Statement to the Twenty-first
FAO Regional Conference for Europe
Tallinn, Estonia, 25-29 May 1998
Mr Chairman
Mr. Independent Chairman of the Council
Distinguished Ministers
Excellencies
Ladies and Gentlemen
Six months ago, the FAO Conference met
in Rome where it reviewed the state of food and
agriculture in the world and the past and future
activities of the Organization.
State of world food and
agriculture
Although according to the latest
estimates the overall world economy grew by a
satisfactory rate of approximately 4 percent in 1997, the
food and agricultural situation and prospects present
contrasting features. Agricultural production only
increased by an estimated 1.1 percent and cereal stocks
are still below the security threshold. Furthermore,
development aid has tended to fall since the late 1980s
not only in real terms but also in current prices,
hovering in recent years at a nominal US $ 60 billion.
This has affected the agriculture sector more than other
sectors as its share has fallen from about 30 per cent in
the mid-eighties to barely 12 percent in recent
years.
Prospects for 1998 are mixed. World
economic growth is forecast to slowdown significantly, to
about 3 percent, mainly reflecting the financial crisis
in Asia. There is still great uncertainty about the
resolution of the crisis and its worldwide implications,
including for food security. As regards prospects for
food, a small increase of about 0.7 percent in global
staple food production is expected in 1997/98. For the
group of low-income food-deficit countries, however,
staple food production is forecast to decline by about 2
percent. FAO's first forecast of 1998 cereal production
is 1 895 million tonnes, only slightly below last year's
record of 1908 million tons. Should this forecast
materialize, cereal supplies would meet expected
consumption requirements in 1998/99 but global reserves
would continue to remain below minimum safe
levels.
Principal achievements of the
Organization
Implementation of the Summit
Plan of Action
FAO's activities in the previous
biennium were marked by the World Food Summit held in
November 1996. Since then, several initiatives have been
undertaken to implement the resulting Plan of
Action:
- 150 national strategies for
agriculture and food security towards the year 2010
have been drafted with the governments of developing
Member Nations and others in transition;
- the Special Programme for Food
Security is now operational in 30 countries, including
2 in the European region, and under formulation in 40
others, including 4 in the region;
- the Emergency Prevention System
for Transboundary Animal and Plant Pests and Diseases
has registered a number of successes, in particular
against rinderpest and desert locust. In this context
and under the umbrella of the European Commission for
the Control of Foot and Mouth Disease efforts have
been pursued to prevent or mitigate outbursts of the
disease in the region and ensured emergency
preparedness and contingency planning; and
- the Food Insecurity and
Vulnerability Information Mapping System has been
fully established.
During the last biennium, the
Organization continued to help implement the Marrakech
agreements by organizing regional workshops and executing
national projects. The Organization will also step up its
action to assist in the preparation of future trade
negotiations, working closely with the WTO, the World
Bank and UNCTAD.
In accordance with the directives
adopted by the Summit, FAO has also encouraged the
launching of "Food for All" campaigns to mobilize civil
society. A number of countries have already initiated a
process of national consultation to this effect. The
"TeleFood 1997" operation that was broadcast by some one
hundred television channels in over 60 countries gave 500
million viewers an added insight into the problems of
hunger and malnutrition and laid the foundations of a
system for the raising of funds which - already this year
- will finance small projects of direct assistance to
rural communities in developing countries, helping them
boost agricultural production. As endorsed by the last
Conference of FAO, TeleFood is to be an annual event to
be held within the celebration of World Food Day. The
next edition will be held from 16 to 18 October 1998 and
will be larger in scale than last year.
Actions for the advancement of women
are given priority status in FAO's programmes and
projects. In particular, the Special Programme for Food
Security should improve the access of rural women to
technologies, inputs and credit, which is why special
emphasis has been placed on poultry raising and market
gardening. To underline the importance of women in the
food production chain, the theme chosen for the 1998
World Food Day is "Women Feed the World".
