PROVISIONAL RULES OF PROCEDURE
OF THE WORLD FOOD SUMMIT

Each State or Member Organization participating in the Summit shall be represented by a head of delegation and such other accredited representatives, alternate representatives and advisers as may be required. The head of delegation may designate an alternate representative or adviser to act as a representative.

The credentials of delegates, alternates and advisers shall be deposited with the Secretary-General of the Summit, if possible not less than one week before the date fixed for the opening of the Summit. The credentials of delegates, alternates and advisers shall be issued by, or on behalf of, the Head of State, the Head of Government, the Minister of Foreign Affairs or the Minister concerned, or in the case of a Regional Economic Integration Organization that is a Member of FAO (Member Organization) by the head of the executive body of the Member Organization concerned.

A Credentials Committee of seven members shall be appointed from representatives of participating States at the beginning of the Summit. It shall examine and decide upon the credentials submitted in accordance with Rule 2 and report to the Summit without delay. The Committee shall elect its own Chairman.

Pending the report of the Credentials Committee, representatives shall be entitled to participate provisionally in the Summit.

The Summit shall elect from representatives of participating States the following officers: a Chairman of the Summit and six Vice-Chairmen.

1. In addition to executing such powers as are conferred upon him/her by these Rules, the Chairman shall preside at the plenary meetings of the Summit, declare the opening and closing of each meeting, direct the discussions, ensure observance of these Rules, accord the right to speak, put questions to the vote and announce decisions. The Chairman shall rule on points of order and may propose to the Summit the adjournment or the close of the debate and the suspension or adjournment of a meeting.

2. The Chairman, in the exercise of his/her functions, remains under the authority of the Summit.

3. The Chairman shall not vote but may appoint another member of his/her delegation to vote in his/her place.

1. If the Chairman is absent from a meeting or any part thereof, he/she shall designate one of the Vice-Chairmen to take his/her place.

2. A Vice-Chairman acting as Chairman shall have the same powers and duties as the Chairman.

There shall be a General Committee consisting of the Chairman and Vice-Chairmen of the Summit. The Chairman of the Summit, or in his /her absence one of the Vice-Chairmen designated by him/her, shall serve as Chairman of the General Committee.

If the Chairman or a Vice-Chairman is to be absent during a meeting of the General Committee, he/she may designate a member of his/her delegation to sit and vote in the Committee.

In addition to exercising such duties as are specified elsewhere in these Rules, the General Committee shall assist the Chairman in the general business of the Summit and, subject to the decisions of the Summit, shall ensure the coordination of its work.

1. The Secretary-General of the Summit shall be appointed by the Director-General of FAO and shall act in that capacity in all meetings of the Summit and its subsidiary bodies. He/she may designate a member of the Secretariat to act in his/her place at these meetings.

2. The Director-General of FAO shall provide such Secretariat and other staff and facilities as may be required by the Summit and its subsidiary bodies.

In accordance with these Rules, the Secretariat of the Summit will:

1. interpret speeches made at meetings;
2. receive, translate and circulate the documents of the Summit;
3. publish and circulate the report of the Summit;
4. make and arrange for the keeping of sound recordings of meetings;
5. arrange for the custody of the documents of the Summit in the archives of FAO; and
6. generally perform all other work that the Summit may require.

The Director-General of FAO, or any member of the Secretariat designated for that purpose, may make oral as well as written statements concerning any question under consideration.

At the opening of the Summit, the Director-General of FAO or, in his absence, his representative, shall preside until the Summit has elected its Chairman.

1. A quorum of the Summit shall be constituted by the representatives of at least one-third of the States participating in the Summit. The presence of representatives of a majority of the States participating in the Summit shall be required for any decision to be taken.

2. For the purpose of determining a quorum, as specified in paragraph 1 above, the delegation of a Member Organization shall be counted to the extent that it is entitled to vote in the meeting in respect of which the quorum is sought.

The Director-General of FAO shall prepare and issue after the Summit a Report recording the attendance of participants, the form of the proceedings and office holders, and appending the text of the Declaration and Plan of Action.

