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II. Procedure of the session and review of the State of Food and Agriculture

A. Election of the chairman and vice-chairmen
B. Appointment of the general committee and the credentials committee
C. Adoption of the agenda
D. Arrangements for the session and allocation of agenda items
E. Admission of observers
F. Review of the State of Food and Agriculture

A. Election of the chairman and vice-chairmen

14. The Council nominated and the Conference elected Lyle Vanclief (Canada) as Chairman of the Twenty-ninth Session of the Conference.

15. The Conference approved the appointment of the three Vice-Chairmen of the Conference recommended by the Nominations Committee, as follows:

Liu Jiang (China)
Paul Bandoma (Congo, Democratic Republic of)
Beglar Tavartkiladze (Georgia)

B. Appointment of the general committee and the credentials committee

16. The Nominations Committee recommended and the Conference approved the following appointments:

C. Adoption of the agenda

17. The Conference adopted its Agenda as amended by the General Committee, and as given in Appendix A to this report.

D. Arrangements for the session and allocation of agenda items

Establishment of commissions and appointment of their chairmen, vice-chairmen, rapporteur and drafting committees
Resolutions committee of the conference
Right of reply
Verbatim records
Verification of credentials
Voting rights

18. The Conference adopted the arrangements and timetable proposed by the Hundred and Twelfth Session of the Council, as amended by the General Committee.

Establishment of commissions and appointment of their chairmen, vice-chairmen, rapporteur and drafting committees

19. The Conference concurred with the Council's recommendations to establish three Commissions to consider and report upon Parts I, II and III of the Agenda.

20. In accordance with Rule VII-1 and Rule XXIV-5 (b) of the General Rules of the Organization (GRO), the Hundred and Thirteenth Session of the Council had nominated the following Chairmen of the Commissions which the Conference approved:

21. Neil Fraser (New Zealand) was elected as Chairperson of the Drafting Committee for Commission I with the following membership: Barbados, Congo (Democratic Republic of), China, Indonesia, Iran (Islamic Republic of), Japan, Libya, Netherlands, New Zealand, South Africa, United States of America and Venezuela.

22. Roberto Villambrosa (Argentina) was elected as Chairman of the Drafting Committee for Commission II with the following membership: Argentina, Australia, Canada, China, Egypt, Japan, Kenya, Lebanon, Madagascar, Netherlands, Panama, Sweden and Switzerland.

23. E.J.N. Brouwers (Netherlands) was elected as Rapporteur of Commission III.

24. The Conference appointed the foregoing officers and, taking into consideration the proposals of the General Committee, in accordance with Rule XIII-2 GRO, also appointed the following Vice-Chairmen:

Resolutions committee of the conference

25. The Conference endorsed the recommendation of the Hundred and Thirteenth Session of the Council to establish a Resolutions Committee of seven members, one from each region, and appointed the following:

26. The Conference agreed to the recommendation of the General Committee that the Resolutions Committee be chaired by the Representative of the Latin America and the Caribbean Region, Oscar Cabello Sarubbi (Paraguay).

27. The Conference approved the functions of the Resolutions Committee and the criteria for the formulation of resolutions, as given in Appendix C of document C 97/12.

Right of reply

28. The Conference confirmed the decision taken at its 15 previous sessions to the effect that, when a Member wished to reply to criticisms of its government's policy, it should preferably do so on the afternoon of the day on which such criticism had been voiced after all those wishing to participate in the discussion had had an opportunity to speak.

Verbatim records

29. As provided for in Rule XVIII-1 GRO, Verbatim Records were kept of all Conference Plenary and Commission meetings. The Conference endorsed the recommendation of the General Committee that statements could be inserted in the verbatim records when time did not permit them to be delivered, taking into consideration, however, the conditions laid down by the General Committee.

Verification of credentials

30. The credentials of delegations of 152 Members were found valid. Nineteen Members did not submit any credentials. Four Members had announced that they would not attend the Session. The Conference noted that the Afghanistan delegation was seated provisionally in accord with Rule III-5 (GRO). In taking note of the Third Report of the Credentials Committee, the Conference noted that the opinion expressed in paragraph 3 was not in accord with the Basic Texts of the Organization, and concluded that in the future, delegations should submit their credentials in their proper legal form at least 15 days before the opening of the Conference in accordance with Rule III-2 (GRO) and, at the latest, at the beginning of the Conference session.

