C 2003/12

Conference

Table of Contents

Introduction

agenda and scheduling of items

composition of delegations

constitutional duties of the conference

Admission of New Members and Associate Members
Appointment of the Independent Chairperson of the Council
Election of Council Members

officers of the conference

plenary meetings

resolutions committee

invitations

APPENDIX A
TENTATIVE TIMETABLE OF THE CONFERENCE - DETAILED SCHEDULE

APPENDIX B
EXTRACT FROM ARTICLE III OF THE CONSTITUTION OF FAO

APPENDIX C
CRITERIA FOR CONFERENCE RESOLUTIONS AND FUNCTIONS AND OPERATING PROCEDURES OF THE RESOLUTIONS COMMITTEE

INTRODUCTION

1. At its Thirty-first session (November 2001) the Conference decided that its Thirty-second session should be held in Rome from 29 November to 10 December 2003¹.

AGENDA AND SCHEDULING OF ITEMS

2. A provisional agenda for the Conference session containing only matters for which action by the Conference is required is found in Appendix A and includes a list of information documents which will be tabled during the session.

3. Two Commissions will be established: Commission I (substantive and policy matters in food and agriculture) and Commission II (programme of work and budget matters).

4. A tentative timetable of the Conference session is given in Appendix B. The timetable has been compiled on the assumption that the work of each Commission would take up no more than four days. Meetings will normally last from 9.30 to 12.30 hours and from 14.30 to 17.30 hours.

5. In the light of the 124^th Council’s approval of the proposals of the Joint Meeting of the Programme and Finance Committees (5-9 May 2003) to convene three Ministerial level Round Tables, immediately following the afternoon Plenary Meetings of Monday 1, Tuesday 2 and Wednesday 3 December, the General Debate will not go beyond the established hours on these days.

6. The votes and elections foreseen are scheduled during the period 29 November to 5 December for the benefit of Members that may find it difficult to maintain delegations in Rome throughout the entire Conference period.

COMPOSITION OF DELEGATIONS

7. Delegations are normally headed by Ministers. In deciding the composition of their delegations, Members will wish to bear in mind the need for effective participation in the work of the Commissions as well as in Plenary.

8. In accordance with Article III of the Constitution, each Member of the Organization may be represented by one delegate, who may be accompanied by alternates, associates and advisers (see Appendix B).

CONSTITUTIONAL DUTIES OF THE CONFERENCE

9. In addition to adopting amendments to the Constitution, Rules and Regulations of the Organization, approving conventions and agreements etc., the Conference has the following specific constitutional duties:

Admission of New Members and Associate Members

10. The Conference, as the supreme authority of the Organization, admits new Members and deals with all matters relating to membership. At the date of preparing this document three applications for membership had been received (The Federated States of Micronesia, Timor Leste and Tuvalu). Under Rule XIX-2 of the General Rules of the Organization (GRO) applications are receivable up to 30 days before the opening of the Conference Session, i.e. 31 October 2003. The admission of new Members is carried out by secret ballot and requires a two-thirds majority of the votes cast, provided that the total number of affirmative and negative votes cast shall be more than one half of the Member Nations of the Organization. Membership becomes effective on the date on which the Conference approves the application. This Agenda item is scheduled for Saturday 29 November 2003.

Appointment of the Independent Chairperson of the Council

11. In accordance with Article V-2 of the Constitution and Rule XXIII-I GRO, the Conference appoints the Independent Chairperson of the Council.

12. Rule XXIII-l(b) GRO lays down that the Council shall determine the closing date for submission of nominations for the Office of Independent Chairperson of the Council by Member Nations to the Secretary-General of the Conference. Likewise, the Council also sets the date by which the Secretary General shall circulate these nominations to all Members of the Organization. Taking into consideration past practice the Council established 12.00 hours on Friday 5 September 2003 as the closing date for submission of nominations for this appointment, and Friday 12 September 2003 as the date by which such nominations are circulated by the Secretary General.

13. The election of the Independent Chairperson of the Council is scheduled for Friday 5 December 2003.

Election of Council Members

14. In accordance with Article V-l of the Constitution, the Conference elects the Members of the Council. A separate paper on the election of Council Members, including Nomination Forms, is being circulated as Conference document C 2003/11. In accordance with Rule XXII-10(a) GRO, the Conference decides the date of the election and the date by which nominations for election to the Council must be submitted. The attached Timetable (Appendix A) proposes that the election be held on Friday 5 December. As laid down in Rule XXII-10(c) GRO, nominations must be supported in writing by the delegates of two Member Nations to the Conference, other than the delegate of the Member Nation nominated, and must be accompanied by a formal written acceptance of the nomination by the delegate of the Member Nation nominated. Rule XXII-10(d) further specifies that the General Committee shall communicate the valid nominations received to the Conference at least three working days before the date selected for the election. In the light of these requirements the Council recommended that the deadline for the receipt of nominations be set at 12.00 hours on Saturday 29 November 2003.

