233. The Council noted the action taken by the Fourteenth Session of the Conference and the decision of the Forty-Ninth Session of the Council to defer to its present session the review of the achievements of the existing FAO Statutory Bodies and their proposed activities in 1969 2.
234. The Council noted that the basic information for this review was contained in the Directory of Statutory Bodies as of 1 April 1968 which now incorporated a review of the achievements from 1964 to 1967 and proposed activities of each body listed. The Directory also indicated the relation of each body to the Programme of Work and Budget for 1968 and 1969 and its pattern of sessions. It had been rearranged in three sections as requested:
FAO governing bodies;
bodies set up under Articles XIV and VI of the Constitution grouped by units in the same order as in the Programme of Work and Budget;
other bodies.
235. The Council noted that the Directory would permit each year, in future, a permanent review and evaluation of the FAO statutory bodies.
236. The Council further noted the Director-General's decision not to take any action with regard to the bodies mentioned in paragraph 12 of document CL 51/31 and to the bodies not formally established mentioned in paragraph 15 of the same document. In this connexion it concurred in the proposal to continue convening ad hoc conferences and consultations in accordance with the schedule approved by the Fourteenth Session of the Conference. The Council confirmed the formal abolition of the Working Parties on Eucalyptus and on Cork-Oak of the Joint Sub-Commission on Mediterranean Forestry Problems.
237. The Council concurred with the recommendation of the Programme Committee that the Director-General ensure a strict application of the criteria for the establishment of any new permanent body as defined by the Fourteenth Session of the Conference 2. It stressed that these criteria should apply not only to any proposals for the establishment of new bodies but also in considering the continuation of existing ones with the view to achieving a gradual but substantial reduction in the number of such bodies and in the overall number of FAO meetings. The Council was of the opinion that a number of these meetings could in effect be substituted by increased consultations by correspondence. The Council accordingly requested the Programme Committee to further study the matter and to report to the next session of the Council.
238. The Eighth FAO Regional Conference for the Near East (Khartoum, 24 January – 2 February 1967) expressed its concern over the multiplicity of regional bodies, especially those dealing with the Desert Locust Control. The FAO Desert Locust Control Committee, at its Eleventh Session (Rome, 25–28 September 1967), examined the question and expressed the view that the FAO Technical Advisory Committee on Desert Locust Control should be dissolved and that the terms of reference of the FAO Desert Locust Control Committee should be appropriately amended.
1 See document CL 51/31 and para. 191 above.
2 See para. 616 of the Report of the Fourteenth Session of the Conference.
3 See para. 304 – 308 below.
239. The functions of the FAO Technical Advisory Committee on Desert Locust Control are, inter alia, to provide the Director-General with technical and scientific advice on the desert locust situation and on the measures required to keep it under control, and to serve as an expert advisory body to FAO in relation to the implementation of the UNDP/SF Assisted Desert Locust Project. This project originally covered the period 9 April 1960 – 30 June 1966, but has been extended to 30 June 1970.
240. The main function of the FAO Desert Locust Control Committee is to keep the desert locust situation under review, to coordinate the desert locust control campaigns, to promote the coordination of national and international policies towards preventive measures of desert locust control and to give general policy guidance to the Director-General in connexion with the UNDP/SF Assisted Desert Locust Project and the programmes financed under Desert Locust Trust Fund No. 161.
241. In the light of the views expressed at the Eleventh Session of the FAO Desert Locust Control Committee and of the Organization's policy to avoid proliferation of FAO bodies and duplication of functions, the Director-General considered that it would be desirable to abolish the FAO Technical Advisory Committee on Desert Locust Control and to transfer some of its essential functions to the FAO Desert Locust Control Committee.