Finally, interagency co-operation for
implementing the Summit Plan of Action has been put in
place with the establishment of a Network on Rural
Development and Food Security led by FAO and IFAD. The
mechanism for monitoring the Summit Plan of Action has
also been set up and the Committee on World Food Security
will evaluate progress next week, as you will yourselves
for the region.
Other
achievements
Among the other FAO initiatives with
world-wide impact undertaken during the 1996/97 biennium,
I should like to mention:
- with regard to the sustainable use
of natural resources, the adoption of the World Plan
of Action of the International Technical Conference on
Plant Genetic Resources, the revision of the
International Plant Protection Convention, and the
recent successful completion, in cooperation with the
United Nations Environment Programme, of the
negotiation for a legally binding convention on
international trade in hazardous chemicals and
pesticides;
- as regards forests, programmes
focusing on the contribution of forestry to food
security, on effective and responsible forest
management and on maintaining a balance among the
economic, ecological and social benefits of forests;
assistance in formulating national forestry
programmes; support to the United Nations
Intergovernmental Panel on Forests and to the Eleventh
World Forestry Congress hosted by Turkey;
- regarding fisheries and
aquaculture, the reinforcement of the regional bodies
and the staging of 21 technical consultations on the
management of marine fishery resources of different
regions, within the framework of the Kyoto Plan of
Action on the Sustainable Contribution of Fisheries to
Food Security and the Code of Conduct for Responsible
Fisheries.
Processing, analysis and
dissemination of information
The Organization has, of course,
continued to pursue its function of collecting,
processing, analysing and disseminating information, for
example by publishing the annual report of the State of
Food and Agriculture which now includes a section on
developments in food security as a follow-up to the
Summit. This document is complemented by The State of
World Fisheries and Aquaculture and State of the World's
Forests. The Sixth World Food Survey was published in
1996. As for the long-term world outlook for agriculture
and food security, a study will be carried out on the
likely scenario until 2015, with a more general
evaluation taking us to 2030.
With respect to the dissemination of
information, the introduction of new technologies has
rationalized and modernized systems, while reducing
costs. The World Agricultural Information Centre
(WAICENT) as you have been able to witness from the
demonstration of two days ago now offers ready access to
essential information for food security and sustainable
rural development: FAOSTAT for statistical data, FAOINFO
for textual information and FAOSIS for specialized
information systems, in particular on animal genetic
resources, pesticides and the Global Information and
Early Warning System.
Partnerships
The Organization has also strengthened
coordination and co-operation with its partners to ensure
that all its programmes can be implemented against a
backdrop of budgetary constraint: with the World Bank and
the regional banks through new agreements, mainly for the
implementation of the Special Programme for Food
Security; with the food and agriculture institutions
based in Rome, IFAD and WFP; with the Consultative Group
on International Agricultural Research, its Technical
Advisory Committee and its institutes; with the other UN
agencies under the Administrative Committee on
Co-ordination; with the Commission of the European Union
and with the private sector and the community of
non-governmental organizations.
Similarly, co-operation has been
stepped up with many Member Nations. Over the past three
years, some 1300 experts have been implementing FAO
programmes under agreements for co-operation between
developing countries and countries in transition and
co-operation with academic and research institutions, and
by hiring retired experts. In support of the Special
Programme for Food Security, a number of South-South
co-operation agreements have enabled more advanced
developing countries, with FAO assistance, to provide a
critical mass of field technicians in the rural
communities of other developing countries. So far three
countries are already providing such assistance and
negotiations are ongoing with 18 others. Developed
countries are also encouraged to support the South-South
cooperation by complementing the contributions made by
the participating developing countries, whether they are
donors or beneficiaries. Finally, with a view to building
national capacities, FAO is looking into training
opportunities offered by Member Nations in the areas of
its mandate for students and trainees from developing
countries and will itself employ young professionals,
within the limit of available resources, so that they can
add practical experience to their academic
training.
