L-1: Granting of observer status
1. At its eighth session the Conference requested the Council to consider and suggest amendments to the Constitution and General Rules of the Organ ization for the purpose of eliminating any possible ambiguity with respect to the question of observer status, with special reference to the definition of such status, the establishment of criteria for the granting of the status and the consideration of all juridical and practical aspects of the problem.
Observer status in respect of nations
2. The ninth session of the Conference accepted the Council's view that the objective would be fulfilled by defining (a) the categories of nations that may be invited to send observers to meetings of the Organization, (b) the authority that may grant the status of observer to such nations, and (c) the status to be accorded to observers; and that, since there were very few provisions in the Constitution and General Rules of the Organization relating to observer status in respect of nations, it was preferable to formulate a statement of principles2 on the subject.
3. Therefore, after introducing certain amendments to the text which the Council had proposed (see Report of the twenty-sixth session of the Council), the Conference adopted the following Resolution:
Considering that Article III of the Constitution and the relevant General Rules of the Organization regarding observer status are not sufficiently clear;
Adopts the statement of principles relating to the granting of observer status to nations set forth in Appendix C to this report;3
Requests all bodies set up under the aegis of the Organization in accordance with Articles VI and XIV of the Constitution to bring their statutes and rules of procedure into harmony with the aforementioned principles at the earliest possible date.
4. The Conference considered that the principles set out in Section A, paragraph 2 of the statement of principles referred to above should be included in the General Rules of the Organization and consequently requested the Council to submit to the next session of the Conference a draft amendment to Rule XXVI.9 (new Rule XXV.9).
1. Sessions of the Conference, Council, commissions and committees
Member Nations and Associate Members of the Organization may not attend any session of the Conference in an observer capacity. This principle shall also apply to members of the Council and of the commissions and committees established under Article VI or Article XIV of the Constitution with respect to attendance at the sessions of such bodies.
2.Executive, private or closed meetings of the Council
Rule XXV.9 (c) of the General Rules of the Organization provides that any Member Nation not represented on the Council and any Associate Member may submit memoranda and participate without vote in any discussion of the Council. In interpreting this Rule it will be understood that, as a general practice, Member Nations of the Organization that are not members of the Council, or Associate Members, should be admitted to private meetings, unless the Council decides otherwise in cases of necessity.
3.Regional or technical meetings (including those of regional commissions set up under Article VI of the Constitution)
Any Member Nation or Associate Member may, on request, participate in the capacity of observer in any regional or technical meeting of the FAO governing or subsidiary bodies, or any regional or technical meeting of which the Director-General on the authority of the Council assumes the initiative or has the primary organizing responsibility, even though the Member Nation or Associate Member does not geographically belong to the particular region, always provided that the Member Nation or Associate Member has a definite interest in the subject matter to be discussed. Notice of the intention to attend any such meeting should be given to the Director-General at least 15 days before the meeting, it being understood that notice may be waived by the meeting itself5.
4.Committees consisting of a limited number of Member Nations and Associate Members
Committees consisting of a limited number of Member Nations and Associate Members established by the Conference or its commissions or by the Council, under Article VI of the Constitution, or Rules XIV, XV or XXV.10 of the General Rules of the Organization, shall not be open to attendance by observers of Member Nations or Associate Members that are not members of such committees unless otherwise determined by the Conference, the said commissions or the Council.
5.Dependent territories of and trust territories administered by Member Nations
The Director-General may draw the attention of a metropolitan power or administering authority to the desirability of its participation in a regional or technical meeting of interest to a particular dependent or trust territory.
1. States which, while not Member Nations or Associate Members of the Organization, are members of the United Nations, any of its specialized agencies or the International Atomic Energy Agency may, on request, and subject to the provisions of paragraph B.4, be invited by the Conference or the Council to be represented by an observer at a session of the Conference or Council.
2. Such non-member States may, on request and with the approval of the Council, attend regional or technical meetings of the Organization. In cases of urgency, however, where there is insufficient time to consult the Council, the Director-General may on request invite such non-member States to send an observer to such meetings.
3. States which are not Members or Associate Members of the Organization or members of the United Nations, any of its specialized agencies or the International Atomic Energy Agency shall not be permitted to send observers to any meeting of the Organization.
4. Former Member Nations of the Organization that have withdrawn leaving arrears of contributions shall not be permitted to send an observer to any meeting of the Organization until such time as they have paid up all such arrears or the Conference has approved an arrangement for the settlement thereof, or unless the Council, in special circumstances, decides otherwise with respect to such attendance.
5. Should an application for membership have been received by the Organization, the requesting authority may, subject to the provisions of the preceding paragraph 4, be invited by the Council to participate in an observer capacity in technical meetings, in which such authority is regarded as having a technical interest, pending a decision of the Conference on the application.
6. Rules XXIV.1 (d) (v) and XXXII.26 of the General Rules of the Organization shall be interpreted in the light of the principles laid down in paragraphs B.3 and B.4.
7. The occasion may arise when a non member of the Organization which is, however, a member of the United Nations, any of its specialized agencies or the International Atomic Energy Agency needs to be consulted, because of emergency conditions, on some technical action, in which case the restrictive nature of paragraphs B.4 and B.5 above should not debar the Director- General from inviting an observer from such non member to attend a technical meeting for the discussion on a particular subject, if he deems such an invitation to be in the best interests of the Organization and its work, on the understanding that the Director-General shall consult the Members of the Council, if necessary by correspondence.
1. Observers from nations admitted to meetings of the Organization may be permitted:
When it is decided that the Council or a commission or committee established by the Conference or Council shall hold a private meeting, the Conference, Council, commission or committee, subject to the provisions of the Constitution and the General Rules of the Organization and to the principles laid down in the present Resolution, shall, at the same time, determine the scope of such a decision with respect to observers of Member Nations and Associate Members that are not members of the commission or committee and to observers of non-member nations that have been invited to be represented at the session of the commission or committee.
1 See paragraphs 497 to 499 of the Report of the ninth session of the Conference. As regards the granting of observer status in respect of international governmental and non-governmental organizations, see page 183.
2 The reasons for the adoption of the various principles set out in the Resolution are fully explained in the Report of the twenty-sixth session of the Council.
3 Appendix C to the Report of the ninth session of the Conference appears in this volume on pages 161 to 164.
4 Appendix C to the Report of the ninth session of the Conference.
5 The position regarding bodies set up under Article XIV of the Constitution is covered in Appendix D of the Report of the ninth session of the Conference ("Principles and Procedures which should govern Conventions and Agreements concluded under Articles XIV and XV of the Constitution, and Commissions and Committees established under Article VI of the Constitution") which appears in this volume on pages 189 to 200.
6 Now Rule XXXV.2.