1. No one may address the Summit without having previously obtained the permission of the Chairman. The Chairman shall give the floor to a speaker to make his/her statement in the order approved by the General Committee, or the Chairman acting in this matter on behalf of the General Committee, taking into account, in so far as may be possible, the wishes of the speaker concerned.

2. Statements shall be confined to the question before the Summit and the Chairman may call a speaker to order if his/her remarks are not relevant to the subject under discussion.

3. Statements shall be limited to seven minutes in the case of representatives of States and Member Organizations participating in the Summit and four minutes in the case of observers. When a representative or observer has spoken his/her allotted time, the Chairman shall call him/her to order without delay.

During the discussion of any matter, a representative may raise a point of order and the point of order shall be decided immediately by the Chairman. A representative may appeal against the ruling of the Chairman, in which event the appeal shall be put to the vote immediately and the Chairman's ruling shall stand unless overruled by a majority of the representatives present and voting. A representative rising to a point of order may not speak on the substance of the matter under discussion.

During the course of the proceedings, the Chairman may announce the list of speakers and, with the consent of the Summit, declare the list closed.

1. Notwithstanding Rule 19, the Chairman shall accord the right of reply to a representative of any State or Member Organization participating in the Summit who requests it. Any other representative may be granted by the Chairman the opportunity to make a reply.

2. Statements made under this Rule shall normally be made at the end of the last meeting of the day, or at the conclusion of the consideration of the relevant item if that is sooner.

3. A Representative of a State or Member Organization may make no more than two statements under this Rule at any given meeting on any item. The first shall be limited to five minutes and the second to three minutes; representatives shall in any event attempt to be as brief as possible.

A representative of any State or Member Organization participating in the Summit may at any time move the adjournment of the debate on an item under discussion. Permission to speak on the motion shall be accorded only to two representatives in favour of and two opposing the adjournment, after which the motion shall, subject to Rule 24, be immediately put to the vote.

A representative of any State or Member Organization participating in the Summit may at any time move the closure of the debate on an item under discussion, whether or not any other representative has signified his/her wish to speak. Permission to speak on the motion shall be accorded only to two representatives opposing the closure, after which the motion shall, subject to Rule 24, be immediately put to the vote.

Subject to Rule 33, a representative of any State or Member Organization participating in the Summit may at any time move the suspension or the adjournment of the meeting. No discussion on such motions shall be permitted, and they shall, subject to Rule 24, be immediately put to the vote.

The following motions shall have precedence in the following order over all the proposals or motions before the meeting, except a point of order:

1. to suspend the meeting;
2. to adjourn the meeting;
3. to adjourn the debate on the item under discussion;
4. to close the debate on the item under discussion.

Proposals and substantive amendments shall normally be submitted in writing to the Secretary-General of the Summit, who shall circulate copies to all delegations. Unless the Summit decides otherwise, substantive proposals shall be discussed or put to the vote no earlier than twenty-four hours after copies have been circulated in all languages of the Summit.

A proposal or a motion may be withdrawn by its sponsor at any time before voting on it has commenced, provided that it had not been amended. A proposal or a motion thus withdrawn may be reintroduced by any representative.

Subject to Rule 24, any motion calling for a decision on the competence of the Summit to adopt a proposal submitted to it, shall be put to the vote before a vote is taken on the proposal in question.

When a proposal has been adopted or rejected, it may not be reconsidered unless the Summit, by a two-thirds majority of the representatives present and voting, so decides. Permission to speak on a motion to reconsider shall be accorded only to two speakers opposing reconsideration, after which the motion shall be immediately put to the vote.

The Summit shall make its best endeavours to ensure that its work is accomplished by general agreement.

1. Each State participating in the Summit shall have one vote.

2. Except as otherwise provided in these Rules, a Member Organization participating in the Summit may exercise on matters within its competence in any meeting of the Summit in which it is entitled to participate, a number of votes equal to the number of its Member States entitled to vote in such meeting. Whenever a Member Organization exercises its right to vote, its Member States shall not exercise theirs, and conversely.