OFFICERS OF THE CONFERENCE

15. In accordance with Rule XXIV-5(b) GRO, the Council, at its Hundred and Twenty-fourth Session (June 2003) proposed countries to select candidates for the offices of Chairperson of the Conference and Chairperson of the Commissions of the Conference. It also proposed nominations for the Credentials Committee consisting of nine Member Nations (Conference Res. 4/99 of November 1999, operative paragraph (a) refers). The members of the Committee so nominated will commence their work in the 15 days leading up to the Conference. At its Hundred and Twenty-fifth Session, immediately preceding the Conference, the Council will nominate the Chairperson of the Conference and the Chairpersons of the Commissions, which in turn will be approved by the 32^nd Conference. The Vice-Chairpersons of Commission I and Commission II will be approved by the Conference through the General Committee. The Hundred and Twenty-fifth session of the Council will also propose nominations for the offices of the three Vice-Chairpersons of the Conference, and for the seven additional Members of the General Committee to the Conference.

PLENARY MEETINGS

16. The first two Plenary meetings of the Conference on Saturday 29 November 2003 should consist entirely of procedural matters.

17. At its first Plenary meeting on the morning of Saturday 29 November, the Conference will elect its Chairperson and its three Vice-Chairpersons, elect the seven countries to be members of the General Committee, elect the nine countries to be members of the Credentials Committee (Rule VIII GRO) and the Twenty-third McDougall Memorial Lecture will be delivered. The Plenary meeting will then adjourn to enable the General Committee to hold its first meeting.

18. At its second Plenary meeting in the afternoon, the Conference, acting on the first report of the General Committee, will adopt the Agenda, establish the Commissions, appoint a Resolutions Committee (see paragraphs 23 and 24 below) and deal with the admission of observers and other procedural matters. The second Plenary meeting will also adopt the first report of the Credentials Committee. The vote on the admission of new Members is scheduled for the same afternoon, to be followed by the ceremony of admission of the new Members. While the votes are being counted, the presentation of the B.R. Sen Awards for 2002 and 2003, the A.H. Boerma Award, the Edouard Saouma Award and the Margarita Lizárraga Medal will take place.

19. The Third Plenary meeting will include the Director-General’s Statement to the Conference on the work of the Organization followed by the Statement of the Independent Chairperson of the Council. The Third to Tenth Plenary Meetings will be dedicated to discussion on the State of Food and Agriculture in the world. This discussion will be reserved for statements delivered by Heads of Delegation.

20. Since only four days are available for statements, and as the great majority of Heads of Delegations present at the Conference will no doubt wish to make statements, the Council recommended that statements be limited to a maximum of 5 minutes each.

21. The Council recommended that the morning of Friday 5 December be set aside for the vote on the Programme of Work and Budget 2004-2005, and the afternoon for the election of the Independent Chairperson and Members of the Council.

22. The Plenary meetings from Monday 8 to Wednesday 10 December will be used to conclude the remaining items on the Agenda and to adopt the report of the Conference. The Council recommended that the Conference designate a Rapporteur to prepare the draft report of Plenary items for adoption on the final day of the Conference.

RESOLUTIONS COMMITTEE

23. The Council recommended the establishment of a Resolutions Committee of the Conference composed of seven members, one from each FAO region.

24. The Council also reiterated the view, expressed on previous occasions, that resolutions should be kept to a minimum, and be confined to matters requiring a formal decision by Conference. Appendix C sets out the criteria for Conference resolutions and the functions and operating procedures of the Resolutions Committee, as adopted in 1975 by the Eighteenth session and followed by subsequent sessions of Conference.

INVITATIONS

25. The United Nations, its Specialized Agencies and the International Atomic Energy Agency are entitled to be represented at sessions of the Conference, without the right to vote. Other intergovernmental organizations having concluded an agreement with FAO which contains specific provisions to this effect have a right to attend as observers. Those non-governmental organizations which have consultative status are also entitled to send observers to Conference sessions.

26. Other intergovernmental organizations as well as non-governmental organizations having specialized consultative status or liaison status may be invited on a provisional basis by the Director-General, subject to Conference approval. Accordingly, the Provisional Agenda of the Session contains an item entitled “Admission of Observers”.

27. The above provisions are set out in Rule XVII GRO and also in the “FAO Policy Concerning Relations with International Non-Governmental Organizations” (FAO Basic Texts, Volume II, Section P).

28. Observers from non-governmental organizations will be invited to attend informal meetings to be held on Saturday 29 November 2003.

29. The Council noted the Director-General’s suggestion that the Palestine Liberation Organization be invited to attend the Thirty-second Session of the Conference in an observer capacity.