31. The credentials of the representatives of the United Nations, its Specialized Agencies and related organizations were duly deposited as prescribed under Rule III-2 of the General Rules of the Organization.

Voting rights

32. The Conference noted that, in accordance with Article III-4 of the Constitution, at the beginning of the session 31 Member Nations had no right to vote in the Conference, since the amount of their arrears of contributions to the Organization exceeded the amount of the contribution due from them for the two preceding years. Nevertheless the Conference decided that all Member Nations in attendance be authorized to vote on Friday 14 November 1997 on Item 28 of the Agenda (Applications for Membership in the Organization).

33. Subsequently, four of these Member Nations (Bolivia, Guinea, Sudan and Seychelles) made payments sufficient to regain their voting rights.

34. The Conference also agreed that voting rights should be restored to 12 Member Nations (Armenia, Burundi, Chad, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Ecuador, Equatorial Guinea, Iraq, Liberia, Lithuania, Nicaragua, Niger, The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia).

35. The following fifteen Member Nations (Antigua and Barbuda, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Central African Republic, Comoros, Cook Islands, Djibouti, Dominican Republic, Kyrgyz Republic, Latvia, Sao Tome and Principe, Sierra Leone, Solomon Islands, Somalia, Togo, Yugoslavia) had no right to vote in the Conference because of arrears in contributions.

E. Admission of observers

Applicant for membership
Admission of observers from non-member nations
Liberation movements
Intergovernmental and international NGOs

Applicant for membership

36. The Director-General had provisionally invited the applicant for membership to be represented by observers until a decision has been taken on its application. The Conference approved the Director-General's invitation in respect of Kazakhstan.

Admission of observers from non-member nations

37. The Conference confirmed the invitations issued by the Director-General to the Governments of Belarus, Brunei Darussalam, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Monaco, Niue Islands, Palau, Russian Federation, San Marino, Tuvalu, Ukraine and Uzbekistan to attend the Session in an observer capacity.

Liberation movements

38. The Conference confirmed the invitation issued by the Director-General, at the suggestion of the Hundred and Twelfth Session of the Council, to the Palestine Liberation Organization.

Intergovernmental and international NGOs

39. The Conference reviewed the list of intergovernmental and international non-governmental organizations to which the Director-General had extended a provisional invitation to the Session, and confirmed the said provisional invitations.

F. Review of the State of Food and Agriculture

40. The general discussion was opened by the Director-General. The text of his statement is given in Appendix D. One hundred and twenty-seven Heads of Delegation, including sixty-six Ministers took the floor to report on the food and agricultural situations in their respective countries and to comment on the overall economic and agricultural situation and on policies and issues affecting the agricultural and rural sectors. Six observers also spoke.

41. Delegates underlined the significance of the Twenty-ninth Session of the Conference that followed the historical success of the World Food Summit (WFS), and the importance of taking determined and urgent steps for moving towards the reduction of the number of undernourished to half their present level before 2015, as committed to by 186 delegations at the WFS.

42. Many delegates reported on policies followed by their Governments to promote sustainable agricultural and rural development and achieve lasting food security, in line with WFS commitments.

43. Delegates expressed appreciation for the information contained in the report on the State of Food and Agriculture. They recognized with satisfaction the positive results in world crop and livestock production achieved in 1996. They also noted the expected slowdown in agricultural production growth in 1997, and deplored the persistence of food shortage situations in 29 countries.

44. Many delegations underlined the importance of achieving technological progress under environmentally-sustainable conditions, and the need for a widespread sharing of productivity increases to improve the well-being of rural populations.

45. Several delegations stressed the need to recognize the particular constraints on Small Island Developing States (SIDS), and FAO was invited to organize an international conference on agriculture in SIDS as part of the Summit follow-up.

46. The importance of the process of reform of the international trade framework was recognized and FAO was urged to intensify its assistance to developing countries in adjusting to the new trading environment, complying with commitments under the Marrakesh Agreement and preparing for future trade negotiations.

47. Delegates welcomed the accession of the Republic of Kazakhstan as a new Member Nation of FAO.

48. The Conference adopted the following Resolution:

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