Major Programme 2.2: Food and Agriculture Policy
and Development

Programme 2.2.1: Nutrition

Achievements

193. Priority was given to establishment of Codex standards and strengthening of national food quality control in relation to international trade and implementation of the World Trade Organization (WTO)/Uruguay Round agreements. Priority was also given to promoting nutritional well-being through the International Conference on Nutrition (ICN) and World Food Summit (WFS) strategies.

194. Nutrition Policy and Planning. Follow-up to ICN and WFS was achieved through support for implementation of national plans of action for nutrition in priority identification, project formulation, infrastructure development, capacity-building and policy support. This was complemented by guidelines for nutrition interventions for vulnerable sub-populations such as women and the elderly, disseminated through regional workshops. Guidelines on introducing nutrition considerations into agricultural research were developed and reviewed in sub-regional workshops; dissemination through the development of communications networks was supported.

195. Food and Nutrition Assessment and Evaluation. Norms and references for nutrient requirements were updated in the light of developments in scientific knowledge. A manual on human nutritional requirements was prepared following a review of current knowledge of micronutrient requirements at the Joint FAO/World Health Organization (WHO) Expert Consultation in 1998.

196. Nutrient factors for use with food balance sheets for calculation of dietary energy and nutrient supply at national level were updated. A manual on food and nutrition indicators for monitoring the impact of national plans of action for nutrition was produced. This has links with the assessment of food insecurity and vulnerability, taken up under Food Insecurity and Vulnerability Information and Mapping Systems (FIVIMS) (see Programme 2.2.2).

197. Work on food composition is necessary for assessment of nutrition and for monitoring food quality and safety. The Third International Food Data Conference, hosted by FAO, reviewed knowledge of production and dissemination of food composition data, contributing to formulation of FAO's programme on food composition. Two postgraduate courses in food composition were held in Southern Africa, with the United Nations University. The graduates, from 15 developing countries, established national food composition databases. Courses in nutrient analysis were held in Central and South America; courses on computer training in food composition software were held for Central and Eastern Europe. Support was provided for publication of four national and two regional food composition tables and databases, three software products and eight issues of the Journal of Food Composition and Analysis.

198. Nutrition Programmes. Support for development of community-based action to improve household food security and nutrition continued through publications, capacity building, policy and programme advice and technical support. A training manual, Improving Nutrition through Home Gardening, was prepared for Africa and Latin America, complementing the Southeast Asia version. The training course Field Programme Management: Food and Nutrition was updated and the second manual in the participatory nutrition series, Preparing Microproject Proposals to Improve Household Food Security and Nutrition, was prepared. A workshop, Promoting Household Food Security in Eastern and Southern Africa, was attended by participants from 11 countries to develop approaches to objectives by working through macro-level policies, sector programmes and community-based actions. Support to the field programme yielded benefits which were incorporated into outputs aiming to improve nutrition.

199. The Nutrition Programme increased activities supporting FAO preparations for dealing with emergencies. A manual, Protecting and Promoting Good Nutrition in Relief and Rehabilitation - a Practical Guide, was prepared; advice and assistance were provided in several countries. Collaboration was strengthened with World Food Programme (WFP) and other organizations involved with emergency response work.

200. The programme also responded to the continuing need for broad-based nutrition and lifestyle education initiatives. Particular emphasis was given to promoting development and utilisation of dietary guidelines by supporting international meetings and workshops. Nutrition education in primary schools was further promoted. The publication, Healthy Nutrition: an Essential Element of a Health Promoting School, was produced with WHO as part of the Information Series on School Health and preparation of training materials for incorporating nutrition into the curricula of primary schools in developing countries was initiated. The information package, Get the Best from Your Food, was translated into local languages for wider distribution. Partnerships were established with commodity groups (on sugar, milk and milk products and citrus) for incorporation of nutrition considerations into their work.

