III. ACTIVITIES OF FAO AND WFP
III. ACTIVITES DE LA FAO ET DU PAM
III. ACTIVIDADES DE LA FAO Y DEL PMA

7. Report of the Fourth Session of the Committee on Forestry - Rome, 15-19 May 1978
7. Rapport de la quatrième session du Comité des forêts - Rome, 15-19 mai l978
7. Informe del cuarto período de sesiones del Comité de Montes - Roma, 15-19 mayo 1978

CHAIRMAN: Before the document is introduced I would like to give the floor to the Deputy Director-General, Dr. Phillips.

DEPUTY DIRECTOR-GENERAL: It is a quite unusual circumstance to have the opportunity of introducing to this Council two new Assistant Directors-General in connexion with two consecutive agenda items. On behalf of the Director-General I should now like to introduce to the members of the Council the new Assistant Director-General of our Forestry Department, Dr. M.A. Flores Rodas from Honduras. He came aboard on 18 September this year, so compared with Mr. Lucas he is already an old hand. In addition to his sound technical background, Dr. Flores Rodas has had broad and very practical experience of forestry problems, which he gained by performing important duties in the Ministry of Natural Resources of his own government and in the development-oriented Honduran Forestry Department, where he was the Director of Forestry. The Director-General feels sure that Dr. Flores Rodas will receive the full support and cooperation of our member countries, for which he would like to thank you in advance. Dr. Flores Rodas will be introducing the Report of the Fourth Session of the Committee on Forestry. For this he has rather an unusual qualification since, as you will see from page 1 of that Report, he was the Committee's Chairman before taking up his present post.

CHAIRMAN: I would like to welcome Mr. Flores Rodas to our midst and to the Council and straight away give him the floor to introduce the item.

M.A. FLORES RODAS (Subdirector General, Jefe del Departamento de Montes): El pasado mes de mayo tuve el honor de presidir aquí en Roma el cuarto período de sesiones del Comité de Montes; no sabía entonces que cuatro meses más tarde me iba a encontrar del otro lado, es decir, del lado no que da, sino que recibe recomendaciones del Comité. Por tanto, voy a presentar brevemente este punto del Programa en mi calidad actual de miembro de esta Organización.

Antes de comentar para ustedes los principales elementos del Informe deseo hacer dos observaciones: la primera es que la participación al cuarto período de sesiones del Comité de Montes fue más numerosa que nunca; hubo delegaciones de 70 miembros del Comité y Observadores, de otros 11 Estados Miembros de la FAO y de las Naciones Unidas, así como de varios organismos. Esto refleja, en cierto modo, el creciente interés de los Estados Miembros en el sector forestal y concretamente en la labor de la FAO en dicho sector.

La segunda observación es, como puede verse en el Informe, que esta vez no hay asuntos que requieran la decision del Consejo.

En cuanto al contenido del documento CL 74/8 que está ante ustedes se puede notar que el Comité organizo sus debates en cuatro principales partes: la primera, comprendió tres cuestiones de política forestal, a saber: desarrollo e inversiones en el sector forestal. Este tema se incluyo en el Programa a petición de la Conferencia. Importancia de los bosques y los árboles en el desarrollo rural integrado; y pequeñas industrias forestales para el desarrollo.

Tuvo especial interés la explicación de la política de inversion forestal del Banco Mundial que ofreció al Dr. Yudelman de dicho Banco en su disertación inaugural.

El Comité recomendó que la FAO emprendiera un nuevo y profundo examen de las tendencias y perspec­tivas mundiales en el sector forestal con vistas a cómo ver las inversiones, mientras que las instituciones internacionales de financiamiento deberían, a la vez, ampliar sus criterios para aceptar proyectos forestales y aumentar el total de fondos destinados a actividades forestales.

El Comité subrayó también el papel que los bosques y los árboles, así como las pequeñas industrias basadas en ellos, pueden jugar en el desarrollo rural.