242. The Council, having considered the Director-General's proposal, agreed to this proposal and accordingly adopted the following resolution:
Resolution 3/51
AMENDMENT TO THE TERMS OF REFERENCE OF THE FAO DESERT LOCUST CONTROL COMMITTEE AND ABOLITION OF THE FAO TECHNICAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON DESERT LOCUST CONTROL
THE COUNCIL
Considering that the Eighth Regional Conference for the Near East (Khartoum, 24 January – 2 February 1967) expressed its concern over the multiplicity of regional bodies especially those dealing with locusts and requested that a comprehensive study be made of the Near East statutory and other similar bodies;
Considering further that the FAO Conference, at its Thirteenth Session (Rome, 20 November – 9 December 1965) requested the Director-General to avoid proliferation of committees, working parties and panels of experts and to avoid duplication of functions with existing bodies;
Noting that the Eleventh Session of the FAO Desert Locust Control Committee recommended the abolition of the FAO Technical Advisory Committee on Desert Locust Control and the broadening of its own terms of reference so as to include responsibilities for advising the Director-General on technical matters concerning the desert locust and on the measures required to keep it under control
Further noting that the Eleventh Session of the FAO Desert Locust Control Committee recommended that at future sessions of the Committee FAO when inviting representation to sessions should request the present Member Governments of the FAO Technical Advisory Committee to send technical advisers for that particular session two or three days before the main session in order to study, inter alia, inter-regional organization and coordination of operations and research;
Taking into account the fact that the UNDP/SF Desert Locust Projet has been extended until 30 June 1970 with the approval of the UNDP, in connexion with which the FAO Desert Locust Control Committee under the new arrangements will replace the FAO Technical Advisory Committee on Desert Locust Control as the expert advisory body to FAO for the implementation of the project;
Decides to abolish the FAO Technical Advisory Committee on Desert Locust Control and to amend the terms of reference of the FAO Desert Locust Control Committee to read as follows:
keeping the desert locust situation under review;
coordinating the desert locust control campaign in the Arabian Peninsula and the other affected areas;
promoting the overall coordination of the work of various national and regional anti-locust organizations and commissions;
promoting the coordination of national and international policies toward preventive measures of desert locust control and research;
providing the Director-General with technical and scientific advice on the desert locust situation and on the measures required to keep it under control. For this purpose, whenever there are scientific and technical matters to be discussed at the future sessions of the FAO Desert Locust Control Committee, they should be preceded by meetings of a small number of locust experts to study and report to the Committee on all relevant technical and scientific matters designed to improve and retionalize control of the desert locust;
giving general policy guidance and providing technical advice to the Director-General on, and review of, the programme of work financed under the UNDP (SF) Assisted Desert Locust Project and under the International Desert Locust Trust Fund No. 161, and reviewing the annual budget and financial reports relating to the work performed under the above-mentioned project and Trust Fund.
243. The Council noted the Director-General's report on his consultations with the World Health Organization (WHO) regarding the establishment of a joint commission 1. As WHO had expressed its inability to agree to draft statutes for such a joint commission until certain constitutional issues could be clarified within WHO, the Council decided to defer further discussion of this matter until its Fifty-Second Session.
244. The Council had before it a draft Agreement establishing formal relations between FAO and the Organization of African Unity (OAU) which had been submitted to it by the Director-General for approval in accordance with Rule XXIV-4(c) of the General Rules of the Organization.
1 CL 51/33, and pages 7 and 8 of CL 51/PV-22.
2 CL 51/5, CL 51/5 Corr. 1, CL 51/7 and CL 51/43.
245. The Council recalled that it had been informed, at its Forty-Seventh Session (October 1966), that the secretariats of FAO and OAU were negotiating a draft Agreement for submission to their respective governing bodies. These negotiations had subsequently led to the drawing up of a text which, with the exception of Article VI, was acceptable to both secretariats and had been submitted by the Director-General to the Eigh teenth Session of the Committee on Constitutional and Legal Matters (CCLM) (September 1967), the Thirteenth Session of the Programme Committee (September 1967) and the Eighteenth Session of the Finance Committee (October 1967).
246. The Council noted that these Committees had endorsed the Director-General's reservations regarding the text of Article VI, relating to “Assistance in technical, research and in other relevant fields.” proposed by OAU, since it was the long-standing policy of the Organizations in the United Nations family that technical assistance should be given only at the request of governments and not at the request of intergovernmental organizations. After consultations with appropriate United Nations Agencies, the Director-General had then proposed a new text reading as follows:
“Assistance in Technical, Research and in other relevant fields
Joint requests for aid from two or more Member States to either Organization may, if the governments concerned so request, be the subject of consultations between the two Organizations.”
247. The Council was further informed that the Administrative Secretary-General of OAU had signified his agreement to the above text, “Provided it is understood that if such proposed consultations [i.e. consultations referred to in the above text] lead into negotiations over ways and means of executing the project concerned, FAO would be in a position to carry on appropriately to the execution of the project concerned.” In reply, the Director-General had indicated that it was his understanding that the text proposed for Article VI would not impose any limitation on FAO and OAU negotiating arrangements to ensure the implementation and execution of projects. The Council noted that the draft Agreement including Article VI as quoted in paragraph 246 above and the understanding referred to in this paragraph was approved by the Council of Ministers of OAU in February 1968.