3. Except as provided in Rule 39, the Summit shall normally vote by show of hands, except that a representative of a State or a Member Organization participating in the Summit, may request a roll call, which shall then be taken in the English alphabetical order of the States and Member Organization participating in the Summit, beginning with the State whose name is drawn by lot by the Chairman. The representative of each State or Member Organization called shall reply "Yes", "No" or "Abstention". At the conclusion of any roll call, the name of any State or Member Organization whose representative failed to reply shall be called again.

1. Subject to Rule 29 and unless the Summit decides otherwise, decisions of the Summit on all matters of substance shall be taken by a two-thirds majority of the representatives present and voting.

2. Unless the Summit decides otherwise and except as otherwise provided in these Rules, decisions of the Summit on all matters of procedure shall be taken by a simple majority of the representatives present and voting.

3. If the question arises whether a matter is one of procedure or of substance, the Chairman shall rule on the question. An appeal against such a ruling shall be immediately put to the vote, and the Chairman's ruling shall stand unless overruled by a majority of the representatives present and voting.

For the purpose of these rules, the phrase "representatives present and voting" means representatives casting an affirmative or negative vote. Representatives who abstain from voting shall be regarded as not voting.

After the Chairman has announced the commencement of voting, no representative shall interrupt the voting except on a point of order in connection with the actual conduct of the voting.

The Chairman may permit representatives to explain their votes, either before or after the voting except when the vote is taken by secret ballot. He/she may limit the time to be allowed for such explanations. The representative of a State or Member Organization sponsoring a proposal or motion shall not speak in explanation of the vote thereon, except if it has been amended.

A representative may move that parts of a proposal be voted on separately. If a representative objects, the motion for division shall be voted upon. Permission to speak on the motion shall be accorded only to two representatives in favour of and to two opposing the division. If the motion is carried, those parts of the proposal that are subsequently approved shall be put to the vote as a whole. If all operative parts of the proposal have been rejected, the proposal shall be considered to have been rejected as a whole.

A proposal is considered an amendment to another proposal if it merely adds to, deletes from or revises part of that proposal. Unless specified otherwise, the word "proposal" in these rules shall be considered as including amendments.

When an amendment is moved to a proposal, the amendment shall be voted on first. When two or more amendments are moved to a proposal, the Summit shall vote first on the amendment furthest removed in substance from the original proposal and then on the amendment next furthest removed therefrom, and so on until all the amendments have been put to the vote. Where, however, the adoption of one amendment necessarily implies the rejection of another amendment, the latter shall not be put to the vote. If one or more amendments are adopted, the amended proposal shall then be voted upon.

1. If two or more proposals, other than amendments, relate to the same question, they shall, unless the Summit decides otherwise, be voted on in the order in which they were submitted. The Summit may, after each vote on a proposal, decide whether to vote on the next proposal.

2. Revised proposals shall be voted on in the order in which the original proposals were submitted unless the revision substantially departs from the original proposal. In that case, the original proposal shall be considered as withdrawn and the revised proposal shall be treated as a new proposal.

3. A motion requiring that no decision be taken on a proposal shall be put to the vote before a vote is taken on the proposal in question.

All elections shall be held by secret ballot, unless, in the absence of any objection, the Summit decides to proceed without taking a ballot when there is an agreed candidate or slate.

1. If, when only one elective place is to be filled, no candidate obtains in the first ballot the majority required, a second ballot shall be taken, confined to the two candidates having obtained the largest number of votes. If in the second ballot the votes are equally divided, the Chairman shall decide between the candidates by drawing lots.

2. In the case of a tie in the first ballot among the candidates obtaining the second largest number of votes, a special ballot shall be held among such candidates for the purpose of reducing the number of the candidates to two; similarly, in the case of a tie among three or more candidates obtaining the largest number of votes, a special ballot shall be held; if a tie again results in the special ballot, the Chairman shall eliminate one candidate by drawing lots and thereafter another ballot shall be held in accordance with paragraph 1.