La segunda parte de los debates del Comité se dedico al Programa de trabajo de la FAO en el sector forestal. En esta ocasión el Comité expreso su satisfacción por lo realizado durante el bienio 1976/77 y apoyó y elogió unánimemente el Programa de trabajo para 1978/79.

El Comité apoyó los objetivos a plazo medio presentados por el Director General, así como el paquete mínimo de medidas propuesto para su consecución.

El Comité expresó su satisfacción por la clara estrategia en que se basaban dichas medidas y sobre todo por el hecho de que estaban orientadas a la acción a nivel de los países.

El Comité consideró que las actividades forestales para el desarrollo de las comunidades rurales constituían un programa merecedor de la máxima prioridad e hizo numerosas observaciones útiles para cada uno de los nueve Programas de acción, como puede verse en los párrafos 68 al 78 del Informe.

En relación con los Programas de campo de la FAO en materia forestal, las deliberaciones del Comité se centraron en las nuevas dimensiones de la asistencia internacional, las principales recomendacio­nes y decisiones de la última Conferencia de la FAO sobre los programas de campo en general y las tendencias y el apoyo internacional al desarrollo forestal.

Los puntos de vista del Comité sobre estos temas figuran en el Informe.

El Comité dedicó la tercera parte de sus deliberaciones a los asuntos señalados a su atención por las Comisiones forestales regionales. Creo que el elemento más significativo de esta tercera parte de los debates, no fue tanto la sustancia de sus asuntos ni las decisiones a las que se llegó en el Comité, sino el hecho de que los puntos de vista regionales fueran examinados e integrados por el Comité en una perspectiva global.

Además, la presencia en el período de sesiones de varios presidentes de comisiones forestales regiona­les y el hecho de que fueron elegidos para formar parte de la Mesa del Comité significaron una evolución muy deseable que reforzó las relaciones entre el Comité y las comisiones forestales regionales.

La cuarta parte de las deliberaciones del Comité se dedicó a temas varios, que figuran en el Informe bajo el título de "Otros asuntos".

Señor Presidente, estos son los principales puntos que yo deseaba señalar con mis comentarios preliminares.

CHAIRMAN: Thank you very much. As explained by Mr. Flores Rodas, there are no issues for decision. As you can see, the Committee has done a very thorough job. I will now open discussion on this item and call on Bangladesh first.

E. HUQ (Bangladesh): I would like first to welcome Mr. Flores Rodas to his new position and con­gratulate Mr. Flores Rodas, the new ADG Forestry Department, on his excellent introduction of the subject.

We find the reporting in the document CL 74/8 of high quality. We appreciate the deliberations of the Committee on Forestry, which displayed keen awareness of the needs of the present day, which are characterized by a complex set of considerations and fraught with the danger that the developing countries will be the victim of global forestry imbalance.

Our delegation believes that the recommendations of the Committee on Forestry coincide with a time when many developing countries like our own need to take a new look at their forestry resorces for better economic development for the masses, through better management expansion and reorientation of national policy. While supporting the recommendations of COFO our delegation wishes to touch on a few recommendations specifically.

The recommendations made on development and investment in the forestry sector is important and we consider that the strategy of development planning in developing countries should be in line with the suggested guidelines. We strongly support the recommendation of the Committee for continued support of FAO in respect of adequately trained manpower in the field of preparation and evaluation of forestry projects which is essential for successful project implementation.

The concept of importance of trees and forests in agricultural communities is now accepted all over the world. We support the recommendation of establishing a system within the Forestry Department to deal with the question of planning, implementation and consolidation of programmes in forestry for the integrated development of rural communities. FAO's consideration and active support in this respect will be extremely helpful, especially in the context of Bangladesh where development of community forests and agro-forestry has a high priority in government policy.

The recommendation on small scale forest industries is very useful and conforms to the need of many developing countries including Bangladesh. FAO's achievement in this .area is_;appreciated and its continued assistance will be helpful. We welcome the decision of the Forestry Commission to extend membership of its working party on the management of mountain watershed to include developing countries. Training in the field of projects identification, formulation and implementation is a basic requirement for lasting forestry development programmes. In this respect the recommendation of the Committee for FAO's pursuance along with UNDP interested bilateral donors of establishing a regional professional forestry school will greatly satisfy the training need of developing countries.

