Urged all participants to demonstrate the necessary political will at the highest level so as to ensure the successful conclusion of the Uruguay Round in the interests of a healthy and growing world economy and called upon the Independent Chairman to convey the sentiments of the Council in this respect to GATT (para. 16)
Urged all member countries to comply with their financial obligations and to make full and timely payment of their contributions to enable FAO to carry out FAO's roles in promoting food and agricultural production and rural development more effectively (para. 25)
Suggested that the document Policy Changes Affecting European Agriculture, be discussed at forthcoming sessions of the FAO European Commission for Agriculture and the UN/ECE Committee on Agricultural Problems (para. 27)
Urged that continued financial and technical support in the ongoing process of agricultural policy reform in Eastern Europe and the USSR should not be at the expense of assistance provided to developing countries (para. 28)
Reiterated its appeal to all industrialized countries to raise the level of their development assistance to, or even exceed the target of, 0.7 percent of their gross national product (GNP) (para. 29)
Stressed the need for better coordination between donors and recipients and for convergent, rather than divergent, efforts between development partners (para. 29)
Endorsed the report of the Fifteenth Session of the Committee on World Food Security (CFS) in its entirety (para. 30)
Endorsed the Committee's recommendations to enhance the economic and social status of women and called on governments to accelerate efforts to implement the Nairobi Forward Looking Strategies, the WCARRD Programme of Action, and FAO's Plan of Action for the Integration of Women in Development (para. 33)
Reiterated that FAO had an important role to play in the adjustment process, inter alia, in the design of programmes which would include measures to minimize short-term adverse effects on food security and which would ensure the active participation of the economically disadvantaged groups in the development process (para. 34)
Agreed that there was a need for greater collaboration between the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and FAO in order to safeguard food security concerns within the context of structural adjustment (para. 34)
Urged the Committee on World Food Security to continue its consideration of country case studies at future sessions (para. 34)
Reaffirmed its support to FAO's Food Security Assistance Scheme (FSAS) and commended FAO for the steps taken to implement the expanded mandate of the FSAS, and endorsed the pragmatic approach which had been adopted (para. 35)
Stressed the importance of regular consultations with FSAS donors, whose strong support was essential for the success of the new approach (para. 35)
Endorsed the request of a number of members for a greater FSAS presence in the Latin America and Caribbean Region and also endorsed the requests of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to the FAO Secretariat for a study on food security reserve in that region, the result of which might serve as an example for other subregions (para. 35)
Reiterated that the plan of action on people's participation should be submitted to the Council as soon as possible and, in any case, before the Twenty-sixth Session of the Conference (para. 44)
Considered that FAO should further strengthen its technical assistance to countries in support of policy analysis and formulation of national strategies for the food and agriculture sector (para. 45)
Reiterated its support for the ICN and supported the establishment of the Interdepartmental Task Force by the Director-General to coordinate FAO inputs to the ICN, in order to ensure that interdisciplinary and cross-sectional considerations linking all aspects of food and agriculture would be incorporated into the planning for the Conference (para. 47)
Supported the plan to establish a joint FAO/WHO Secretariat and an Advisory Group of Experts to provide inputs on scientific and technical issues and from an early stage to involve the nutrition community outside the UN system (para. 47)
Endorsed the need for effective government involvement in the preparations for the Conference, inter alia through the Governing Bodies of FAO and WHO, the Committee on Agriculture (COAG), the Regional Conferences and Meetings of both FAO and WHO and subregional meetings (para. 48)
Supported the planned country-level preparatory activities as well as regional and subregional workshops to consider causes and possible remedies to nutritional problems (para. 48)
Stressed the need for FAO and WHO to provide adequate staff and other resources for the preparation of the ICN (para. 49)
Requested that a substantive report on the ICN be submitted to the Council at its next session, including the conclusions and recommendations of COAG, as well as those from the Regional Conferences held in 1990 (para. 51)
Endorsed the report of the Tenth Session of the Committee on Forestry (C0F0) (para. 52)
