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Adoption of the Agenda and Timetable Adopted the Agenda and Timetable of the Session with the amendments proposed (para. 2) Election of three Vice-Chairmen, and designation of the Chairman and members of the Elected Jürgen Oestreich (Germany), Ahmed Mer'i (Syria), Dixon Nilaweera (Sri Lanka) as Vice-Chairmen for its session (para. 4) Elected Mr Adel M. Aboul-Naga (Egypt) as Chairman of the Drafting Committee with the following membership: Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Cape Verde, Cyprus, Egypt, France, India, Indonesia, Japan, Libya, Norway, Uganda and Venezuela (para. 5) State of Food and Agriculture 1994 Urged FAO and the international community to take quick and timely action regarding the global food security situation (para. 8) Urged that FAO and the World Trade Organization (WTO) work closely together, hoped that obstacles encountered so far in developing this relationship would be speedily overcome, and requested to be kept informed of developments in this regard (para. 14) Called for, with regard to global warming, further research to reduce uncertainty for policy formulation (para. 15) Urged FAO to continue monitoring the HIV/AIDS problem and to cooperate, as appropriate, with the World Health Organization (WHO) and other agencies in assessing the adverse effects on food security, and develop a preventive programme for the benefit of women in agriculture (para. 16) Urged FAO to continue to give priority attention to the concern over the availability and the management of water resources in relation to food production, food security and sustainable development (para. 17) Called for intensified efforts for rational management and sustainable development of marine and inland fisheries resources, including aquaculture (para. 18) Urged donors and financing institutuions to provide further assistance to developing Member Nations for improved sustainable fisheries management and strengthening of national institutional capacity (para. 19) Endorsed the report of the Nineteenth Session of the Committee on World Food Security (Rome, 22-25 March 1994) (para. 20) Expressed strong support for the implementation of the pilot projects, the multidisciplinary projects on food security in Low-Income Food-Deficit countries (LIFDCs), as well as the Emergency Prevention System (EMPRES) for Transboundary Animal and Plant Pests and Diseases Programme (para. 21) Sustainable Development FAO Cooperation with the Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD) Invited the CSD to seek ways in which sectoral intergovernmental fora could assist in the review fo progress and promotion of UNCED agreements, to establish modalities of work which could enable specialized agencies to make a more substantive contribution, and to mobilize financial resources for sustainable development programmes at national and regional level (para. 27) Invited the CSD to examine the concrete proposals for action as contained in CL 107/13-Sup.l and seek the assistance of the Organization in their further elaboration and in the formulation of programmes which addressed critical issues of sustainability and in particular hunger, poverty and food insecurity (para. 29) Urged Member Nations to ensure the presence of the agricultural, forestry and fisheries sectors in their delegations at the CSD, so that institution from these sectors could provide substantive policy and technical guidance in the deliberations related to the review of the "Land Cluster" of Agenda 21 in 1995 and the chapter on "Oceans and Living Marine Resources" in 1996 (para. 30) Requested the Committee on Forestry (COFO) and the Committee on Agriculture (COAG) to follow up on the discussion of the Task Manager reports prepared by FAO, which would take place at the ad hoc Intersessional Working Group on Sectoral Issues of the CSD, and on the reports proposals for action as input for the Third Session of the CSD in April 1995 (para. 31) The Role of FAO in Forest Sustainable Management and in the UNCED follow-up Agreed that there was a need for FAO to improve the quality of its forest sector information and analyses, and its dissemination (para. 35) Progress towards the development of legally-binding instruments concerning the Prior Informed Agreed that the Secretariat should proceed with the preparation of a draft legally-binding instrument on the operation of the PIC procedure as part of the joint FAO/UNEP programme on PIC and in cooperation with other international and non-governmental organizations concerned (para. 48) Agreed that the Organization should seek resources, jointly with UNEP, to finance the process for the preparation and conclusion of the legally-binding instruments (para. 50) Collaboration within the UN system and with other organizations Urged that FAO continue to strengthen its partnerships with other organizations, including those in the private sector, so as to ensure greater complementarity, synergy and effectiveness, particularly in the form of concrete action at the country level drawing upon their comparative advantages in their fields of competence (para. 