201. Five issues of the trilingual journal, Food Nutrition and Agriculture, were published and put on the Food and Nutrition Internet pages, which provide information on Food and Nutrition Division's (ESN) activities and outputs.

202. Food Control and Consumer Protection. The programme responded to increasing demands and challenges for food safety in international trade, and to requests for assistance in strengthening domestic food quality control. Advice was provided to countries and the Codex Alimentarius Commission on emerging food quality and safety, including risk assessment of microbiological hazards. Scientific evaluations of risks associated with food additives, chemicals and microbiological contaminants continued through the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA). Special activities included the FAO/WHO Expert Consultation on Risk Assessment of Microbiological Hazards, and the FAO Expert Consultation on the Impact of Listeria in Fish Products.

203. Liaison was maintained with WTO on application of the agreements on sanitary and phytosanitary measures (SPS) and technical barriers to trade (TBT). Workshops and seminars were held to promote understanding of risk analysis and Codex Alimentarius standards, and guidelines and recommendations as a tool to comply with these agreements. Training and information modules were prepared for this. Assistance was provided to developing and transitional countries to strengthen national food control systems.

204. Attention was devoted to training personnel from government, industry and universities in the application of good hygienic practices in food production and quality assurance systems such as the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) system. A training manual was developed and field tested.

205. Some activities and outputs were modified to attend to emerging priorities such as risk assessment of microbiological hazards and implementation of priority programmes such as the FAO Umbrella Programme on the Uruguay Round and Future Multilateral Trade Negotiations in Agriculture. Despite three professional posts and one general service post being vacant, the programme continued through use of specialised consultants and the partnership programme.

206. Joint FAO/WHO Food Standards Programme. An intensive cycle of technical meetings culminated in the 23^rd Session of the Codex Alimentarius Commission in July 1999. Major changes were made in the direction of the work of the Joint Food Standards Programme. Procedures were amended to provide improved transparency in relationships with international Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs). New task forces with time-limited schedules were established to deal with animal feeding, foods derived from biotechnology and revision of the Commission's standards on fruit juices; 42 new or revised standards, guidelines or other recommendations were adopted, including recommended maximum limits for residues of 40 agricultural and veterinary chemicals in foods.

207. The publication of standards and other texts was delayed for technical and budgetary reasons. Texts adopted by the 1999 session of the Commission will be published in the first quarter of 2000.

208. Priority was given to establishing Codex standards and strengthening national food quality control systems in relation to international food trade and implementation of the WTO/Uruguay Round agreements. The series of seminars and workshops at all levels strengthening the abilities of developing countries to participate in Codex work and establish and administer national Codex structures was continued. Priority was also given to national follow-up to WFS and ICN.

Programme 2.2.2: Food and Agricultural Information

Achievements

209. Focus was on collecting and disseminating food and agricultural information, particularly through World Agricultural Information Centre (WAICENT), with priority given to:

• review of the global food and agricultural situation and outlook;
• analysis of the commodity trade situation;
• assistance in strengthening food information;
• early warning systems;
• operation of the International Information System for the Agricultural Sciences and Technology/Current Agricultural Research Information Syste (AGRIS/CARIS) systems.

210. The major achievements concerned improvement and updating of global food and agricultural databases, strengthening national capacity to provide timely food and agricultural statistics, issue of reviews of the commodity situation and outlook and development of FIVIMS activities. Global Information and Early Warning System (GIEWS) continued to monitor global food supply and demand and alert the international community to countries or regions threatened by food shortages.

211. Statistical Processing and Analysis. Attention focused on development and improvement of statistical databases, particularly standard statistical series pertaining to:

• agricultural production;
• trade;
• food supply;
• population;
• labour force;
• land use;
• agricultural inputs;
• macro-economic aggregates.