Finally, I should like to state briefly the problems we face in our countries. Bangladesh is small in size, pressure on land being tremendous. Depletion of forests is a progressive phenomenon. While we do believe our agricultural intensification programme will to a certain extent let up pressures on the forests, we need rapidly to develop trained manpower resources for better management of our forestry, afforestation and reforestation programmes. We also need trained personnel for extension and management work in our community forest programmes. We welcome FAO's assistance in these areas.

I should like to conclude by stating our appreciation for FAO assistance in our forest research sector.

B. DE AZEVEDO BRITO (Brasil): The first point I would like to make at this stage is to congratulate Mr. Flores, a distinguished Latin American, on his appointment as Assistant Director-General, Forestry Department. We are very sure that the leadership of Mr. Flores will give the necessary impetus to forestry development efforts within the Organization.

My delegation is very pleased to see the general orientation of programmes of forestry within our Organization. The report of the 4th session of COFO provides us with an excellent over-view of the general direction which forestry programmes should follow. We feel in particular that FAO should be commended for its concern to associate forestry with food production, agricultural and rural development. In our view, forestry should not compete with food production efforts, nor should it be seen as conflicting with community development. The dynamic interaction between forestry, agriculture and community development is probably one of the most exciting and innovative aspects of development planning. We feel that FAO should to a large extent be given the credit for this new approach to forestry.

While it is certainly difficult to suggest priorities when specific conditions vary significantly from country to country, my delegation would like to emphasize the importance it attaches to the collection and dissemination of forestry information and to training in forestry. In the context of training we would certainly endorse the observation of the report of the 4th Session of the Committee on Forestry that the primary function of external aid is to contribute to strengthening of self reliance of the aid-recipient countries. Both for raising data and for grassroots training in forestry, we believe that FAO has a major function to perform. Efforts in stimulating progress formulation in forestry may be required. More specifically, in a number of cases TCP might have a catalytic function to perform in the domain of forestry. Through TCP and other means Member States should, in our view, be encouraged to improve productivity and management of tropical forests, to strengthen the institutional and information basis for forestry and forestry industry development, and to improve methods of forestry management. Forests must be seen not as an obstacle to development but perhaps what might be called man's ecological friend. As renewable resources of the utmost significance, forests provide a new alternative to development where the comparative advantages of the developing countries can be clearly felt. My delegation very much hopes that programmes of forestry within our Organization will be sufficiently bold and innovative to grasp the imagination of development planners and policy makers.

CO. KELLER SARMIENTO (Argentina): Sean mis primeras palabras de saludo cordial al Dr. Flores Rodas que con sus antecedentes personales y profesionales seguramente prestigiará una vez más el área de América Latina en el ejercicio de su alta función. Le deseamos mucho éxito en su tarea y puede contar incondicionalmente con nuestro apoyo para todo lo que sea necesario.

En relación al documento CL 74/8, al que limitaré mis comentarios, Informe del cuarto período de sesiones del Comité de Montes, en cuya redacción participo oportunamente mi delegación en su calidad de Miembros del Comité, me es grato poner en conocimiento del Consejo nuestro pleno apoyo al mismo y a las políticas enunciadas.

En general se trata de un documento que señala con acierto lo que debe realizar el Comité de Montes y lo que debe efectuarse en este terreno.

Quiero señalar especialmente nuestra simpatía por el capítulo que trata de desarrollo e inversiones en el sector forestal, los párrafos 10 a 18.

En lo que hace a la preocupación manifestada por el Comité por la aparente insuficiencia de fondos para la forestación y repoblación forestal, quiero comunicar que el Gobierno argentino en diciembre de 1977 e influenciado por esta política de la FAO ha implantado por ley nacional un sistema de crédito fiscal para forestación₀ Este estímulo para forestación tiene por objeto el incremento rápido de la superficie forestal para satisfacer requerimientos futuros en forma económica. Esta nueva legisla­ción ha obtenido amplia aceptación, registrándose más de tres mil planes por un total de 130 000 hectá­reas en los pocos meses de vigencia de esta Ley.