52) Urged that cooperative efforts such as that with the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) be continued and recommended that similar cooperative arrangements be established with other regional institutions, including the Latin American Energy Organization (OLADE) (para. 53) Agreed with the view of the Director-General that investment in development was investment in prevention of emergencies and of political and social unrest (para. 55) Urged that food security and agricultural development be given prominence in the preparation of an agenda for development, as there could be no development without the security which came from guaranteeing the fundamental right to food (para. 55) Supported FAO assistance to Member Governments on national-level preparations for the Fourth World Conference on Women, noted that it would include a special "emphasis day" on the topic of rural women and encouraged continued efforts to promote implementation of the Nairobi Forward-Looking Strategies for the Advancement of Women (para. 57) Requested that future documentation under the item on "Collaboration within the UN System and with Other Organizations" include a specific section on cooperation among FAO, IFAD and WFP (para. 60) World Food Programme Nineteenth Annual Report of the WFP Committee on Food Aid Policies and Programmes Appealed to the donor community to undertake additional efforts to increase the Programme's resources for development assistance purposes (pa a. 64) Election of seven members of the WFP Committee on Food Aid Policies and Programmes Elected the following Member Nations for the period 1 January 1995 to 31 December 1997: Angola (List A), Cuba (List C), France (List D), Germany (List D), Iran, Islamic Republic of (List B-I), Lithuania (List E) and Zaire (List A) (para. 70) Implementation of General Assembly Resolution 48/162 on the Transformation of the CFA into an Decided not to comment on the substance of the matter or on the process at this time but to further consider it at its next Session in June 1995 (para. 71) Commission on Plant Genetic Resources Report of the Extraordinary Session of the Commission on Plant Genetic Resources Endorsed the recommendation of the Commission that its next negotiating session be extended to two weeks, and that a three-day session of the working group session be held two months earlier (para. 74) Requested FAO to make the necessary adjustments in the regular budget to finance the regular and extraordinary sessions of the Commission and its Working Group, and to strengthen the Secretariat of the Commission during this process (para. 75) Requested the Director-General to seek extra-budgetary funds to ensure the participation of developing countries in the meetings of the Commission, and invited potential donors to contribute generously to a multi-donor trust fund that had been opened by the Organization for this purpose (para. 75) Agreed that the Commission on Plant Genetic Resources should review the draft documents, and act as a preparatory committee for the Fourth International Technical Conference (para. 80) Agreed with the Commission that FAO should redouble its efforts to have countries put their national collections of plant genetic resources for food and agriculture into the FAO International Network (para. 83) Supported FAO's proposal for participation in a Joint Secretariat between FAO and the Conference of the Parties of the Convention on Biological Diversity, and expressed the wish that the Conference of the Parties consider it positively (para. 84) Widening of the Mandate of the Commission on Plant Genetic Resources Recommended that a document be submitted to the Committee on Agriculture (COAG), the Committee on Forestry (COFO) and the Committee on Fisheries (COFI) for their consideration; the comments of these three committees could provide a basis for the discussions of the Programme Committee, the Finance Committee, the next session of the CPGR and the next session of the Council, which could then make concrete recommendations to the 1995 session of the Conference (para. 91) Agreed on a number of points: that an intergovernmental framework for dealing with animal genetic resources for food and agriculture was urgently needed; that duplication of functions with the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity should be avoided; and that current activities on plant genetic resources should not be affected by widening the Commission's mandate (para. 92) Progress report on the preparation of the Code of Conduct for Responsible Fishing Generally Endorsed the proposed procedure and timeframe for the further preparation and submission of the Code of Conduct, as outlined in document CL 107/INF/21 and its Appendix, noting that, through COFI and the Hundred and Eighth Session of the Council, there would be an occasion to synchronize preparation of the Code with developments at the UN Conference and also to harmonize the final text of the Code for submission to the Twenty-eighth Session of the Conference in 1995 for its adoption (para. 96) Director-General's progress report on impl mentation of decisions