéficié de la réalisation de certains projets en Roumanie, visant à l’amélioration des semences céréalières, des plantes techniques, des plantes maraîchères, à la sélection des bovins, et nous avons organisé une station pilote pour les irrigations ainsi que d’autres objectifs qui peuvent aussi se constituer à l’avenir en centres de référence pour le perfectionnement du personnel technique des pays en développement.

La Roumanie peut également participer à la réalisation d’objectifs agro-zootechniques dans les pays en développement à travers la livraison de machines, d’équipements, de semences et de matériel à planter de haute valeur biologique. Elle peut à la fois organiser des cours de formation et de perfectionnement du personnel provenant des pays en développement. L’Institut de recherche pour les céréales et les plantes techniques de Fundulea, qui a été désigné lors de la réunion du “Groupe des 77” comme centre de référence sur le plan mondial, peut offrir l’hospitalité et peut organiser à un haut niveau des cours de formation et de perfectionnement du personnel de n’importe quelle partie du monde.

“La Roumanie, comme le souligne le message du Président de la République socialiste de Roumanie, Nicolae Ceausescu, adressé à l’actuelle Conférence générale, a, dès son entrée à l’Organisation des Nations Unies pour l’alimentation et l’agriculture, milité avec esprit de suite - aux côtés d’autres Etats - pour que l’Organisation remplisse dansles meilleures conditions la mission pour laquelle elle a été créée et réponde ainsi aux attentes légitimes des peuples et à leurs aspirations de développement économique et social indépendant, de progrès, de bien-être et de paix.”

Pour conclure, je voudrais vous assurer du désir de la délégation roumaine de participer activement, au côté des autres délégations, aux débats et à la recherche des solutions aux problèmes dont la Conference a été saisie.

Austin DEASY (Ireland): It gives me great pleasure to have this opportunity of addressing the Twenty-third session of the FAO Conference, particularly in that it also marks the Fortieth Anniversary of the founding of this great Organization. I join you all in the celebration of this special occasion and, on behalf of the Irish Government and people, I wish to congratulate the Organization on its achievements over the past forty years and to wish it continuing and even greater successes in the years ahead.

I would like to congratulate you, Mr Chairman, and your Vice-Chairmen, on your election to oversee the running of this Conference.

Anyone who has looked back at the forty years in which the FAO has been in existence cannot but be impressed by what it has achieved in its efforts to help and stimulate the development of food production throughout the world and to reduce the level of food shortages and malnutrition. We dare not contemplate what might be the position of food production today in many countries throughout the world had FAO not existed. When we look at the sad plight of parts of the African continent, we realize how much still remains to be done. We cannot fail to bring back to mind, however,

that it was not all that long ago that FAO was confronted with the then seemingly daunting task of developing food production in South East Asia to an adequate level. However, aided by the spectacular advances in the technology of food production, and assisted by appropriate government policies in the countries concerned, a most remarkable transformation was brought about, and in a relatively short period of years the earlier spectre of hunger and starvation in the region was effectively dispelled. In actual fact some of those countries which were affected by famine and starvation are now in a position to actually export food. The technology of food production continues to advance and one is now encouraged to hope that a similar transformation can be brought about in Africa. However, we must not, as the Director-General has pointed out, relax in our efforts to provide food aid to meet the immediate needs of those areas which are hard hit by famine.

Government-financed food aid from my country is channelled through the World Food Programme, another closely allied United Nations body, which also commands our highest respect. We have found it to be efficient, flexible and effective in our dealings with it over the years. That the food aid channelled through this body is development-oriented also makes it an ideal body for us to deal with, and I would like here to pay a tribute to its able Executive Director, Mr Ingram, and to wish him and his Organization continuing success in their noble work.

However, food aid is not entirely government-funded in Ireland. A number of non-governmental organizations have, especially in recent times, responded to the pleas for assistance on behalf of, particularly, Ethiopia and the Sudan. These organizations are primarily engaged in development work, especially agricultural development, in Third World countries. The television coverage, especially of the terrible plight of so many people in Ethiopia and the Sudan has had a most harrowing effect on the Irish people and they reacted in a practical way to help the people who have been affected.