En relación a la recomendación del Comité para que FAO y los Gobiernos intensifiquen esfuerzos para ampliar y mejorar los datos sobre recursos forestales, me es grato poner en su conocimiento que el Gobierno argentino está tratando de actualizar las estadísticas existentes de los inventarios exten­sivos. No obstante ello, a fin de precisar el establecimiento de reservas constituidas por bosques espontáneos se prevé la ejecución de un proyecto de evaluación según la metodología avanzada con la colaboración de la FAO.

Finalmente, quiero efectuar un pequeño comentario en relación al párrafo 45 de nuestro Informe.

Como Se recordará, recientemente se ha efectuado una Conferencia de las Naciones Unidas sobre Cooperación Técnica en los países en desarrollo. El párrafo 45 que fue redactado por el Comité de Montes antes de la realización de la Conferencia revela claramente la inquietud de la FAO por tratar de estimular en todo lo posible la colaboración y cooperación entre los países en desarrollo aun antes de tener la declaración de la Conferencia de Buenos Aires.

D. RICHTER (Germany, Federal Republic of): Before making a few comments on the report of the 4th Session of the Committee on Forestry, let me first, on behalf of my Government, also congratulate Mr. Flores Rodas on his appointment as new Assistant Director-General of the Forestry Department of FAO. We wish every success in his new task. The representatives of the forestry administrative services of my country will support him in this respect. At the same time I wish to express my Government's thanks to the former holder of this office, Mr. King, for the valuable work which he has done in the interest of all Member States for strengthening cooperation in the forestry sector.

In the view of my Government, the recommendations of the Committee on Forestry reflect the worldwide priority problems of forestry and forest products industry. We support above all the request for long-term development and investment measures in the forestry sector. It is necessary to carry out world­wide analyses of trends and objectives providing a basis for national forest policies. Of special importance are afforestation and re-afforestation programmes with a view to meeting the alarming decline in forest stands, above all in tropical and sub-tropical areas. These measures are suited to help ensure future timber supplies, create a raw-material basis for wood working and processing and meet the diverse non-economic land improvement requirements. These measures also include programmes for training and advanced training of forestry personnel. To implement the necessary investments, increased efforts of the countries themselves are required as well as increased promotion by the international financing agencies.

In the past few years repeated disasters have shown the great importance of integrated agricultural and forestry measures. In this respect it is still necessary to elaborate and disseminate a great deal of basic knowledge. FAO should help by providing information, organizing seminars and assisting in the identification of projects. Such measures can make an important contribution towards improving the socio-economic conditions and the employment situation.

The establishment of small-scale industries based on wood and wood residues goes in the same direction. The technical potential of FAO can also be used to a greater extent here, with a view to promoting economically sound and adequate development.

We support the orientation of FAO's activities towards promoting forestry programmes and projects as recommended by the Committee. The programme of work of FAO in the forestry sector for 1978/79 contains, in my Government's view, the necessary priorities and appears on the whole quite balanced.

M.A. PAPAGEORGIOU (Greece): Let me -first congratulate the new Assistant Director-General, Mr. Flores Rodas, and convey to him best wishes for the success of his very important task.

I would like to give to the Council some views and some very few remarks on the report of the Fourth Session of the Committee. As you are no doubt aware we are a mountainous country suitable for forestry, therefore we deeply appreciate FAO's efforts for forestry development, not only because forestry is a national resource and foremost because forestry also means quality of life. However, the fact that forestry needs long maturation periods and of course, high initial investment capital and that this factor may be an unfavourable factor for developing countries to invest in forestry. For this reason we are afraid that the recommendations of the forestry commission on forestry to the governments to reinvest in forestry an appreciable proportion of revenues obtained from the forestry sector could not be followed with the required attention. Therefore it is necessary that international financial institutions increase the total amount of funds dedicated to supporting forestry activities.