248. The version of Article VI quoted in paragraph 246 above had since been submitted by the Director-General to the Nineteenth Session of the CCLM (April 1968), to the Fourteenth Session of the Programme Committee (April-May 1968) and to the Nineteenth Session of the Finance Committee (May 1968).
249. The Council, having taken into consideration the views of the CCLM, as expanded by the Programme and Finance Committees, found the draft Agreement as a whole to be acceptable, with the proviso that it should be clearly understood that Article VI would be interpreted to mean that, if consultations lead to negotiations concerning ways and means of executing a given project, FAO would only agree to execute a project if appropriate arrangements had been made to ensure that the responsibilities and commitments of the governments and of all other third parties involved had been satisfactorily provided for.
250. The Council decided that in order that the proviso referred to above should have binding force upon the parties, it should also be accepted by OAU. However, as the Council did not wish to delay the entry into force of this Agreement which was in the interests of all Member Nations in Africa, it adopted the resolution set out below requesting the Director-General, at the same time, to seek concurrence to its interpretation of Article VI by the competent authorities of OAU.
Resolution 4/51
AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION OF THE UNITED NATIONS AND THE ORGANIZATION OF AFRICAN UNITY
THE COUNCIL
Considering the desirability of strengthening cooperation between the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the Organization of African Unity (OAU);
Having examined the draft Agreement negotiated between the Director-General of FAO and the Administrative Secretary-General of OAU;
Approves the terms of the Agreement between FAO and OAU as set out in Appendix H to the present Report;
Authorizes the Director-General to sign the above-mentioned Agreement, it being understood that the Agreement will come into force upon signature by representatives of the two Organizations but subject, as far as FAO is concerned, to subsequent confirmation by the Conference in accordance with Rule XXIV-4(c) of the General Rules of the Organization.
251. The Council considered the question of FAO language policy and practice on the basis of the reports of the Fourteenth Session of the Programme Committee (CL 51/5, paragraphs 120 and 121) and of the Ninth Near East Regional Conference (CL 51/44).
252. The Programme Committee had concluded that, for historical reasons, the distinction between “official language” and “working language” no longer provided a practical criterion. Actual application of Rule XXXVIII of the General Rules of the Organization was now as follows:
| Documents | Interpretation | ||
| (i) | Conference | E F S | Ar. E F Ger. S |
| (ii) | Council and standing committees | E F S | E F S |
| (iii) | Study Groups of the Committee on Commodity Problems | E F S | E F S |
| (iv) | Regional conferences and meetings - Regional Conference for Europe - Other regional meetings in Europe - Africa; Asia and Far East - Near East - Regional Conference for Latin America - Other regional meetings in Latin America | E Fa E F E F E F E Sc E S | E F Ger. Sb E F S E F Ar. E F E F S E S |
| (v) | Scientific conferences and consultations | original language with abstracts in E F S | E F S |
| (vi) | Other conferences, commissions, committees and working parties of worldwide interest | E F S | E F S |
| (vii) | Publications | E F S | |
a The agenda and final report are issued in Spanish also.
b In 1968, German interpretation will also be provided at the European Commission on Agriculture, as it meets in conjunction with the Regional Conference for Europe.
c The agenda and final report are issued in French also.
253. The Near East Regional Conference had expressed its support for the Director-General's intention to include in his 1970–71 budgetary proposals provision for Arabic interpretation services at all FAO sessions in the Near East Region and at the Sixteenth Session of the FAO Conference, and, in addition, for the translation and reproduction of a limited number of documents and publications. The Regional Conference had reserved its agreement as to the amount of material to be so translated, which was a matter for consideration by the FAO Conference at its Fifteenth Session in the light of the recommendations of the Regional Conferences and of the action of the FAO Conference at its Fourteenth Session. As recommended by the Regional Conference, the Director-General would consult governments as to the selection of material to be translated. He had expressed the hope that governments of the Near East Region would continue to write to FAO in English or in French, so as to reduce delays. The Regional Conference had also recommended that the Arabic version of the Basic Texts prepared by the League of Arab States should be submitted to the appropriate bodies of the Organization for official adoption and, lastly, had reiterated the hope that FAO would gradually grant Arabic the same status as that given to the other three working languages.
254. The Council expressed appreciation to the League of Arab States for its contribution of $35 000 toward the cost of interpretation at the Fifteenth Session of the FAO Conference.