Investment
One of FAO's ongoing concerns is to
promote investment in agriculture. During the last two
years, 13 projects prepared with the assistance of the
Investment Centre in the region were approved for
financing for a total value of US$ 411 million, including
US$ 278 million in external loans.
FAO's Technical Co-operation Programme
continues to act as a strong catalyst on account of its
defining characteristics of rapid approval, limited
project duration, low costs and practical orientation. A
total of 49 new projects were implemented in the Central
and Eastern European countries of the region in
1996-97.
Restructuring and
decentralization
The restructuring of FAO has proceeded
under conditions of severe budgetary limitations, with a
focus on identifying savings and improving efficiency
through decentralization. The number of posts fell from
4185 in January 1994 to 3599 in January 1998. Growing
attention is now being given to training staff and
raising the contingent of women professionals while
continuing to ensure equitable representation of Member
Nations: the number of countries not represented among
the staff dropped from 54 in January 1994 to 29 in April
1998, taking into account ongoing recruitment. The
decentralization process is completed: all the new
liaison and sub-regional offices are open and the
Regional Offices have been substantially strengthened;
Member Nation coverage by the network of FAO
representatives has been extended through multiple
accreditation and the use of National Programme Officers
and National Correspondents. At present, 39 percent of
the staff are assigned to decentralized
offices
Programme of Work and Budget
1998/99
I should like to conclude this
overview of the highlights of the last two years by
recalling that the Conference approved a Programme of
Work and Budget for 1998/99 with zero nominal growth
which, in real terms, amounts to a reduction of 3.7
percent. Despite this, however, the Organization has a
unanimously endorsed programme which, in contrast to the
two previous biennia, will not need adjustment. I think I
can safely say that the Organization has successfully
completed its period of reform and that it can now look
to the future with confidence and buckle down to its
appointed mission of helping to achieve sustainable food
security for all.
General Situation in the
European region
Mr. Chairman,
Allow me now to briefly review the
situation of food and agriculture in the European region
and the main subjects that the conference is
addressing.
Food Situation in
Europe
During the last two years, overall
gross agricultural production in the region has given
signs of steady recovery from the low levels of
1994/1995, mainly due to crop production, in particular
cereals, while livestock production has not yet shown the
expected reversal of declining trend. It is also worth
noting that the progress made in crop production was
mainly based on productivity gains in the majority of the
main producing countries. Another positive aspect is the
moderate but continued agricultural recovery in the
Central and Eastern European sub-region.
The year 1997 has been marked by
momentous developments for European agricultural
policies. The inauguration on 1 January 1997 of the
Baltic Free Trade Agreement in agricultural products and
the conclusion of bilateral Free Trade Agreements between
Estonia, on the one hand, and Hungary and Poland, on the
other, have been of major significance for the Baltic
region. The presentation by the European Union of "Agenda
2000" has opened the debate on the future of agriculture
in Europe and may have wide ranging influence on forming
future agricultural policies of the European Union
countries. Similarly, the start of accession negotiations
to the European Union by six countries is already having
its impact on policy developments in the candidate
countries.
Member Nations of the Central and
Eastern European Sub-region pursue their transition
policies in the agricultural sector, including
privatization and restructuring, and although they find
themselves at different stages of the reform process
there has been general progress in this field. FAO is
privileged to have been associated in the member
governments' efforts for designing specific development
policies for agricultural and food and for creating the
corresponding institutional background in several
countries in transition.
Food Quality and
Safety
One of the important subjects which
have been examined during this session by your senior
officials is how to ensure the quality and safety of food
that is put on the market with a view to protecting the
health of consumers. Although the Marrakech Agreement
provides a frame for a better quality of traded food
products, different country groups have different
standards based on their geographic location, their level
of development and their participation in international
trade. As European integration is being extended to new
members, the need is stronger than ever in the region for
the harmonization of food quality and safety
standards.