We see with great interest the suggestion for a flow of funds from wood consuming to wood producing countries to be invested in forestry.However, we would like to add that such a flow should also be directed towards countries that have suitable land for forestry development to cover future demands. We propose that FAO appoint a group of experts to examine how this suggestion could be materialized.

Regarding forest industries, we have seen with great satisfaction at FAO the efforts for developing small-scale forest industries suitable for the developing countries. I would like to state, however, that these samll-scale forest industries must be designed to meet the future requirements of the economy of each country because technology and marketing conditions change rapidly. Otherwise in a short period of time we shall have a great number of non-economical small-scale industries.

Regarding FAO's programme of publications on technical matters, I would like to say that FAO must maintain and strengthen its programme because these publications consist in many countries of a major source of technical information.

I have left the problem of forest fires to the last because this is a most important forestry problem in my country. In our view forest fire protection must be taken seriously under consideration by FAO considering that forests not only produce wood but also constitute the environment on which life depends. Our proposal is that FAO must consider the whole problem. The steps to be examined should include the causes of forest fires, then the measures to be taken to protect forests, then the use of means to fight fires and the training of the appropriate personnel to fight forest fires.

LUKITO DARYADI (Indonesia): As Members of the Council, my delegation would like to join the wishes of other delegates to express our congratulations to Mr. Flores Rodas in his new post as Assistant Director-General on Forestry. Although his post has only been since September this year he has made a vital contribution to the success of our World Forestry Congress held in Indonesia last month.

Mr. Flores Rodas, as Chairman of the Fourth Session of the Committee on Forestry has given a comprehensive report on the meeting. The report reflects clearly the recent trend in forestry development. Besides the economie-ecologie aspect of the forests, forestry development is aiming more and more towards the social sector, the people, especially in the rural areas. Forestry for community development, forestry development is an integral part of the rural development. Small-scale forest industries, AGRO forestry are examples of the Committee's recommendations.

My delegation would like to ask this Council to endorse fully the report and put forward the recommendations as guidance for the actions which should be taken by the Organization and Member Countries.

With regard to the future meetings of the Committee, although at present we feel that cross-sectoral agendas have been drawn up,more dialogue with the outside forestry world should be initiated. Recent developments in forestry need frequent contact with other disciplines. Cross fertilization instead of inbreeding of ideas should be promoted.

Finally, forestry development depends greatly on foresters and we don't like to see that "foresters", as Dr. Phillips, the Deputy-Director-General, mentioned in his remarks at the COFO meeting, "are traditionally a tightly knit clan."

G. BULA HOYOS (Colombia): Hemos escuchado con atención la presentación adecuada y pertinente que de este tema hizo el Sr. Flores Rodas, nuevo Subdirector General Jefe del Departamento de Montes. En particular nos complace mucho que el Sr. Flores Rodas sea natural de Honduras, un país de nuestra región de América Latina. La delegación de Colombia ha estado siempre en favor de que se vincule a los puestos de nuestra Organización, sobre todo a aquellos que tienen alcance y significación política, a personas capaces y competentes que provengan de todas las regiones de países en desarrollo.

En relación con la preocupación expresada por el Comité sobre insuficiencia de fondos para inversión en forestación y repoblación forestal, oímos complacidos la declaración del colega y amigo de Argentina sobre las medidas que su país está adoptando en esta materia. La delegación de Colombia informa al Consejo que también nuestro Gobierno acaba de presentar un proyecto de ley al Parlamento por medio del cual se impondrán gravámenes fiscales obligatorios en favor de la reforestación, y a la vez se exonerarán de impuestos aquellas actividades que conduzcan al fortalecimiento de ese sector. Si alguno de los miembros del Consejo está interesado en conocer este proyecto de ley, la delegación de Colombia se lo suministrará con el mayor gusto.

Estamos de acuerdo con el Comité sobre la necesidad de que los gobiernos dediquen mayores recursos a este importante aspecto, pues el futuro del desarrollo forestal dependerá principalmente de los esfuerzos nacionales. Por lo demás, encontramos aceptable este documento y creemos que el Consejo tomará nota de los asuntos informativos, ya que no hay ningún punto para decisión.