taken by the Council at its Special programmes Asked that the documents relating to the policy framework for the special programme on food production in support of food security in low-income food-deficit countries (LIFDCs) be made available to Member Nations (para. 101) Recommended that maximum use be made of national experiences, as well as those of the other international development parties active with regard to the Special Programme (para. 102) Recommended adequate attention to the environmental dimensions of control operations for desert locust outbreaks (para. 105) Decentralization and Field Offices Encouraged the countries to be covered by sub-regional offices to find consensus solutions for the remaining offices in order to have all of the sub-regional structures functioning as soon as feasible during 1995 (para. 111) World Food Summit Requested the Director-General, in consultation with the Chairman of the CFS, to study the possibility of having the topic of the World Food Summit on the agenda of the Twentieth Session of the CFS in April 1995, and took note with appreciation of the efforts that would be made by the Secretariat to provide the appropriate documentation in time for this session of the CFS (para. 123) Conclusions Encouraged the Director-General to pursue the further implementation of the restructuring in full transparency, and looked forward to being apprised fully of further progress at future sessions (para. 125) Reports of the Sixth-ninth (Rome, 20-28 April 1994) and Seventieth (Rome, 12-16 September 1994) Endorsed the views and recommendations of the Programme Committee in respect of Programmes 2.1.6 Nutrition, 2.1.7 Food and Agricultural Information and Analysis and 2.1.8 Food and Agriculture Policy, as well as Major Programmes 2.2 Fisheries and 2.3 Forestry (para. 126) Endorsed the proposal made by the Committee that it focus, but not limit, its review of programmes in non-Conference years to activities under budgetary Chapter 2: Technical and Economic programmes, and draw up at its May 1995 session a list of subjects for future in-depth consideration which the Council would review at its own June 1995 session, while leaving the door open to addressing any other issues as the Council itself, or the Director-General, might invite the Committee to consider (para. 127) Endorsed the suggestion made by the Committee that FAO request the JIU to undertake a study of the difficulties experienced by the Organization in the recruitment of qualified staff for lack of competitive conditions of service, in the light of similar experience in the UN system (para. 128) Reports of the Seventy-eighth (Rome, 21-28 April 1994) and Seventy-ninth Endorsed the Annual Report of Budgetary Performance to members for 1993 (para. 130) Review of the methods of work of the Finance Committee Accepted the Finance Committee's recommendation to adopt the External Auditor's proposed operational definition of the lapse factor (para. 133) Endorsed the proposal that the lapse factor should be calculated as the turnover rate times the recruitment lead time and that these rates should be calculated separately for the Professional and General Service categories (para. 134) Accepted the recommendation that the impact of the establishment of new posts on budgetary provisions should be handled by costing them only for the perio during which they were expected to be filled (para. 135) Endorsed the view expressed by the Finance Committee that the lapse factor to be applied for a biennium should not only reflect historical turnover rates, but also changes in the policy of the Organization as might affect current recruitment practices (para. 136) Decided that the above methodology be used as the basis for determining the lapse factor in the next budget, and that the Director-General be invited to make specific proposals for each factor and the resulting rates in the context of the preparation for the PWB 1996-97 (para. 138) Concluded that the application of the methodology should be monitored closely by the Finance Committee in the forthcoming period, with a view to determining its future application (para. 139) Financial position of the Organization: collection of assessed contributions Decided that the existing scheme to encourage Member Nations to pay their contributions should be given further trial but that the Director-General should also be encouraged to explore other alternatives, in particular as regarded the experience of other UN organizations (para. 140) Need for all Member Nations to pay current assessments and arrears Urged therefore that all Member Nations pay their outstanding arrears and current assessed contributions in full as soon as possible, in order to enable the Organization to continue to fulfil its mandate (para. 149) Audited Accounts Endorsed the recommendations of the External Auditor outlined in his reports and requested that the Secretariat take prompt action to ensure they were implemented (para. 152) Agreed to forward a draft Resolution on the Audited Accounts to the Conference for adoption (para. 154) Revised Calendar of FAO Governing Bodies and Other Main Sessions 