The Agreement on the Application of
Sanitary and Phytosanitary measures, better known under
the short name of SPS Agreement, and the Agreement on
Technical Barriers to Trade, the TBT Agreement in brief,
are important instruments in achieving this harmonization
and promoting agricultural commodity trade. The Codex
Alimentarius Commission - now strong of 162 member
countries, of which 38 members from the European region -
and its subsidiary bodies have for a large number of
years worked to pave the way. For this reason the Codex
guidelines and recommendations have under the SPS
Agreement formally become the reference for the
evaluation of national sanitary measures. The work
carried out by the Codex Alimentarius is a conspicuous
example of collective consensus building on a vital issue
of common concern. FAO, which jointly with WHO, provides
the Secretariat of the Commission and lends its technical
expertise for the formulation of its recommendations, is
proud of this recognition of the work undertaken by the
two organizations in this area and for the contribution
the Codex makes in improving the safety and quality of
food and in promoting international trade. At the same
time FAO is aware, as you are aware, that a lot still
needs to be done to come up with harmonized, universally
accepted sanitary and phytosanitary standards based on
solid scientific evidence. Therefore FAO, besides the
support it provides to the Codex Alimentarius Commission,
also assists, within available resources, individual
Member Nations, in their efforts in revising food
legislation, in elaborating methodologies for risk
analyses and in strengthening their administrative and
technical capacities.
Harmonization of Soil
Data
It has become commonplace to speak of
the Earth as a global village, of global markets, of the
increasing interdependence of decision making. As there
is no doubt that we are increasingly heading to
globalization on various aspects of our everyday life,
planning for the future needs also to be seen in a
broader context. In this context, your senior
representatives have also deliberated on ways and means
of harmonizing methodologies to obtain homogeneous
information on soil characteristics, land valuation, soil
degradation and thus facilitating land use planning. It
is not, I think, necessary to underline the numerous
advantages the existence of homogeneous information on
soils would bring about in terms of planning, crop
modelling and forecasting, in the transfer of research
results and in policy decision making. Although the
difficulties resulting from the long tradition of
national and sub-regional methodologies are well
understood, there is no doubt that the advantages by far
outweigh the cost of adapting to the global harmonized
system.
Mr. Chairman,
The subjects on the agenda of this
conference, even if they deal with topics as different as
food quality and soil data have a common denominator, the
key word of which is harmonization. And these, obviously
are not the only topics on which concerted international
efforts need to be made. Interdependence is increasingly
a fact of life, not only within a region but globally. It
is encouraging to see that European integration
progressively embraces an increasing number of countries
in the region. Even if prudence advises a cautious
step-by-step process, it is to be hoped that eventually
it will become a union of all European nations that wish
to become members.
But the role of Europe, whose
civilization and progress for thousands of years has been
based on a dynamic agricultural sector which continues
today to be a motor of prosperity, while being a key
element in preserving the environment and improving the
quality of life, is not confined to the Continent. The
contribution Europe is making to the global food security
is of utmost importance and deserves a special mention.
Through food assistance to face natural calamities or to
relieve man made suffering, through transfer of
agricultural technology, be it in the field of
production, post harvest losses or food processing - and
to which FAO modestly contributes through inter-regional
programmes such as the European System of Cooperative
Research Networks in Agriculture (ESCORENA) - as well as
through programmes of assistance to developing countries
implemented bilaterally or in partnerships with FAO,
Europe is an essential factor of world stability and
progress.
Mr. Chairman,
The challenge of ensuring sustainable
food security for all still lies ahead of us as recalled
by the World Food Summit. The high number of
under-nourished people, particularly in low-income
food-deficit countries witnesses of the need for our
efforts to continue unrelenting. FAO together with all
its partners is giving the highest priority in helping
these countries overcome this fundamental
challenge.
I frankly believe that it is possible
to overcome this challenge and that it is in the interest
of all countries to do so. I think that this is well
understood by European nations. I wish and hope that we
continue in this direction and we intensify our efforts
until we achieve the objectives we have set ourselves by
subscribing to the commitments of the World Food Summit.
I wish you continued success in your
deliberations.
Thank you.