255. In the discussion, the following proposals were put forward:
that the Arabic version of the Basic Texts should be submitted to the appropriate bodies of the Organization for official adoption;
that interpretation from and into Portuguese should be provided at Latin American Regional Conferences;
that the Programme and Finance Committees should also study the possibility of translating certain important documents into German.
256. The Council decided to refer the above requests, together with the Director-General's budgetary proposals, to the Programme Committee and to the Finance Committee, for review in the light of applicable criteria. These Committees should consider the effect of these requests and proposals on the overall level of the Organization's budget and on the use of its resources for substantive work and for supporting services
257. The Council recalled that at its Forty-Eighth Session (June 1967) it had recommended to the Conference an amendment to the General Rules of the Organization which would permit non-member nations that were members of the United Nations to attend consultations on individual commodities convened by the Committee on Commodity Problems.
258. The Conference, when approving such action at its Fourteenth Session (November 1967), had also recommended that “the general question of membership of non-member nations that are members of the United Nations in FAO's subsidiary bodies should be reexamined by the Council and those of its committees to which the Council may decide to refer the matter.” 1
259. The Council at its Fiftieth Session (November 1967) had requested the Programme Committee to study the matter and to report to it at its Fifty-First Session. The Programme Committee (Fifteenth Session, September 1968), duly studied the matter and in particular took into account its historical and legal background, and affirmed in its report that “considering FAO's policy with respect to the membership of non-member nations in FAO subsidiary bodies as established over the preceding 20 or more years in relation to its effect on the development of FAO's programme of work and the achievement of FAO's objectives, concluded that there should be no change in the present position.” 2
260. The Council endorsed the Programme Committee's recommendation quoted in the preceding paragraph.
261. The Council took note of the report, and additional verbal presentation, listing those international non-governmental organizations without status that had been and were to be invited to specific FAO meetings. 4
262. The Council took note of the information contained in document CL 51/35 to the effect that the Government of the Syrian Arab Republic, by letter of 28 August 1968, had communicated to the Director-General notice of termination of the Agreement for the Establishment of the Near East Forest Rangers' School.
263. The Council further noted that the Government of the Syrian Arab Republic had requested that the termination take effect on 31 December 1968. Pursuant to the provisions of Article XII of the Agreement, termination takes effect one year from the date of notice of termination. The Council decided, notwithstanding the aforementioned provision, to accede to the request of the Government of the Syrian Arab Republic.
264. The Council noted that an application for membership in the Organization had been received from the Government of the People's Republic of Southern Yemen, and that this application would be before the Fifteenth Session of the Conference in 1969.
265. The Council authorized the Director-General in the interim to invite the People's Republic of Southern Yemen to attend in an observer capacity the sessions of the Council held before the Fifteenth Session of the Conference, and those technical and regional sessions of FAO bodies and ad hoc conferences of interest to it.
1 Para. 572 of the Report of the Fourteenth Session of the Conference.
2 Para. 61 of CL 51/6 - Part I.
3 Agenda item 20.
4 CL 51/45 and CL 51/PV-22.
266. At its Fiftieth Session the Council, at the request of the Fourteenth Session of the Conference, had requested the Programme Committee “to study the manner in which national organizations should be invited to take part in conferences and sessions convened by the Organization” 2.
267. The Council, having considered the Report of the Fifteenth Session of the Programme Committee 3, agreed with the view of that Committee that an appropriate revision of the definition of Category 2 meetings appearing in document C 67/3-Sup.1, Rev.1, could resolve the problems which had given rise to the request of the Council referred to above. Accordingly, the Council endorsed the new definition proposed by the Programme Committee, which reads as follows:
“Category 2: Meetings to deal with technical and/or economic matters attended by experts designated by Member Governments and by observers as listed under Category 1 above, where the participants would not be expected to take decisions on behalf of the governments having designated them. Suitable arrangements may be worked out, in consultation with governments, for participation by representatives of national institutions, including parastatal and private institutions. Consultants may be used by FAO in such meetings to assist the secretariat in various ways, including the introduction of agenda items.”
268. The Council noted the observations of the Fifteenth Session of the Programme Committee 4, and agreed that the procedure approved by the Fourteenth Session of the Conference be followed in respect of reports for 1967–68. On the basis of the report to be prepared by the Director-General the matter should again be considered by the Conference.
1 Agenda Item 31.
2 See para. 19 of the report of the Fiftieth Council Session.
3 CL 51/6 - Part 1, paras. 53–57.
4 CL 51/5, paras. 122–127.
