The Council has received a report prepared by the working group of the Committee on Permanent Site, giving additional information on the cost of establishing and maintaining headquarters in the various sites offered by the Governments of Denmark, Italy and the United States of America.
The Council agrees with the suggestion of the Committee on Permanent Site that certain further detailed information should be collected by the working group before the final report is presented to the Conference.
The Council also agrees that it would be undesirable to call a special Conference to determine the permanent headquarters, as was suggested by the Conference at its last session. The collection of the additional information and the preparation of the final report will take some time, so that in any case a special Conference could not be held much in advance of the next annual session of the Conference.
The Council has adopted the following resolution:
THE COUNCIL
Having examined the interim report of the working group of the Committee on the Permanent Site of FAO Headquarters giving the latest information collected by the Organization on the cost of establishing and maintaining the permanent headquarters in Washington, New York, Rome, and Copenhagen respectively.
Recommends that a final summary report should be prepared by the working group, with the assistance of the Organization, embodying the latest information on cost and other aspects of the different sites, for distribution to member governments not later than 30 September 1949, so that a final decision on this important issue can be taken by the Fifth Session of the Conference to be held in November 1949, and FAO be able to establish itself as soon as possible in permanent headquarters most suited to the full and effective operation of its responsibilities.
