C 2005/10-Rev.1

Conference

1. Rule XIX-2 of the General Rules of the Organization (GRO) provides that any application for membership or associate membership "shall be transmitted immediately by the Director-General to Member Nations and shall be placed on the agenda of the next Conference session which opens not less than 30 days from the receipt of the application".

2. Article II-2 of the Constitution provides that any nation applying for membership shall submit a "declaration made in a formal instrument that it will accept the obligations of the Constitution as in force at the time of admission".

3. Rule XIX-1 GRO provides that this formal instrument may accompany or follow the application, and in the latter case "shall reach the Director-General not later than the opening day of the Conference session at which the admission of the applicant is to be considered".

4. To date the Director-General has received formal application for membership from the following countries:

The Republic of Belarus

An application for membership was received on 12 May 2004, signed by the Prime Minister of the Republic of Belarus dated 25 March 2004 (Appendix A). This application was communicated by Circular Letter G/CA 11/1 of 14 July 2004 to FAO Member Nations by the Director-General in pursuance of his responsibilities under Rule XIX-2 of the General Rules of the Organization. A formal instrument of acceptance of the relevant obligations of the Constitution of FAO, signed by the President of the Republic of Belarus dated 25 August 2005 was received on 2 November 2005 (Appendix B).

The Principality of Andorra

The Director-General also received a formal application for membership from the Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Principality of Andorra on 19 October 2005 in the form of a letter dated 18 October 2005 (Appendix C). Given that the internal constitutional processes for FAO membership have not yet been concluded, the application for membership will have to be deferred to a subsequent session of the FAO Conference

Relevant Texts

5. The following texts are relevant to the procedure for the admission of additional Member Nations to the Organization:

(a) Article II, paragraph 2 of the Constitution: the Conference may, by a two-thirds majority of the votes cast, provided that a majority of the Member Nations of the Organization is present, decide to admit as additional Members to the Organization.

(b) Rule XII-3 (c) GRO: when a two-thirds majority of the votes cast is required, the total number of affirmative and negative votes cast shall be more than one-half of the Member Nations of the Organization.

(c) Rule XII-9 (a) GRO: admission of additional Member Nations shall be decided by secret ballot.

6. The following provisions are also relevant:

(a) Article XVIII-2 of the Constitution: each Member Nation undertakes to contribute annually to the Organization its share of the Budget, as apportioned by the Conference.

(b) Article XVIII-3 of the Constitution: each Member Nation shall, upon approval of its application, pay as its first contribution a proportion, to be determined by the Conference, of the budget for the current financial period.

(c) Regulation 5.8 of the Financial Regulations: any nation admitted to membership shall pay a contribution to the budget for the financial period in which its membership becomes effective. Such contributions begin with the quarter in which the application was approved. In addition, all new Member Nations shall be required to make advances to the Working Capital Funds in an amount determined by the Conference.

APPENDIX A

Unofficial translation

PRIME MINISTER OF THE REPUBLIC OF BELARUS

Minsk, 25 March 2004

Distinguished Mr. Director-General,

I have the honour to inform you that the Republic of Belarus expresses its intention to apply for membership in the Food an Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. I therefore, request that, in conformity with Rule XIX, Paragraph 2 of the General Rules of the Organization, this letter be regarded as an application to be laid before the session of the Conference of the Organization.

The Republic of Belarus will accept the obligations of membership in the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations as laid down in the Constitution of that Organization, and undertakes fully and faithfully to carry out these obligations after the necessary national legal procedures are implemented, upon which you will be duly informed.

Please accept, Mr. Director-General, the assurances of my highest consideration.

S. Sidorsky

His Excellency
Mr. Jacques Diouf
Director-General
Food and Agriculture Organization
of the United Nations

Rome

APPENDIX B

APPENDIX C

THE MINISTER
OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS
OF THE PRINCIPALITY OF ANDORRA

Andorra la Vella, 18 October 2005

His Excellency
Mr Jacques Diouf
Director-General
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Viale delle Terme di Caracalla
Rome
Italy

Sir,

I have the honour to inform you herewith that the Andorran Government requests that the Principality of Andorra be admitted as a member of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, subject to parliamentary approval. In accordance with Rule XIX-2 of the General Rules of the Organization, I should therefore be grateful if you could submit this application for membership to the 33^rd session of the Conference of FAO which will be held in Rome in November 2005.

Once parliamentary approval and the instrument of acceptance have been issued, the Andorran Government will be a position to accept the obligations of membership of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations as defined in the Constitution of FAO and will fulfil those obligations as in force at the time of admission.

Accept, Sir, the assurance of my highest consideration.