P. MASUD (Pakistan): Permit me first of all to welcome Mr. Rodas, the new Assistant Director-General of the Forestry Department. We wish him success in his new assignment.

A word of introduction about the work of forestry in Pakistan, Pakistan possesses a land surface of 87.8 million hectares of a diverse nature, of which 4 million hectares are covered by forests. Since forests occupy only about 4.5 percent of the land area it is a disproportionately low figure relative to the whole area. There is an urgent need to develop our forest resources, not only to have a more acceptable economical balance but also for soil reservation and to meet the country's mounting need for wood, timber and fuel.

We have read the report of the Fourth Session of the Committee on Forestry with interest and while generally supporting the recommendations, welcome the new trend and shift in emphasis in the forestry sector. We hope that the relatively new concept of forestry for local community development will not remain a mere slogan and will be given practical shape by FAO as soon as possible. In fact we would urge that it be given a priority since we feel that this concept must be considered within the framework of the integrated development of rural communities. The aim must be to encourage the participation of rural communities in the conservation, management and rational utilization of forest resources. We would also like to stress upon the need to give greater attention to upland watershed management and protection of river basins. Soil and water conservation through forestry is necessary to prevent floods, landslides and sealing of reservoirs. We may add that since these upland areas are generally the least favorably endowed and have the most acute socio/economic problems, they pose a good testing ground for the new concept of forestry for local community development.

We feel that FAO should pay greater attention to afforestation, particularly in areas with low rainfalls and arid zones, to the introduction of trees at suitable situations. FAO-UNDP collaboration with Pakistan in the field of forestry has shown an encouraging trend in the recent past, and we hope that FAO will consider the possibility of continuing to fund forestry in Pakistan at an appreciably higher level than in the past.

H. MAURIA (Finland): First, I would like to welcome Mr. Flores in his new post as Assistant Director-General and Chief of the FAO Forestry Department. We trust that FAO forestry programmes will be successfully and effectively implemented under his leadership, and I can say that we are ready, as before, to support the activities in forestry.

Having attented the Fourth Session of the Committee on Forestry which was held in Rome in May of this year, I can confirm the the COFO meeting was a very good one. We support in general the report from the COFO meeting. On this occasion we would like only to make a few brief remarks and some recommendations.

Firstly, COFO established that the Forestry Departement of FAO should contribute in the preparation for the World Conference on Agrarian Reform and Rural Development which is going to be held in Rome in July of next year. We think that the contribution of forestry is very important in this regard because of the rich potentialities forestry would be able to provide in the integrated development of rural communities.

Our second point would be that we support and welcome the results already achieved by FAO and further planned under the small-scale forest industry programme, particularly regarding small industries in developing countries based on wood and wood products.

Further, we support the minimum package of actions adopted by the COFO for medium-term objectives. In our view, the package covers most of the essential programmes in this field of forestry and forest industries on a medium-term basis.

Finally, we want to stress the need for increased efforts to be devoted by FAO and by international finance institutions as well as governments to expanding investments in forestry and the forest industry sector. COFO in fact expressed its concern as to the level of funds available for investment in forest production in developing countries. If no improvement in this regard occurs, there is an obvious danger that the production and the potentialities of forestry may be lagging behind development of other fields. Therefore, we see the urgent need for expanding investments in forestry.

P. HALIMI (France): Je voudrais, avant toute chose, féliciter M. Flores, qui succède à M. King à la tête du Département des forêts, de sa nomination à la direction de ce département. Nous sommes persuadés que sous sa direction le Département des forêts jouera le role qui doit être le sien dans l'Organisation.

Le rapport établi par le Secrétariat, qui nous a été brillamment résumé par M. Flores, rend fidèlement compte des débats de la quatrième session du Département des forêts.

La délégation française saisit cette occasion pour rappeler l'importance qui s'attache à la mise en oeuvre des moyens propres à atteindre dès que possible les objectifs suivants.

