The Council decided to send the following message to the International Trade and Employment Conference meeting in Havana:
"This first session of the Council of FAO sends a message of greeting to the International Conference on Trade and Employment. In the opinion of this Council the matters on the Agenda of the Havana Conference are of the utmost importance to the nations of the world, and the Council expresses its confident hope for the satisfactory outcome of the Conference.
Moreover much of the subject matter is of direct importance to the work of FAO. Improvement in agricultural production and nutrition depends to no small extent on the progress made in promoting a freer flow of international trade, and the Council attaches importance to this aspect of the International Trade Organization's functions.
As regards trade in agricultural products FAO is pledged to the twin objectives of expansion and price stability, and the Council would recall the words of the Geneva Session of the FAO Conference, “…that for a certain number of important commodities, commodity agreements are the best means of assuring steady markets and price stability at a fair level and thereby of encouraging primary producers to plan with confidence.” This Council takes particular interest in the Chapter in the Draft Charter concerning intergovernmental commodity agreements, a field in which FAO has itself certain functions under its Constitution. This Council believes that Member Governments will find it useful to work both through the International Trade Organization and through FAO in their respective fields.
The Council notes with special interest the chapters of the Draft Charter concerning employment and development. The FAO Conference has clearly stated that in many important areas of the world, agricultural progress depends on parallel industrial development. The Council recognizes that the International Trade Organization, when established, will play an important part in assisting Member Nations in programs of development and looks forward to close collaboration in these matters between the two Organizations.
Both agricultural and industrial development can prosper only in an expanding world economy toward which the International Trade Organization along with other international agencies can contribute much.
May therefore the International Trade Organization of the United Nations be speedily established."
The Council decided to send the following message to the meeting of the International Wheat Council:
“The Council sends a message of goodwill to the forthcoming meeting of the International Wheat Council. The Council of FAO believes that the issues facing this wheat meeting are of great significance and urgency for all nations.
In the present world food situation, consumers need to be assured of a continuity and expansion of supply at reasonable prices of such a staple foodstuff as wheat. This requires that programs be immediately put in hand for expanding food production, but to plan this expansion producers need assurances as to markets. For a commodity such as wheat in which FAO has a great interest an intergovernmental commodity agreement can contribute powerfully to the orderly solution of agricultural problems. At the present juncture more than ever this contribution is needed and the Council expresses its sincere hope that there will be a speedy and successful outcome to the negotiations for a Wheat agreement.”
In accordance with Rule V, paragraph 2, of the Rules of Procedure, the Council established a Committee on Relations with International Organizations comprising the representatives of Cuba, Italy, Mexico, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. The Committee held its first meeting on 8 November. On the basis of a report from the committee the following recommendations were adopted by the Council:
United Nations
a. The Council welcomed the resolution on “Relations with and Coordination of Specialized Agencies” which has been placed before the Second Session of the General Assembly by Committees, 2, 3, and 5 of that body. In part, the Resolution calls upon the specialized agencies, as appropriate under the terms of their respective agreements with the United Nations, to present each year to the session of the Economic and Social Council preceding the opening of the regular session of the General Assembly their reports on past activities and their programs of operations for the subsequent fiscal year to enable the Council to promote the most efficient and practical use of the resources of the United Nations and the specialized agencies, by recommendations concerning the definition of responsibility for specific projects and concerning priorities for action.
The Council concurred in the view expressed by the Committee on Relations with International Organizations that it is in the best interests of the Organization that the Economic and Social Council and the General Assembly should receive a clear account of the scope of the Organization's work and the principal problems with which it is confronted. The Council requested the Director-General to prepare future reports for the Economic and Social Council and the General Assembly on the basis of this view.
b. The Council, in considering the important questions of closer relations between the Organization and the United Nations, requested the Director-General to examine, in all its aspects, the feasibility of establishing a permanent office at the headquarters of the United Nations and to report on this matter at the next session of the Council.
Specialized Agencies
The Council approved the text of the Draft Agreement between the Food and Agriculture Organization and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization and recommended its adoption by the Fourth Session of the FAO Conference.
Relations with Intergovernmental Bodies
The Council approved and warmly commended as evidence of the growth of cooperation between FAO and intergovernmental bodies working in the same field a Letter of Agreement addressed by the Director-General of FAO to the Director-General of the Pan American Union.
Participation of International Organizations
a. With respect to those specialized agencies not yet having a formal agreement with the Organization, the Council recommended that a liberal interpretation be placed on Rule XXV, paragraph 6 of the Rules of Procedure in order to insure the full and valuable participation of such specialized agencies as the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the International Monetary Fund in the work of the Council.
b. The Council recommended that arrangements for the representation of and consultation with public international organizations, including international commodity councils and study groups, be subject to the discretion of the Director-General. The Council further recommended that the Director-General should examine the practicability of consulting with such bodies by means other than that of direct participation in the Sessions of the Council. The Council felt that many public international organizations will desire to be represented at Council Sessions only when matters of special interest to them are under discussion.
c. The Council recommended that the arrangements laid down in the Copenhagen Conference Resolution on Relations with Nongovernmental Organizations concerning their participation in the Annual Conferences should apply also to Sessions of the Council.
Participation of Non-member Governments
The Council recommended that the basis of participation of non-member Governments should simply be that of insuring that the Council receive the maximum help from all interested parties. The Council by previous action provided that those non-member Governments participating in the work of the Commodity Committees of the International Emergency Food Committee of the Council should be invited to attend meetings of the Council when matters of allocation are under discussion.