APPENDIX A
TENTATIVE TIMETABLE OF THE CONFERENCE -
DETAILED SCHEDULE

Saturday 29 November 2003

Monday 1 December 2003

Tuesday 2 December 2003

Wednesday 3 December 2003

Thursday 4 December 2003

Friday 5 December 2003

Monday 8 December 2003

Tuesday 9 December 2003

Wednesday 10 December 2003

SUMMARY TIMETABLE

APPENDIX B
EXTRACT FROM ARTICLE III OF THE CONSTITUTION OF FAO

THE CONFERENCE
(provisions regulating composition of delegations)

1. There shall be a Conference of the Organization in which each Member Nation and Associate Member shall be represented by one delegate. Associate Members shall have the right to participate in the deliberations of the Conference but shall not hold office nor have the right to vote.

2. Each Member Nation and Associate Member may appoint alternates, associates and advisers to its delegate. The Conference may determine the conditions for the participation of alternates, associates and advisers in its proceedings, but any such participation shall be without the right to vote, except in the case of an alternate, associate, or adviser participating in the place of a delegate.

3. No delegate may represent more than one Member Nation or Associate Member.

4. Each Member Nation shall have one vote. A Member Nation which is in arrears in the payment of its financial contributions to the Organization shall have no vote in the Conference if the amount of its arrears equals or exceeds the amount of the Contributions due from it for the two preceding calendar years. The Conference may, nevertheless, permit such a Member Nation to vote if it is satisfied that the failure to pay is due to conditions beyond the control of the Member Nation.

APPENDIX C
CRITERIA FOR CONFERENCE RESOLUTIONS AND FUNCTIONS AND OPERATING PROCEDURES OF THE RESOLUTIONS COMMITTEE

1. Criteria for the Formulation of Resolutions

Resolutions should be confined essentially to the following normal matters:

1. Amendments to the Constitution, the General Rules of the Organization, and the Financial Regulations.
2. Approval or confirmation of conventions or agreements and of amendments thereto.
3. Establishment of bodies under Article VI of the Constitution and adoption or amendment of the Statutes of such Bodies.
4. Adoption of the Programme of Work and Budget for the ensuing biennium.
5. Decisions regarding financial matters such as the Working Capital Fund, the scale of contributions, and adoption of audited accounts.
6. Major programme and policy matters,
7. Recommendations to Member Nations or to international organizations.
8. Matters relating to the appointment of the Director-General and the Chairperson of the Council.
9. Tributes and commemorations of special importance to FAO.

2. Functions of the Resolutions Committee

1. The Resolutions Committee shall examine all draft resolutions, with the exception of those submitted to the Conference by the Council, unless determined otherwise by the General Committee.
2. The Resolutions Committee shall endeavour to keep the number of resolutions to a minimum, and to ensure that resolutions conform to the criteria set forth above. It shall also draw attention to any significant constitutional programme or budgetary implications of draft resolutions proposed for adoption.
3. The Resolutions Committee may make editorial or similar amendments not affecting the substance of draft resolutions. The Committee may recommend such other amendments as it may deem appropriate. With the consent of the sponsors, the Committee may amend draft resolutions moved from the floor in the course of the Conference session.

3. Operating Procedures of the Resolutions Committee

1. Meetings of the Resolutions Committee shall be convened, as often as necessary, by its Chairperson or by the General Committee. Except as provided in paragraph (e) below, meetings of the Committee shall be held in private. The Committee shall maintain close liaison with the General Committee on both substantive and procedural matters.
2. Draft resolutions shall be transmitted to the Resolutions Committee before they are submitted to a Commission or a Plenary meeting of the Conference for discussion and approval.
3. If a draft resolution does not meet the criteria set forth above, the Resolutions Committee will suggest that the substance be incorporated into the narrative text of the Conference Report.
4. If the Resolutions Committee has doubts regarding the likelihood of agreement in the substance of a draft resolution, the Committee may decide that the substance be debated in the appropriate forum, and that after this debate and a decision on the substance, the draft resolution be returned to the Resolutions Committee for consideration.
5. The Resolutions Committee may invite the sponsors of a draft resolution to participate in its deliberations and, subject to the consent of such sponsors, may make such amendments to draft resolutions as it may consider appropriate.
6. The Resolutions Committee may delegate its Chairperson or one or more of its members to attend the debate where a draft resolution is discussed, either to explain the Committee’s views and reasons for any proposed changes, or to follow the debate so as to be able to inform the Committee of the background when the text of the draft resolution is submitted to the Committee.
7. The Resolutions Committee shall submit reports on all draft resolutions which have been referred to it, and such reports shall be circulated as Conference documents. Amendments to draft resolutions recommended by the Committee in its reports shall be deemed to be amendments within the meaning of Rule XI-3 GRO and, if necessary, shall be considered by the appropriate Commission or at a Plenary meeting on the day on which the relevant report is circulated.

____________________________________

¹ C 2001/REP para 134.