Le premier objectif est le développement du secteur forestier et l'intensification des investissements.

Les besoins en équivalent de bois rond vont s'accroître de 75 pour cent dans les vingt années prochaines: doublement de la consommation de papier et de panneaux, accroissement de 50 pour cent pour les stockages. Face à une demande à ce point accrue, l'Europe occidentale demeurera très déficitaire.

C'est pourquoi le document présenté par le Secrétariat recommande, à juste titre, d'accroître la capacité de production de bois des forêts et d'intensifier les investissements de mise en valeur de la forêt.

Il convient de remarquer qu'une telle recommandation rejoint totalement au plan français les conclusions du groupe de travail qui a été présidé par un haut fonctionnaire, M. Bertrand de Jouvenel, qui suggère un effort accru en faveur de notre forêt, productrice d'une matière première renouvelable dont notre économie aura de plus en plus besoin.

Pour ce qui concerne les pays tropicaux, nous pensons qu'il faudrait inciter ces Etats à faire réaliser l'inventaire de leurs ressources forestières et en publier les résultats. Dans beaucoup d'Etats, notamment d'Amérique tropicale et d'Asie, cette opération ne semble jamais avoir été conduite. C'est pourquoi j'ai entendu ce qui vient d'être dit par le représentant de l'Argentine avec beaucoup de satisfaction. La FAO envisage de réaliser une surveillance permanente des forêts denses par l'intermédiaire des satellites; ceci serait une première étape intéressante vers la création de services d'inventaire forestier national qui seuls peuvent quantifier valablement les ressources.

Notre deuxième preoccupation est de maintenir la place de la forêt et de l'arbre dans l'aménagement rural.

Il faudrait, à notre sens, faire procéder à l'aménagement des forêts des pays tropicaux afin d'assurer la pérennité de la ressource et d'ajuster exploitation et régénération. Ceci n'est pratiquement fait nulle part, du fait des décisions contraignantes d'ordre politique et économique que cela entraîne. Nous pensons qu'une action de démonstration et de persuasion de la FAO serait dans ce domaine la bienvenue.

Il faudrait, également, à notre sens, intégrer l'aménagement de leur forêt dans un aménagement beaucoup plus vaste de type agro-sylvo-pastoral qui aiderait à lutter contre la progression anarchique des cultures itinérantes et fixerait le domaine forestier. J'ai entendu avec satisfaction ce qui vient d'être dit à ce sujet par le délégué de l'Indonésie.

Le troisième objectif est la régénération de la forêt.

C'est certainement à nos yeux la priorité des priorités. En effet, des millions d'hectares de forêts tropicales disparaissent sous les coups des agriculteurs, des éleveurs et, dans une moindre mesure, des exploitants. Au simple titre de cette dernière activité, 125 millions de mètres cubes de grume sont abattus chaque année dans les forêts denses tropicales, et on peut assurer que moins de 5 pour cent de ces abattages sont compensés par des plantations destinées à fournir du bois d'oeuvre. Cette situation qui dure depuis trente ou quarante ans conduira inexorablement à l'épuisement à terme des forêts tropicales.

Les Etats responsables en sont très conscients, mais reculent en général devant le coût très élevé des travaux de plantation à prévoir, chiffrés à 8 ou 10 000 francs par hectare, dont la rentabilité économique est reportée à plusieurs décennies. Les représentants de l'Argentine et de la Grèce ont parlé de ce problème et j'ai entendu avec satisfaction le délégué de la Colombie nous parler des mesures qui ont été prises dans son pays et de cette taxe fiscale qui va être instaurée pour le reboisement. Nous serions très heureux d'avoir des renseignements complémentaires à ce sujet.

Le quatrième objectif est l'amélioration génétique des arbres forestiers. Ce domaine est particulièrement prometteur. Des actions importantes ont été réalisées avec des espèces forestières à croissance rapide, telles que l'eucalyptus et le pin au niveau de certains organismes de recherche. Le Centre technique forestier tropical y prend notamment une part active.