Supported the recommendations of the Committee on strengthening research as a priority area and welcomed the close collaboration of FAO with the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) and with the International Union of Forestry Research Organizations (IUFRO), which was developing a programme to support forestry research in developing countries (para. 53)
Reiterated the importance of the TFAP as a unique framework for the conservation and sustainable use of Tropical Forest Resources for the development of the countries concerned and for environmental sustainability, and emphasized the need to strengthen the TFAP and make it more country-driven, process-oriented and policy-focused (para. 54)
Decided to endorse the recommendations of the C0F0 on the findings of the independent Review, and particularly regarding the need: (a) for the TFAP to become a long-term programme aimed at the conservation and sustainable development of tropical forest resources; and which justified the plan to be renamed the Tropical Forestry Action Programme; (b) for FAO's forestry programmes to fully reflect the priority accorded to the TFAP; (c) for better mobilization of resources for the TFAP and to explore the possible establishment of a Tropical Forestry Fund including the scope, nature and possible institutional . arrangement for its establishment and management; (d) to develop and establish new guidelines for TFAP implementation; (e) to develop and implement country capacity projects, designed to strengthen forest policies and planning capabilities and provide training at the national level; (f) for FAO to take initiative to improve the effectiveness of TFAP implementation and coordination and, in particular, to accelerate and intensify significantly the level of action in addressing tropical deforestation; (g) for FAO to continue its contacts with the World Bank, UNDP, and the World Resources Institute, as co-sponsors of the TFAP, and to establish as soon as possible, in association with them, an ad hoc group of experts, with adequate representation of developing countries, donor agencies, developed countries and NGOs: to make proposals for clarification of goals and objectives; analyse and propose options for improved appropriate institutional arrangements for all interested parties; suggest ways and means to strengthen FAO's coordinating function; examine the financial implications of the options; and report back as rapidly as possible, the report to be made available to other TFAP participants (para. 55)
Supported the choice of Indonesia for holding the ad hoc Group of Experts and noted that discussions were at an advanced stage for its organization (para. 58)
Agreed that the FAO share of the cost of the ad hoc Group of Experts on the TFAP should be met from the reallocation of Regular Programme resources without affecting priority activities for developing countries (para. 58)
Appealed to the donor community to: (a) increase its efforts to provide prompt and adequate financial and technical support for the preparation and implementation of national TFAPs using existing financial mechanisms as appropriate channels for prompt action; (b) further strengthen the extrabudgetary funding, including the Multidonor Trust Fund enabling the TFAP Coordinating Unit to fulfil its role in coordination, quality control and information management at the global level (para. 59)
Supported the COFO recommendations on the need to allocate greater resources of the Regular Programme to the Forestry Programme (para. 60)
Agreed that FAO would have a substantial contribution to make to the development of the legal, technical and intellectual content of an international instrument on the conservation and development of forests (para. 61)
Requested that FAO should make a substantial contribution to the comprehensive report on Forests and Forestry for the second UNCED Preparatory Committee in Geneva in March 1991 (para. 62)
Requested that the question of an international instrument on the conservation and development of forests be referred to the next session of the Council in June 1991 for further consideration of actions to be taken by FAO in the light of developments in other international fora (para. 64)
Confirmed that the mission to study and evaluate the situation of the agricultural sector in the occupied territory should proceed on the basis of the action taken by the Director-General (para. 66)
Requested that the symposium envisaged in Conference Resolution 189 be organized soon (para. 67)
Stressed the Importance of further FAO activities in such fields as: environmental impact assessment for FAO field projects; environmental economics and accounting; follow-up action to the Second World Climate Conference; biological diversity and diversification; integrated management of coastal zones and aquaculture; management of capture fisheries; agro-ecological zoning, soil and water conservation and maintenance of soil fertility; rural energy planning and fuelwood; integrated pest control; forest resources management, afforestation, wildlife management, sylvo-pastoral management, watershed management and combatting desertification; remote sensing applications to natural resource assessment and environmental monitoring; debt for nature swaps; measuring the possible impact of applied technology on the environment; training and extension on environmentally-sound technologies, with due consideration to local traditional technologies (para. 69)