212. The data, compiled and disseminated through the Internet, CD-ROMs and FAO yearbooks, were used in economic and policy studies and economic forecasting. Supply utilisation accounts and food balance sheets for all countries were published. This information was used to assess patterns and trends of food supplies and estimate the number of undernourished people (see FIVIMS). Guidelines were developed for compilation of economic accounts for agriculture and on the preparation and use of food balance sheets. Assistance was provided on improving supply utilisation accounts, food balance sheets and economic accounts for agriculture through seven international workshops. Revised estimates and projections of agricultural population and labour force were prepared.

213. Due to resource constraints, work was postponed on development of guidelines on land-use statistics collection and use of agro-chemicals for deriving environmental indicators and related data as well as work on database maintenance regarding prices received and paid by farmers.

214. Statistical Development. The focus was on strengthening the capacity of national statistical systems to provide reliable and timely food and agricultural statistics. A new programme to strengthen food and agricultural statistics in Africa, led by FAO with the World Bank and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), was initiated. Seven countries received assistance to develop a framework for a programme of food and agricultural statistics through the FAO/WB Cooperative Programme. A workshop was held in Guinea in June 1999 to establish guiding principles for future activities.

215. Summaries of national agricultural census results were published on the FAO Internet site. The report on the 1990 World Census of Agriculture, International Comparison and Primary Results by Country, was published. Assistance in planning and conducting national agricultural censuses was provided through workshops in Asia, the Pacific and Latin America.

216. Members' needs were addressed through sessions of the regional FAO statutory bodies:

• African Commission on Agricultural Statistics;
• Asia and Pacific Commission on Agricultural Statistics;
• FAO/Economic Commission for Europe (ECE)/Conference of European Statisticians (CES) Study Group on Food and Agricultural Statistics.

217. Issues included the framework for food and agricultural statistics for African countries and aquaculture statistics. Data user/producer workshops were conducted in selected countries. In collaboration with Regional and Sub-regional Offices, assistance was provided to member countries for identification and formulation of field projects supporting development of agricultural statistics.

218. Commodity Situation and Outlook. Enhanced market transparency and support for information needs were achieved through monitoring and dissemination of world commodity and trade developments for over 80 commodities. Attention was given to refining and improving intelligence for some less well documented and non-traditional priority products. Efforts were made to enhance dissemination of information through use of improved technology, by electronic means and through networking. A weekly commodity price information service was established and bimonthly and quarterly market updates for rice, oilseeds, pulses and meat were made available electronically. Electronic information networks were established - dairy, meat, oilcrops, pulses, rice and fibres - and an electronic conference on international trade and the dairy sector was held to facilitate exchange of commodity information among stakeholders worldwide. Data was used for market and trade analyses and documentation presented at intergovernmental fora such as the Committee on Commodity Problems (CCP), its subsidiary Intergovernmental Groups (IGGs) and the Committee on World Food Security (CFS). It was used in FAO publications such as Commodity Market Review, State of Food and Agriculture (SOFA) and Food Outlook and in support of commodity development activities.

219. Two issues of Commodity Market Review (CMR) were published. This continued to be the main publication of FAO on short-term commodity outlook covering a range of agricultural commodities of import and export interest, especially to developing countries. The CMR reported results of FAO's assessments of Uruguay Round issues, including:

• impact on specific commodities;
• export prospects for non-traditional agricultural commodities;
• instability in agricultural commodity markets;
• recent developments in agricultural trade of countries of ACP (African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States);
• consequences of the Asian financial crisis on global agricultural commodity markets.

220. Commodity projections to 2005 were completed, taking into account the impact of continued agricultural trade reform as well as the effects of the economic crisis in various parts of the world. Results were summarised in intergovernmental and expert fora. Joint projection studies were carried out with the International Sugar Organization, the International Coffee Organization and the International Cotton Advisory Council. In response to the priorities expressed in the CFS, CCP and other fora, priority was given to generating information for technical assistance following the Uruguay Round and preparation for WTO negotiations.

