CL 127/REP 0251-5296 ISSN REPORT OF THE COUNCIL OF FAO Hundred and Twenty-seventh Session Rome, 22-27 November 2004 COUNCIL (as from 1 January 2005) Independent Chairman of the Council: Aziz Mekouar Algeria 3 Finland 1 Panama 2 Angola 2 France 1 Peru 2 Armenia 2 Germany 2 Philippines 2 Australia 1 Guatemala 1 Republic of Korea 2 Bangladesh 2 India 1 Romania 2 Bolivia3 Indonesia 1 Saudi Arabia 1 Brazil 3 Iran, Islamic Republic of 2 Slovenia 3 Canada 3 Italy 1 Swaziland 1 Cape Verde 3 Japan 2 Syrian Arab Republic 1 Chile 2 Mali 3 Thailand 2 China 2 Malta 3 Trinidad and Tobago 3 Congo 2 Mauritius 1 Uganda 2 Côte d'Ivoire 1 Mexico 3 United Arab Emirates 3 Cuba 3 Netherlands 3 United Kingdom 1 Democratic Republic of the Congo 3 Nigeria 1 United States of America 3 Egypt 1 Oman 3 Eritrea 3 Pakistan 1 1 Term of office until the conclusion of the Thirty-third Session of the Conference, November 2005. 2 Term of office until 31 December 2006. 3 Term of office until the conclusion of the Thirty-fourth Session of the Conference, November 2007. CL 127/REP REPORT OF THE COUNCIL OF FAO Hundred and Twenty-seventh Session Rome, 22-27 November 2004 FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION OF THE UNITED NATIONS Rome, 2005 The designations employed and the presentation of material in this information product do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. ISBN 92-5-105274-3 All rights reserved. Reproduction and dissemination of material in this information product for educational or other non-commercial purposes are authorized without any prior written permission from the copyright holders provided the source is fully acknowledged. Reproduction of material in this information product for resale or other commercial purposes is prohibited without written permission of the copyright holders. Applications for such permission should be addressed to the Chief, Publishing Management Service, Information Division, FAO, Viale delle Terme di Caracalla, 00100 Rome, Italy or by e-mail to [email protected] © FAO 2005 CL 127/REP iii Table of Contents Paragraphs INTRODUCTION - PROCEDURE OF THE SESSION 1 ADOPTION OF THE AGENDA AND TIMETABLE 2 ELECTION OF THREE VICE-CHAIRPERSONS, AND DESIGNATION OF THE CHAIRPERSON AND MEMBERS OF THE DRAFTING COMMITTEE 3 - 4 WORLD FOOD AND AGRICULTURE SITUATION 5 - 30 STATE OF FOOD AND AGRICULTURE 2004 5 - 16 REPORT OF THE THIRTIETH SESSION OF THE COMMITTEE ON WORLD FOOD SECURITY (ROME, SEPTEMBER 2004) 17 - 22 INTERGOVERNMENTAL WORKING GROUP FOR THE ELABORATION OF A SET OF VOLUNTARY GUIDELINES TO SUPPORT THE PROGRESSIVE REALIZATION OF THE RIGHT TO ADEQUATE FOOD IN THE CONTEXT OF NATIONAL FOOD SECURITY (ROME, SEPTEMBER 2004) 23 - 26 REPORT OF THE EIGHTEENTH SESSION OF THE COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE (ROME, FEBRUARY 2004) 27 - 30 ACTIVITIES OF FAO AND WFP 31 - 44 WORLD FOOD PROGRAMME 31 - 38 Annual Report of the WFP Executive Board on its Activities in 2003 31 - 35 Election of Six Members to the WFP Executive Board 36 - 38 OUTCOME OF THE SECOND FAO/WHO GLOBAL FORUM OF FOOD SAFETY REGULATORS (BANGKOK, OCTOBER 2004) AND OF REGIONAL MEETINGS ON FOOD SAFETY 39 - 41 PROGRESS REPORT FROM THE SECRETARIAT OF THE COMMISSION ON GENETIC RESOURCES FOR FOOD AND AGRICULTURE 42 - 44 iv CL 127/REP PROGRAMME, BUDGETARY, FINANCIAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE MATTERS 45 - 87 PROGRAMME IMPLEMENTATION REPORT 2002-2003 45 - 50 MEDIUM TERM PLAN 2006-2011 51 - 60 REPORTS OF THE JOINT MEETINGS OF THE PROGRAMME COMMITTEE AND THE FINANCE COMMITTEE (ROME, MAY 2004 AND SEPTEMBER 2004) 61 - 63 Savings and Efficiencies in Governance 61 Other Matters Arising out of the Reports 62 - 63 REPORTS OF THE NINETY-FIRST (ROME, MAY 2004) AND NINETY-SECOND (ROME, SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER 2004 ) SESSIONS OF THE PROGRAMME COMMITTEE 64 - 69 REPORTS OF THE HUNDRED AND SIXTH (ROME, FEBRUARY 2004), HUNDRED AND SEVENTH (ROME, MAY 2004) AND HUNDRED AND EIGHTH (ROME, SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER 2004) SESSIONS OF THE FINANCE COMMITTEE 70 - 87 Status of Contributions and Arrears 71 - 72 Budgetary Performance 2002-2003 73 - 74 Results of the Application of the New Methodology for Equitable Geographic Distribution 75 - 78 Other Matters Arising out of the Reports 79 - 87 CONSTITUTIONAL AND LEGAL MATTERS 88 - 107 REPORTS OF THE SEVENTY-SIXTH (ROME, MARCH 2004) AND SEVENTY-SEVENTH SESSIONS (ROME, OCTOBER 2004) OF THE COMMITTEE ON CONSTITUTIONAL AND LEGAL MATTERS (Resolution 1/127) 88 - 102 OTHER CONSTITUTIONAL AND LEGAL MATTERS 103 - 107 Invitations to Non-Member Nations to attend FAO Sessions 103 Date for Nominations to the Office of Director-General 104 - 105 Applications for Membership in the Organization 106 - 107 OTHER MATTERS 108 - 122 CALENDAR OF FAO GOVERNING BODIES AND OTHER MAIN SESSIONS FOR 2005 AND PROVISIONAL CALENDAR FOR 2006 108 APPOINTMENT OF A REPRESENTATIVE OF THE FAO CONFERENCE TO THE STAFF PENSION COMMITTEE 109 