Requested the Director-General to give due priority in the FAO medium-term plan and in his proposals to the Conference for Programme of Work and Budget (PWB) 1992-93, to activities related to environment and sustainable development, in accordance with Conference Resolution 389 (para. 73)
Requested that the Secretariat report on progress in the application of environmental impact assessment procedures in FAO's field programme at the next Session of the Conference and agreed that training for national and FAO staff in this field should be given special attention (para. 74)
Supported FAO's activities contributing to the preparatory process of the UNCED (para. 77)
Recommended that FAO, in its areas of competence continue to actively participate in cooperation with other agencies in the preparations for this Conference (para. 77)
Encouraged the Organization to pursue its efforts in developing collaborative activities in the fields of environment and sustainable development, including collaboration with the non-governmental organizations (NGOs) concerned with food and agriculture (para. 78)
Recognized the need for FAO to assume a catalytic role in promoting appropriate national programmes and in initiating cooperative regional ones (para. 83)
Recommended that FAO prepare a detailed programme for the sustainable development of animal genetic resources on a global level based on the technical proposals contained in the Supplementary Document for consideration by the next session of the Committee on Agriculture
(COAG) and agreed that the programme should include projects for interested countries and regions to be implemented by their respective governments and should be financed primarily in the form of Trust Fund projects (para. 84)
Urged donor countries, as well as international and regional banks, to assign due priority to sustainable development of animal genetic resources, while considering the Trust Fund projects proposed by FAO (para. 84)
Agreed that the proposals for the development of an appropriate legal framework for the conservation and rational use of animal genetic resources should be referred to the next session of COAG, for its consideration (para. 84)
Agreed that the subject of widening the scope of CPGR needed to be further discussed by both CPGR and COAG, taking into consideration technical, legal, institutional and financial implications (para. 85)
Recommended that FAO should, in accordance with its mandate, continue to play an active role in and give due priority to the conservation and rational use of biological/genetic diversity of interest to agriculture, forestry and fisheries (para. 86)
Recommended that FAO continue to actively participate in the preparatory process of the UN Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) in all aspects related to the conservation and rational use of Biological Diversity (para, 86)
Supported the initiative of the Secretariat to prepare a special action-programme encompassing different elements of biodiversity for food and agriculture and agreed that the programme should be aimed at rationalizing and coordinating activities, avoiding dispersion and duplication of efforts and at attracting additional support from donors to assist developing countries in strengthening their national structures and capabilities to conserve, utilize, and fully benefit from, their biological diversity (para. 87)
Agreed that priority should be given in the special action programme to areas such as germplasm evaluation and breeding programmes for marginal conditions, and diversification within and between crops, particularly of underutilized species (para. 87)
Recommended that FAO discuss and develop with UNEP the necessary modalities for ensuring that there was full cooperation, complementarity and synergy between both organizations (para. 90)
Encouraged the FAO Secretariat and CPGR, within the framework of the formulation and negotiation of a legal instrument on biodiversity, to (a) stress the socio-economic importance of biodiversity, (b) emphasize the interdependence of the conservation and sustainable development of biodiversity in agriculture, forestry and fisheries, in order to ensure that both aspects were given equal consideration and weight, and (c) to ensure further that the important work accomplished, agreements reached, and institutional structures established in this field by FAO were not duplicated or ignored (para. 90)
Requested the CPGR, as the primary intergovernmental body mandated to address a large and important area of biodiversity of agriculture and forestry, to ensure that its long-standing experience was fully utilized and its views taken fully into account in the formulation and negotiation of a global legal instrument for the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity (para. 90)