221. Global Information and Early Warning System. GIEWS continued to monitor global food supply and demand, and to alert the international community to countries or regions threatened by food shortages. Assessments were provided through Food Outlook, Foodcrops and Shortages, Africa Report and Sahel Weather and Crop Situation Report. In addition, 69 special alerts/reports were issued for countries or regions facing food emergencies. A total of 62 missions were fielded to countries affected by man-made or natural disasters. The increase in demand for such missions exceeded GIEWS' financial capacity, resulting in unmet needs. GIEWS continued to be responsible for processing requests for food assistance to WFP, subject to approval by the FAO Director-General and WFP Executive Director. It contributed to food assessment briefs for the UN/Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) Inter-Agency Standing Committee Working Group on humanitarian affairs. GIEWS continued to work with the World Food Programme, particularly in fielding FAO/WFP Crop and Food Supply Assessment Missions to affected areas.

222. Progress was made in strengthening GIEWS capacity to provide policy-makers and relief agencies worldwide with timely objective information and alert the international community to impending food emergencies. Investment was made in innovative methods for collecting, analysing and disseminating early warning information and making full use of the Internet for information dissemination. Specialised multilingual software for early warning - the GIEWS Workstation - linked to databases on food security information at all levels was developed. The GIEWS Workstation software is now in use at over ten national/regional early warning systems and data exchange agreements are in place with collaborating institutions. GIEWS outputs continued to be published on the Internet and a new system, GeoWeb (http://geoweb.fao.org) was developed, providing access to the GIEWS Workstation databases. GIEWS Web pages received about 1 700 hits per day in 1998 (1.6 million over the year) from over 60 000 computers. The system was active in vulnerability assessment for Asia and in contributing to mapping and data dissemination technologies being developed for FIVIMS.

223. WAICENT/FAOSTAT. The World Agricultural Information Centre has emerged as FAO's programme for management and dissemination of agricultural information, providing systems for accessing FAO's information resources through Intranet/Internet, CD-ROM and printed media.

224. The FAO statistical time-series multilingual database was published via Internet and CD-ROM. System enhancement continued, including addition of new statistical data collections, more regular updating cycles and automated routines to improve consistency and integrity of up-to-date statistical data. New database techniques were developed to improve access; the number of Corporate Database for Substantive Statistical Data (FAOSTAT) records downloaded from the Internet tripled. Outputs exceeded programmed activities: member countries were given access to new specialised information systems, database access via Internet was improved and an Extranet service was implemented. Mapping and visualisation tools were developed as part of the FIVIMS programme and a workshop was sponsored in Mali for pilot testing.

Table 2.2-1: WAICENT/FAOSTAT - Selected Indicators

225. Surveys were carried out assessing information needs of target groups at global level and demand for WAICENT services. A promotional kit was distributed to FAO Permanent Representations, FAO field offices, ministries of agriculture and NGOs to encourage promotion of the FAO WAICENT information systems and tools to reach national focal points for endorsement. Promotions and presentations of WAICENT were conducted in many member countries.

226. The FAO Internet site was improved in terms of quantity and quality of information. The technical infrastructure was upgraded to cope with increasing demand for FAO information (hits averaged 6.5 million in December 1999 and the FAO Internet site was ranked amongst the top agricultural sites by Encyclopaedia Britannica). The programme completed a number of necessary but unplanned activities, which were given corporate priority. Capabilities and procedures for publishing information in all official languages were developed and applied to a number of thematic Internet sites. As a result, language coverage on the FAO site significantly improved. Innovative developments allowed external users to access technical information and documents with a mixture of cataloguing and full-text indexing techniques. Intranet services were upgraded for Headquarters and field offices. The Permanent Representation Internet site was implemented and CD-ROMs produced from FAOINFO sources, providing access where Internet services were unavailable. The technical architecture of the electronic corporate document repository was completed; the system contains over 2 300 documents.