1. When two or more elective places are to be filled at one time under the same conditions, those candidates in a number not exceeding the number of such places, obtaining in the first ballot the majority required and the largest number of votes, shall be elected.

2. If the number of candidates obtaining such majority is less than the number of places to be filled, additional ballots shall be held to fill the remaining places, provided that if only one place remains to be filled the procedures in Rule 40 shall be applied. The ballot shall be restricted to the unsuccessful candidates having obtained the largest number of votes in the previous ballot, but not exceeding twice the number of places remaining to be filled. However, in the case of a tie between a greater number of unsuccessful candidates, a special ballot shall be held for the purpose of reducing the number of candidates to the required number: if a tie again results among more than the required number of candidates, the Chairman shall reduce their number to that required by drawing lots.

3. If such a restricted ballot (not counting a special ballot held under the conditions specified in the last sentence of paragraph 2) is inconclusive, the Chairman shall decide among the candidates by drawing lots.

If a vote is equally divided on a matter other than an election, the proposal or motion shall be regarded as rejected.

The Summit may establish such working groups or other subsidiary bodies as it deems necessary for the performance of its functions.

The Rules contained in Chapters II (Rules 5-7), V (Rules 14-28) and VI (Rules 29-42) above shall be applicable, mutatis mutandis, to the proceedings of subsidiary bodies of the Summit.

Arabic, Chinese, English, French and Spanish shall be the languages of the Summit.

1. Speeches made in one language of the Summit shall be interpreted into the other languages of the Summit.

2. A representative may speak in a language other than a language of the Summit if he/she provides for interpretation into a language of the Summit.

Official documents of the Summit shall be made available in all of the languages of the Summit.

There shall be neither verbatim nor summary records of meetings. Sound recordings of meetings of the Summit shall be made and kept. Unless otherwise decided by the General Committee, no such recordings shall be made of meetings of the General Committee and other subsidiary bodies.

The plenary meetings of the Summit shall be held in public unless the Summit decides otherwise. Meetings of subsidiary bodies of the Summit shall be held in private.

Representatives designated by organizations that have received a standing invitation from the General Assembly of the United Nations to participate in the sessions and work of international conferences convened under its auspices shall have the right to participate as observers, without the right to vote, in the deliberations of the Summit.

Representatives designated by the United Nations, or its interested organs, the Specialized Agencies and the International Atomic Energy Agency, may participate, without the right to vote, in the deliberations of the Summit on questions within the scope of their activities.

Representatives of observers designated by other intergovernmental organizations invited to the Summit may participate, without the right to vote, in the deliberations of the Summit on questions within the scope of their activities.

1. Non-governmental organizations invited to the Summit may designate representatives to sit as observers at public meetings of the Summit on questions within the scope of their activities.

2. The Chairman shall invite such non-governmental organizations to form themselves into a limited number of constituencies. Upon the invitation of the Chairman, and subject to its approval, such constituencies may, through spokespersons, make oral statements on questions within the scope of their activities.

1. Written statements submitted by the designated representatives of States and Member Organizations participating in the Summit shall be made available by the Secretariat in the quantities and in the languages in which the statements are provided to the Secretariat.

2. Written statements submitted by the designated representatives of observers referred to in Rules 50 to 53 shall be made available by the Secretariat in the quantities and in the languages in which the statements are submitted to the Secretariat, provided that such statements are on subjects in which they have special competence and are related to the work of the Summit.

These Rules of Procedure may be amended by a decision of the Summit taken by a two-thirds majority of the representatives present and voting, after the General Committee has reported on the proposed amendment.

Any of these Rules may be suspended by the Summit provided that twenty-four hours' notice of the proposal for the suspension has been given, which notice may be waived if no member objects. Any such suspension shall be limited to a specific and stated purpose, and to a period required to achieve that purpose.

Any matters not dealt with in these Rules shall be dealt with in accordance with the General Rules of the Organization.