ADVANCE FUNDING FOR EMERGENCY AND REHABILITATION ACTIVITIES 110 - 112 CL 127/REP v INDEPENDENT EXTERNAL EVALUATION OF FAO 113 - 117 COMMENTS ON INFORMATION DOCUMENTS 118 - 122 DATE AND PLACE OF THE HUNDRED AND TWENTY EIGHTH SESSION OF THE COUNCIL 123 APPENDIXES A Agenda for the Hundred and Twenty-seventh Session of the Council B List of Delegates and Observers C List of Documents D Voluntary Guidelines on the Progressive Realization of the Right to Adequate Food in the Context of National Food Security E Statutes of the South West Indian Ocean Fisheries Commission (SWIOFC) F Calendar of FAO Governing Bodies and Other Main Sessions for 2005 and Provisional Calendar for 2006 CL 127/REP vii VERBS INDICATING DECISIONS, DIRECTIVES AND RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE COUNCIL ARE UNDERLINED CL 127/REP 1 INTRODUCTION - PROCEDURE OF THE SESSION 1. The Hundred and Twenty-seventh Session of the Council was held in Rome from 22 to 27 November 2004 under the Chairmanship of Aziz Mekouar, Independent Chairman of the Council. ADOPTION OF THE AGENDA AND TIMETABLE1 2. The Council noted the Declaration of Competence and Voting Rights presented by the European Community and adopted the Agenda and Timetable for the Session, after having taken into consideration the request made by the G-77 to change the title of Item 14 from “Comprehensive and Independent External Evaluation of FAO” to “Independent External Evaluation of FAO” and to include it under “Other Matters” as Agenda Item 17.3. The Agenda is given in Appendix A to this Report. ELECTION OF THREE VICE-CHAIRPERSONS, AND DESIGNATION OF THE CHAIRPERSON AND MEMBERS OF THE DRAFTING COMMITTEE2 3. The Council elected three Vice-Chairpersons for its Session: Ilia Krastelnikov (Bulgaria), Mohammad Saeid Noori-Naeini (Iran, Islamic Republic of) and Muhammad Ismail Qureshi (Pakistan). 4. The Council elected Noel D. De Luna (Philippines) as Chairperson of the Drafting Committee with the following membership: Australia, Burkina Faso, Canada, Chile, Congo, Cuba, Egypt, Finland, Germany, Japan, Philippines, Republic of Korea, Romania and the Syrian Arab Republic. 1 CL 127/1-Rev.2; CL 127/INF/1-Rev.1; CL 127/INF/6; CL 127/LIM/4; CL 127/PV/1; CL 127/PV/8. 2 CL 127/PV/1; CL 127/PV/8. 2 CL 127/REP WORLD FOOD AND AGRICULTURE SITUATION STATE OF FOOD AND AGRICULTURE 20043 5. The Council expressed appreciation for document CL 127/2 and generally concurred with its depiction of the current world food and agriculture situation. Many Members provided additional information on the food, agriculture and food security situation in their respective countries and regions. 6. The Council expressed its strong concern over the insufficient progress in reducing the number of undernourished in the world and urged a renewed commitment and effort to meet the goal of the World Food Summit and the Millennium Declaration of halving hunger by 2015. The Council also noted that the reduction at the global level covered wide variations in performance, with rapid progress in a few countries along with a stagnating or deteriorating situation in many others. 7. The Council emphasized the need for strengthened and concerted efforts at the national, regional and international levels to accelerate progress towards the elimination of food insecurity in the world. The Council noted that progress in combatting hunger and poverty would be achieved when all the causes of underdevelopment had been suitably dealt with and that lessons needed to be drawn from successes in reducing undernourishment. It also requested FAO to continue monitoring the world food security situation while striving to improve up to date information collection and assessment methods. 8. The Council noted with concern a number of recent trends and developments with negative implications for world food security. In particular: • the existence of a large number of food crises in the world, notably due to adverse climatic conditions and armed conflict that exacerbated chronic food insecurity, especially when repeated or prolonged; • the risks to crop production and food security posed by plant and animal pests and diseases, including the recent outbreak of Avian Influenza in the Asian and North American Regions, and of Desert Locusts in Western Africa and other regions, and the need for continued international support to prevent future outbreaks; • the inadequate levels of investment in the agricultural sector, especially in countries with higher undernourishment rates; and • the potential negative effects of price instability on food imports and export earnings. 9. Many Members launched a vibrant appeal to the international community and to the institutions of the UN System to set up a sustainable and effective mechanism which, under the auspices of FAO and endowed with the relative means, would pursue its mission of a coordinated and in-depth campaign for the total eradication of the Desert Locust plague which was known to be cyclical.