Table 2.2-2: WAICENT/FAOINFO - Selected Indicators

227. The Fourth Technical Consultation of AGRIS/CARIS Participating Centres was held in June 1998 and a follow-up session of the Advisory Committee in March 1999. Both recommended refocusing of activities towards capacity-building and revision of present systems in view of new information technologies available. FAO was requested to explore the feasibility of decentralised input and data management. Initial activities to implement these recommendations were carried out.

228. AGRIS processing was transferred to Headquarters without disruption. The AGRIS/CARIS network was reinforced through establishment of the AGRIS/CARIS Internet site as a WAICENT portal to agricultural research information. New data-retrieval tools were developed and a prototype CD-ROM was delivered to AGRIS centres. System enhancements continued with specifications for new input tools and an improved version of the FAO catalogue interface linking to the FAO document repository. The fourth edition of the Multilingual Thesaurus of Agricultural Terminology (AGROVOC) was released. AGROVOC has been published on the Internet in English, French and Spanish; work on an Arabic version was initiated.

229. Advice for improving access to FAO information resources was given through WAICENT training materials, presentations and workshops. Support was given to national efforts to improve capacities in management of agricultural information. Technical assistance was provided to strengthen agricultural information centres; projects were identified and formulated and field missions undertaken.

230. Information Resources and Virtual Library. Collaboration with UN and agency libraries was developed. Cost-benefits from the UN Library Consortium were critical for efficient management of FAO's multi-media resources. FAO Library provided access to over 1.5 million books, 6,550 printed journal titles and 2 200 electronic full text titles - over a million pages online. Training and guidelines were provided to technical departments in Virtual Library and multimedia use. Reference and literature search services were carried out for FAO staff and site visitors. Document delivery services were provided to users and Worldwide Network of Agricultural Libraries (AGLINET) collaborators.

Table 2.2-3: Virtual Library - Selected Indicators

231. Food Insecurity and Vulnerability Information and Mapping Systems (FIVIMS). FIVIMS was introduced into the 1998-99 PWB in response to Commitments Two and Seven of the WFS Plan of Action. Resources were allocated to FIVIMS from within existing ES programmes. Since its inception, FIVIMS has been an inter-disciplinary and cross-divisional/departmental programme within FAO. An international dimension was created with participation of other UN and bilateral agencies and international NGOs through the 25 members of the Inter-Agency Working Group (IAWG) on FIVIMS.

232. A permanent Secretariat was established in early 1999. By the year's end, governments had appointed national focal points for FIVIMS in over 60 countries and at least 50 countries had some FIVIMS-related activities underway, organised either nationally or with development partners.

233. Guidelines for establishment of national FIVIMS were prepared and endorsed by the IAWG and subsequently by the Committee on World Food Security. Work continued on Nutrition Country Profiles (NCP), with 50 new and/or updated profiles describing the food and nutrition situation in developing countries. Software products were developed for assessing consumption and anthropometric data and for preparing maps of nutritional inadequacy. Progress was made in development of two software products to be used by FIVIMS at all levels: the Key Indicator Mapping System (KIMS) and the Key Indicator Data System (KIDS).

234. Activities were initiated to provide technical assistance and advice on establishment of national FIVIMS. Four regional meetings were held, two in Asia and two in Latin America, on implementation of the nutrition component of FIVIMS. Extra-budgetary support was received from donors including:

• Japan, for developing regional FIVIMS for Asia;
• Australia, for FIVIMS work in Papua New Guinea;
• United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), for FIVIMS in Malawi and support to the Secretariat on FIVIMS design work in other countries.

235. WFP provided cost-sharing for initial work in four countries. Proposals were submitted to the European Commission for FIVIMS start-up work in eight countries and to the Government of Norway for FIVIMS mapping.

236. The first edition of a FIVIMS-based report The State of Food Insecurity in the World (SOFI) was launched on World Food Day 1999. This involved improving estimates of the number of undernourished, including developed countries.