Recommended that the question of transforming, with appropriate revisions, the International Undertaking into a legally binding instrument should be brought first to the attention of the CPGR and its Working Group (para. 91)
Considered that the rolling six-year Medium-Term Plan should constitute a major policy document indicating the future direction for ongoing programmes and the need for any new initiatives (para. 95)
Supported FAO's action in other priority areas, in particular regarding the implementation of the Plan of Action for the Integration of Women in Development (para. 102)
Encouraged the Director-General to pursue his efforts to implement Resolution 10/89, and appealed to all Member Nations to ensure the financial stability necessary for him to do so (para. 104)
Urged the United Nations, FAO and WFP to lend their constructive efforts towards resolving as quickly as possible the governance issue, preferably by consensus (para. 110)
Urged the Director-General and the UN Secretary-General to conclude the WFP Headquarters Agreement with the Italian Government without delay so as to improve the working conditions of WFP staff (para. 113)
Strongly endorsed WFP's provision of assistance for agricultural and rural development, especially through labour-intensive activities that provided employment and income for the poor and strengthened infrastructure, and for human resource development by improving nutrition, education and training (para. 124)
Supported the special focus that WFP had given to providing assistance to Africa in view of the pressing problems of that region (para. 124)
Encouraged a greater use of triangular transactions, local purchases and exchange arrangements as a stimulus to agricultural production and trade in developing countries (para. 125)
Urged that action be taken to ensure the speedy delivery of emergency food aid by all parties concerned (para. 126)
Strongly supported the multilateral system of food aid which enabled all Member States and nations to contribute resources and to determine their most effective uses (para. 127)
Appealed to donors to endow WFP with more resources in both commodities and cash to enable it to expand its vital work for the benefit of poor people in low-income, food-deficit countries (para. 128)
Elected Brazil, Burundi, China, Netherlands and Tanzania for a term of office of three years from 1 January 1991 to 31 December 1993 (para. 135)
Urged FAO to continue to provide technical support to the negotiating groups on agriculture, tropical products and natural resource-based products, as well as to interested participating developing countries (para. 137)
Expressed support for the role FAO was playing, in collaboration with other UN organizations, in providing assistance for the elimination of the radiological consequences of the accident at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant (para. 141)
Encouraged FAO to contribute to the fulfilment of the goals and objectives of the International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction (IDNDR), within its areas of competence and available resources (para. 141)
Adopted Resolution 1/98 on the Least Developed Countries (LDCs) requesting the Director-General to report to the next (Twenty-sixth) FAO Conference on his suggestions to more closely associate FAO with the implementation of the Programme of Action for the Least Developed Countries for the 1990s (para. 146)
Underlined its concurrence with and commitment to the main aims and objectives of the UNGA Resolution 44/211 (para. 150)
Underlined the importance of maintaining the principle of the Tripartite Relationship in the system's operational activities, reflecting the multilateral character of UN technical cooperation (para. 153)
Expressed its strong support for the active role FAO was playing, including its activity in inter-agency fora, in pursuing vigorously the follow-up process to the framework decision (para. 156)
Urged that the consultations with UNDP, and the five main agencies jointly, continue in order to resolve any divergences of view between UNDP and the agencies concerning the interpretation of key sections o Decision 90/26 (para. 157)
Agreed that the new arrangements should not result in a greater regul, budget transfer in future (para. 158)
Reaffirmed that it was the principal responsibility of the recipient governments to coordinate all external assistance (para. 160)
Expressed its support for a steady and gradual shift towards increase) national execution based on local capacities and specific country circumstances (para. 161)
Underlined that in undertaking the national execution modality, governments should continue to have and indexed and direct access to FAO's accumulated technical expertise and experience (para. 161)
Underlined that all efforts should be made to avoid any disruptive effects in the implementation of the new system to the support costs (para. 163)