Reading page five of the Special FAO Handbook entitled World Hunger, I am reminded that the last great famine in Europe occurred in my own country in the middle of the last century, when two million people, or approximately one quarter of our total population, died. Probably as a result, we react strongly to similar tragedies elsewhere. Perhaps then it is not so surprising that it was an Irishman, Bob Geldof, who master-minded the recent world-wide concert which drew a phenomenal response in financial contributions from its audience for the benefit of the famine victims in Ethiopia and the Sudan. I take a justifiable pride not only in the unstinting way in which this young man devoted his time and skills to this particular cause, but also in the response of the Irish people who contributed the equivalent of eight million United States dollars, or approximately two dollars per head of the entire population.

I was speaking to the Director-General, Mr Saouma, earlier today and I was glad to learn that the FAO intends to pay due recognition to Mr Geldof for the efforts he has made in this area.

This experience of the Ethiopian tragedy is testimony, if such is needed, to the vast amount of goodwill which exists among ordinary people the world over, and among our youth more particularly, and is there ready to be tapped if the occasion arises. It should serve as an abject lesson to governments and to organizations involved in the work of helping the world’s needy.

I was pleased to observe that this point did not escape the notice of the Director-General in preparing the introduction to his budget for the coming biennium. It was also salutory to observe that Mr Geldof came face to face with the practical difficulties of having the aid delivered to the places, often very remote, where it was most needed, and that he also faced up to the reality that most of the aid should take the more long-term form of assisting with development of agriculture.

Before departing from the subject of food aid, I would like to make a brief reference to the Food Aid Programme of the European Economic Community in which, of course, my country also participates. It was at the EEC Summit of Heads of State in Dublin last December that the decision was taken to allocate substantial extra funds for famine relief in Africa. My own Prime Minister is particularly concerned that the level of aid should be increased at all times. Substantial though the programme was, we were criticized for not releasing much more of the large stocks on hand. It is only fair to point out that apart from the logistical difficulties of getting all the food to where it was most needed, much of the cereal stocks were not of varieties suitable for feeding to humans, while frozen beef and butter - the other two commodities of which the Community has large stocks - did not lend themselves to feeding famine victims.

I turn now to matters that are immediately before this session of the Conference for discussion and decision.

Firstly, I wish to confirm that Ireland supports the Director-General’s proposals for the Programme of Work and Budget for the 1986-87 biennium. Four years ago, at the twenty-first session of the Conference, my Government, in common with those of a number of other members, was requesting a reduction of overheads and administrative costs in line with the policies we were pursuing in our own domestic administrations. It seems to me now that in the interim the Director-General has made a very substantial cut-back in such costs in the FAO and thereby released additional funds for the essential work of the Organization.

I must confess also to some degree of disappointment at finding that my own country is almost isolated in its continued participation in the FAO Fertilizer Supply Scheme. Throughout this session of the Conference, emphasis has been laid on the special need of developing countries for fertilizers, among other agricultural inputs, to help them to increase their output of food. Many of these countries, much as they need fertilizers, just cannot afford to purchase them in the present difficult economic conditions. I know that excellent work in the provision of fertilizers to such countries is being done on a bilateral basis. But I would, nonetheless, appeal to other members of the Organization to give favourable consideration to supporting this worthwhile FAO scheme.

Turning now to the matter of world food security, I believe that this Fortieth Anniversary of the establishment of FAO is a most appropriate occasion for us to renew our dedication to the fundamental principle underlying the setting up of this Organization, namely, the right of everyone to be free from hunger. The principle itself is a simple and clear-cut one, but the basic measures required to give effect to it, and the role of each government, body and person concerned in the adoption of these measures needs to be defined in the light of latter-day experience. I believe, too, that such a rededication would be no more than an appropriate reaction by the international community in the wake of the recent terrible disaster in Africa. Accordingly, I give the proposal my full support.

May I say that I also lend my full support to the proposed International Code of Conduct on the Distribution and Use of Pesticides. The adoption of such a Code is in my view essential for the protection of both health and the environment, especially in developing countries where the use of pesticides is likely to grow in importance in the years ahead.

I would like on behalf of my country to extend a very warm welcome to the two new members who have been elected to the Organization: Cook Islands and the Solomon Islands.

Finally, I express my sympathies to the Colombian people on their terrible tragedy in recent days.

On a brighter note, may I say that I am very pleased at the significant development in my own country following the agreement today between Ireland and England to improve relations with regard to Northern Ireland, and I hope that this will lead to an eventual peace which will be to the benefit of everybody concerned.

CHAIRMAN: That brings us to the end of our agenda for today. This meeting will now be adjourned and the next Plenary meeting will be at 9.30 a.m. on Monday.

The meeting rose at 18.15 hours
La séance est levée à 18 h 15
Se levant la sessión a las 10.15 horas