Programme 2.2.3: Agriculture and Economic Development Analysis

Achievements

237. The programme provided analytical support to FAO policy work, informing the international community of essential developments in food, agriculture and food security and providing analyses of selected issues relevant to household, national and world food security. The programme outcome was adversely affected as the result of 9 outputs approved in the PWB being subjected to Zero Nominal Growth (ZNG) resource reduction and by the large number of vacant posts related to this programme during 1998-99.

238. Comparative Agricultural Development. State of Food and Agriculture (SOFA) continued to provide global analysis of events, trends and emerging issues affecting agricultural and rural development and food security at global and regional levels. The 1998 issue featured an analysis of the contribution of farm/off-farm links to rural and agricultural development.

239. As a follow-up to the Summit, regional and sub-regional syntheses of strategic issues for agriculture development and food security were conducted for preparation of strategies covering regional economic groupings that include developing or transitional countries.

240. Four comparative development studies were published under the Economic and Social Development series or the Agriculture Policies and Economic Development series.

241. Agriculture in Economic Development. Work continued on design of efficient and sustainable policies for agricultural growth and food security. Following a 1996 symposium, Agricultural Values of Plant Genetic Resources was co-published with the University of Tor Vergata and the International Centre for Agriculture and Biosciences (CABI). Work on this subject was continued to support the Commission on Genetic Resources. Guidelines for integrating Sustainable Agriculture and Rural Development (SARD) into agriculture policies were translated into other languages.

242. International comparative studies - Agriculture in the Transition Process, On/Off-farm Income and Farm/Off-farm Links - were completed. Workshops were held with participating researchers to prepare conclusions for publication in the next biennium. A study on agriculture investment for food security was prepared for information of the CFS.

243. Collaboration continued with the Regional Office for Europe (REU) to support central and eastern European transitional countries in agricultural policy and economic analysis, to service the European Commission on Agriculture and its subsidiary bodies and to organise workshops and consultations for senior government officials, leading to policy and implementation recommendations.

244. Agriculture Projects Analysis. Support and technical backstopping services were provided to FAO's Emergency Operations and the Emergency Coordination Group and to the constraints analysis component of the SPFS.

245. Technical support to food security policies, programmes and projects was provided principally by decentralized officers. It concentrated on support to national application of FIVIMS guidelines and other early-warning and food information systems and disaster preparedness activities. A manual for establishing early warning and food security information systems is ready for publication in 2000.

Programme 2.2.4: Food and Agricultural Policy

Achievements

246. The main objectives were to carry out assessments of global food and agriculture issues and improve knowledge about food security and sustainability. Work started on the next version of Agriculture Towards 2015/30. Contributions were made to improved understanding of developments in global agricultural trade and promotion of more efficient and equitable markets. Support was given to intensified capacity-building with regard to implementation of the Uruguay Round Agreements and preparation for the next round of multilateral trade negotiations. Monitoring follow-up to the World Food Summit was conducted through the Committee on World Food Security.

247. Global Perspective Studies. Preparation started of an updated version of the AT 2010 study, provisionally Agriculture Towards 2015/30, including updating of its information base and projections work. A technical interim report is due for completion in April 2000. Exchange of data took place with UN and non-UN organizations, including the UN/Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA, the World Bank, USDA, the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) and the International Water Management Institute (IWMI).

248. Commodity Policies and Trade. The focus continued to be commodity and trade research and policy analysis to improve transparency, assist commodity and trade deliberations and build international consensus. Results were disseminated through various mechanisms, including the CCP and its IGGs, producer/consumer consultations and advice to developing countries through training activities, for which extra-budgetary funding was secured. Commodity consultations among producers and consumers focused on reviewing the status of support and protection of agriculture in developed and developing countries and assessing developing countries' experience of the Uruguay Round Agreement on Agriculture.