Invited the Director-General to work out proposals with the Administrator of the UNDP for appropriate transitional arrangements which would be put to the UNDP Governing Council in February or June 1991 in keeping with paragraph 20 of Governing Council Decision 90/26 (para. 163)
Requested the Finance Committee to monitor any future developments regarding the measures adopted by organizations of the UN system to protect the monetary value of their Programme of Work and Budget against fluctuations in the value of currencies (para. 177)
Supported the decision that the funding rate should remain at 8 percent and that the proportion of separation payments for Rome General Service staff charged to the related budgets should also be kept constant at 33 percent (para. 185)
Approved the new text of Staff Regulation 301.095: Staff members may not be retained in active service beyond the age of 62 years, unless the Director-General, in the interests of the Organization, extends this age limit in exceptional cases. Normally, such extension will be one year at a time. Staff members, except those whose participation in the United Nations Joint Staff Pension Fund commences or recommences on or after 1 January 1990 may, however, elect to retire at the age of 60 years (para. 192)
Decided that a revised salary scale for General Service staff in Rome, as given in Appendix F to this report, be introduced by the Director-General with effect from the date he considered to be the most appropriate, in the light of the financial constraints (para. 196)
-Status of Contributions to the Budget
Urged all members to pay their arrears and outstanding contributions in full (para. 202)
-Need for all Member Nations to Pay Contributions
Urged all Member Nations to pay their outstanding arrears and current assessed contributions in full as soon as possible, in order that the Organization could continue to fulfil its mandate (para. 210)
Requested all Member Nations to advise the Director-General, as soon as possible, as to the amounts and timing of their expected payment of the contributions and arrears outstanding, as this was essential for programme and administrative management (para. 211)
Endorsed the views of the Finance Committee and its recommendations and agreed to forward a draft resolution on Audited Accounts to the Conference for adoption (para. 214)
Approved the revised Calendar of 1990-91 Sessions of the Council and of those Bodies which report to it, as given in Appendix I to this report (para. 219)
-Report by the Chairman of CCLM
Agreed that, to the extent that the draft WFP Headquarters Agreement would substantially change the relationship between WFP on the one hand, and the UN and FAO on the other hand, and in particular on the location, status and powers of the WFP Secretariat as well as the legal status of the WFP itself, the desirability of effecting such a change would have to be passed upon by the Governing Bodies concerned (para. 223)
Agreed that regional economic integration organizations in other parts of the world might be interested in possible membership in FAO and that this should be borne in mind in the course of further studies which would be carried out (para. 239)
Underlined that if regional economic integration organizations were to become eligible for membership in FAO, this would create an extremely important precedent for other organizations of the United Nations system and a full examination would have to be made of all the possible implications of such membership (para. 239)
Requested that the Director-General should hold further talks with the EEC and that the Secretariat should prepare detailed documentation on the various matters which had been discussed in the course of the present session of the Council, including drafts of possible amendments to the Basic Texts of the organization (para. 242)
Requested that the matter be referred for consideration by the CCLM at its Fifty-sixth Session in Spring 1991 that the CCLM could then submit its Report to the Council for consideration at its Session in June 1991 and that the Finance Committee should also be kept fully informed (para. 242)
Underlined that the request to the Director-General to continue talks with the EEC and to carry out the various studies which had been requested did not prejudice the final decision as to membership of the EEC (para. 242)
Agreed to the participation of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) to attend as an observer at the Ninety-eighth Session of the Council (para. 243)
Agreed to the participation of the Palestine Liberation Organization as an observer at the Ninety-eighth Session of the Council (para. 246)
Decided that the unexpired term of the departed Member and Alternate Member of the Committee should be completed by Mrs Costantina Koliou-Petrakakou (Greece) as Member of the FAO Staff Pension Committee and Mohamed Zaki Ghazalli (Malaysia) as Alternate Member to the same Committee (para. 255)
Decided that its Ninety-ninth Session should be convened in Rome from 10 to 21 June 1991 (para. 256)
