PARTICIPATION OF EC AND EC MEMBER STATES, REPRESENTING THEIR
OVERSEAS TERRITORIES OUTSIDE THE GEOGRAPHICAL SCOPE
OF THE TREATY OF ROME, IN FAO MEETINGS AND
INTERGOVERNMENTAL AGREEMENTS UNDER FAO AUSPICES1
35. The consideration of the report of the Sixty-fourth Session of the Committee on Constitutional and Legal Matters (CCLM) on this item had been held over from the Hundred and Eighth Session of the Council (Rome, 5-14 June 1995) pending further consultations among interested FAO members.
36. The Council adopted the following revised guidelines governing participation in agreements under Article XIV of the Constitution as proposed by the CCLM:
a) In accordance with the provisions of Article XIV of the Constitution, each agreement should set its own criteria, and terms and conditions for participation by such Member States, bearing in mind the objectives and particular conditions of the agreement concerned.
b) For agreements declared as falling within the mixed competence of a Member Organization and its Member States, the normal rules governing participation in general meetings of the Organization would apply, which eliminate any possibility of a "double voice" for the Member Organization and its Member States.
c) For agreements declared as falling within the exclusive competence of the Member Organization, the issue of participation and voting rights should be decided upon in each individual agreement by the contracting parties concerned in the exercise of their sovereign rights, in accordance with the provisions of Article XIV of the Constitution. In so deciding, the contracting parties concerned shall exercise care to avoid any possibility of a double voice for the Member Organization and its Member States in any body set up under the agreement, whether from a legal or a practical point of view.
d) In cases where the contracting parties decide that the agreement concerned should be open to participation both by a Member Organization and by individual Member States of that Organization having territories lying outside the geographical scope of the transfer of competence by those Member States to the Member Organization, such participation should be limited to participation on behalf of those territories and representing only the interests of those territories.2
37. The Council further agreed that the above guidelines should be supplemented by the following four points arising out of the consultations held with interested FAO Members:
i) FAO is a technical organization and it is outside its mandate to deal with matters of essentially a political nature. These matters should be dealt with in the forum of the United Nations or other appropriate fora. The guidelines proposed by the CCLM should be understood in this context.
ii) The guidelines, in essence, indicate that arrangements for participation in agreements established under Article XIV of the Constitution should be resolved primarily by the Parties to each agreement, in the agreement, in the context of the particular situation prevailing.
iii) The action taken by the Council at this session would be without prejudice to the rights and position of each state with respect to matters relating to its sovereignty.
iv) As provided for in Article XIV itself, in agreements where a Member Organization becomes a party in the exercise of its exclusive competence over the subject matter, that Member Organization would participate with a single rather than a multiple vote, with equal rights of participation with those of the other parties.
38. The Council expressed its satisfaction that this matter submitted for the consideration of the CCLM had now been satisfactorily resolved, thus paving the way for the early entry into force of the Agreement for the Establishment of the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission.
39. In accordance with paragraphs B-l and B-2 of the "Statement of Principles relating to the Granting of Observer Status to Nations",4 the Council agreed:
a) that the Ukraine attend as an observer the Hundred and Ninth Session of the Council,
b) that the Russian Federation and Ukraine attend as observers the Hundred and Tenth Session of the Council,
c) that Ukraine attend as an observer the Thirtieth Session of the Intergovernmental Group on Jute, Kenaf and Allied Fibres of the Committee on Commodity Problems,
Rome 6-8 November 1995 (ESC-712).
40. The Council was also informed that since its Hundred and Eighth Session, the Director-General, on being so requested, had extended invitations to the Russian Federation to attend as an observer the Sessions listed in document CL 109/INF/8.
41. The Council noted the list of international non-governmental organizations without status with FAO, which had been invited to technical meetings from January 1994 to December 1995.
42. Pending a decision by the Conference on the application for membership received from the Republic of Tajikistan, and pursuant to Rule XXV. 11 of the General Rules of the Organization and paragraphs B-1, B-2 and B-5 of the "Statement of Principles relating to the Granting of Observer Status to Nations", the Council authorized the Director-General to invite the applicant nation to participate, in an observer capacity, in the Council Session.
1CL 109/2; CL 109/PV/3; CL 109/PV/5.
2One member expressed a specific reservation with respect to the scope of guideline d).
3CL 109/INF/8; CL 109/PV/l; CL 109/PV/4.
4See FAO Basic Texts, Volume II, Section L (Appendix).
5CL 109/INF/5; CL 109/PV/4; CL 109/PV/5.
6C 95/10-Sup.l; CL 109/PV/l; CL 109/PV/4.