1994-95 Approved the Revised Calendar of FAO Governing Bodies and Other Main Sessions 1994-95 with changes, as given in Appendix F to this Report (para. 155) Personnel matters Reiterated the provisions of its Resolution 1/102 of November 1992 relating to conditions of service of the Professional and General Service staff (para. 166) Reports of the Sixty-second (Rome, 18-19 April 1994) and Sixty-third (27 September 1994) Endorsed the Committee's conclusion that a wide range of possibilities was provided for in the Constitution and General Rules of the Organization, as well as in the Vienna Convention on the Law of the Treaties (1969), although this had not always been fully exploited in practice (para. 169) Participation of EC and EC Member States, representing their overseas territories outside the Requested the CCLM to take up the question once again and prepare new guidelines with regard to participation in agreements established under Article XIV of the Constitution which would clarify the matter with regard to agreements where exclusive competence lay with the Member Organization, but Member States still wished to participate on behalf of their overseas territories outside the geographical scope of the transfer of competence to the Member Organization (para. 178) The compatibility with Article XVIII.6 of the Constitution of the methodology proposed by the Finance Expressed its support for the recommendations proposed by the Finance Committee that the methodology was not incompatible with Article XVIII.6 of the FAO Constitution (para. 182) Italian tax (6 per mille) on the contents of bank accounts belonging to FAO staff members Keep the Finance Committee informed of further progress regarding reimbursement to the Organization by the Italian Government which was considered to be a separate matter on which consultations should continue between the parties involved with a view to reaching a pragmatic solution (para. 185) Amendments to the agreement establishing the Indo-Pacific Fishery Commission (IPFC) Concurred with the proposed amendments to the IPFC Agreement as set forth in Appendix G to this Report (para. 189) Proposed amendment to Staff Regulation 301.136 (National Professional Officers) Approved the proposed framework for the progressive establishment of a cadre of National Professional Officers (NPOs) as well as the terms and conditions of service proposed therefore and consequently, as provided for in Rules XXIV.3 (j) and XXXIX.3 of the General Rules of the Organization, approved the proposed amendment to Staff Regulation 301.136 (para. 195) Review of the working methods of the Conference Welcomed the Director-General's review and endorsed generally his proposals (para. 198) Agreed that steps should be taken to avoid duplications between the work of the Plenary and the commissions, as well as between the individual commissions themselves (para. 201) Welcomed the proposal to hold informal meetings of Permanent Representatives before the Conference session to discuss substantive and procedural matters with a view to promoting consensus on these matters (para. 202) Urged all parties concerned, including the Director-General and members of the Organization, to seek further measures to improve the efficiency of the work of the Conference and to ensure that its debates were conducted in a business-like, flexible and participatory manner (para. 204) Voting rights, procedures and practices Agreed that action was required in order to redress the deliberation in the situation with respect to the payment of arrears (para. 207) Made specific recommendations to the Conference regarding this matter (para. 208) Made a general appeal to all Member Nations to pay their budgetary contributions in a timely manner in the future (para. 209) Applications for membership in the Organization Authorized the Director-General to invite the Azerbaijani Republic and the Republic of Georgia to participate, upon request, in an observer capacity, in appropriate Council meetings as well as regional and technical meetings of the Organization of interest to them (para. 211) Invitations to Non-Member Nations to attend FAO sessions Agreed to the participation of the Russian Federation, the Republic of Ukraine and the Republic of Georgia at the Hundred and Seventh Session of the Council, in an observer capacity (para. 212) Other matters Decided that the unexpired term of the Member of the Committee, Mr Frank Buchholz, should be completed by Mr John Eagan McAteer, Alternate Representative of the United States of America to FAO, and that Mr Gebrehiwot Redai, Alternate Permanent Representative of Ethiopia to FAO, should replace Mr Assefa Yilala in his three-year term of office as Alternate Member of the FAO Staff Pension Committee (para. 220) Progress report on FAO Fiftieth Anniversary celebrations Urged all FAO Members to ensure their full and active participation in commemorating the FAO Fiftieth Anniversary celebrations (para. 226) Date and place of the Hundred and Eighth Session of the Council Decided that its Hundred and Eighth Session should be convened in Rome from 5 to 16 June 1995 (para. 229). |