249. Reform of IGGs, approved by the CCP, resulted in savings through shorter, less frequent sessions and reduced documentation: eleven IGG sessions cost US$ 266 000 in 1998-99, compared to US$ 836 000 for ten in 1992-93. Under the IGGs, greater emphasis was placed on analysis of links between biotechnological developments and trade, food security implications of the commodity trade and follow-up to the World Food Summit Plan of Action. Efforts were made to strengthen partnerships among stakeholders concerned with development of the international commodity trade through networks, cooperation with international organizations and commodity conferences on priority market outlook and policy issues. The International Cotton Conference (China, 1999) and the Latin American Sugar Conference (Cuba, 1999) were supported. Both generated wide support and were self-financing. Support was given to international dairy conferences, particularly regarding school milk programmes and analysis of impact of multilateral trade negotiations.

250. Commodity market development measures under IGGs, having International Commodity Body (ICB) status with the Common Fund for Commodities (CFC), were pursued to mobilise funds in support of priority projects. Attention was given to market problems of selected commodities in international fora, such as the newly established Sub-Group on Tropical Fruits. Certain commodities were adopted by IGGs to allow CFC-funded commodity development measures. The Executive Board of the CFC endorsed nine projects sponsored by FAO with a budget of US$17 million. Commodities included bananas, citrus, coconuts, fisheries, grains, sorghum, tropical fruits and hides and skins. In accordance with Fund priorities, these projects benefit least-developed countries.

251. Technical assistance in relation to multilateral trade negotiations included:

• assessment of the impact of WTO agreements on global and national agricultural markets and trade; and
• identification of export opportunities for developing countries as a result of changes in tariff and non-tariff barriers of developed markets.

Technical assistance was focused on building capacity of developing countries to assist them in preparation for upcoming multilateral negotiations on agriculture. Regional and national capacity-building workshops were organised in Africa, Asia, Latin America, Eastern and Central Europe and the Near East. Despite an increased number of such workshops, some with extra-budgetary funding, there were unmet training needs at sub-regional and national levels.

252. Trade-related technical assistance included reviewing current food and agricultural policies of developing countries, examining their compatibility with those agreed under the WTO and assisting with incorporation of trade concerns into domestic agricultural policies. FAO contributed to preparations for a new round of Multilateral Trade Negotiations, culminating in the WTO Ministerial Conference in Seattle (November 1999), and provided support through an expert consultation on developing countries' experience of the Agreement on Agriculture, a symposium held in Geneva on agriculture, trade and food security and an FAO/WHO conference on international food trade beyond 2000. An expert consultation on ACP Sugar Policy and Trade was organised in Swaziland in 1999 to prepare for new multilateral trade negotiations. An Internet site on Uruguay Round follow-up was established (www.fao.org/ur) to disseminate information on FAO activities and analysis.

253. Work with international organizations involved consultations with WTO, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and their participation in regional and national activities. FAO provided the WTO Committee on Agriculture with information for its review of the Marrakech Decision on Measures Concerning the Possible Negative Effects of the Reform Programme on Least-Developed and Net Food-Importing Developing Countries. Contributions were made to the International Task Force on Commodity Risk Management, established by the World Bank, to alleviate food security problems of developing countries resulting from price instability. Collaboration was maintained with NGOs concerned with trade issues, providing them with improved understanding of multilateral trading and helping them articulate proposals for agriculture reform.

254. World Food Security Analysis. The report, Progress in Implementation of the WFS Plan of Action, based on reports from 98 FAO Members and 33 international, regional or sub-regional organizations and NGOs, was prepared for consideration by CFS in 1998. In 1999, CFS established its plan of work and reporting formats for monitoring the WFS Plan of Action in 2000 and beyond.

255. Assessment reports on world food security were presented at the 1998 and 1999 CFS sessions and studies were initiated on national food assistance schemes, impact of market liberalisation on food security in Southern Africa and cereal bank performance in West Africa. Information on issues relating to progress towards the WFS target was provided to UN and governmental and non-governmental partners.