La FAO a cherché à développer cet axe de recherche en s'appuyant sur certains organismes ou certaines personnalités qualifiés notamment en ce qui concerne les pins. Mais il faudrait veiller à ce que cette action s'en tienne à la coordination et à l'information, en conservant aux organismes nationaux et internationaux déjà impliqués toute leur liberté d'action et de décision. La création et la défense d'un patrimoine génétique à hautes performances est un acte national et c'est pourquoi l'initiative de la FAO doit être encouragée mais en donnant à chaque Etat toutes ses chances et toute latitude d'action.

Le cinquième point important est la contribution de la forêt au développement de l'emploi.

Les pays en voie de développement prennent conscience du fait que la mécanisation trop poussée de l'exploitation forestière et les grands projets d'usines de seconde transformation ne peuvent fournir d'emplois qu'à une main-d'oeuvre très réduite et très spécialisée alors qu'ils doivent faire face à de très graves problèmes d'emplois.

Il en résulte notamment une tendance vers le développement de l'utilisation des outils à main en exploitation forestière ainsi nue la création de scieries et d'industries de seconde transformation de petites ou même très petites dimensions allant jusqu'à la promotion de l'artisanat local.

Le document de travail du Secrétariat traite essentiellement des zones tropicales oubliant, à notre sens, les pays tempérés où la surface occupée par les forêts est relativement stable.

Il importe cependant de faire observer que le problème primordial de la place de la forêt et de l'arbre dans l'aménagement du territoire rural concerne aussi les pays tempérés, ceux d'Europe notamment où l'on constate dans chacun une régression trop importante de la forêt dans certaines régions nécessitant le controle des défrichements, et dans d'autres pays l'extension des zones forestières conduisant à la réglementation des reboisements.

Le programme de la Division des forêts de la FAO est essentiellement orienté vers les problèmes tropicaux et les pays en développement. De ce fait, il faut le reconnaître, et je le regrette, les forestiers

européens se sentent moins concernés qu'ils ne devraient l'être par les problèmes évoques alors qu'ils sont disposés à participer activement à la formation des forestiers des pays en voie de développement.

Quant aux recommandations des commissions régionales des forêts évoquées aux paragraphes 40 et 41 du document, ma délégation saisit cette occasion pour demander à nouveau la réanimation du Comité "Sylva Mediterranea" sur les questions forestières méditerranéennes. Sur ce sujet difficile (protection, reconstitution) il y a une occasion de très utile coopération entre les pays des rivages méditerranéens dépendant des commissions de l'Europe, du Proche-Orient et de l'Afrique. Les commissions du Proche-Orient et de l'Europe avaient d'ailleurs souhaité la réanimation de ce Comité.

Nous souhaitons également la réanimation du groupe de travail de la Commission européenne des forêts sur l'aménagement des bassins versants de montagnes en élargissant sa composition de façon à y inclure des pays en voie de développement.

Ma délégation espère qu'en application de la Résolution 6/77 de la Conférence, ces activités pourront être incluses dans le programme de travail du prochain biennium.

M. KRIESBERG (United States of America): Our Government would like to add its congratulations and best wishes to Mr. Flores on his important new assignment with the FAO. The United States Forest Service has from time to time loaned a number of its technical forestry personnel to work with FAO's Forestry Department and we have come to recognize and appreciate the quality and the importance of FAO'S programme in this sector.

The United States concurs with the recommendations of the Fourth Session of the Committee on Forestry as embodied in the report before us. The recommendations particularly related to investment in the forestry sector, in integrated rural development and in small-scale forestry industries for development are, we believe,well directed toward achieving forestry's full contribution towards strengthening national economies and integrated rural development programmes. Programmes in forestry and forest products - forest development generally - often serve important commercial interests, and as FAO reviews resource allocation for its programme in forestry we would encourage it to consider possible contributions from such extra-budgetary sources for furthering its development assistance efforts in this sector.

I would conclude by simply indicating that as always in the past we would continue to be very supportive of FAO's programme in forestry under its new leadership.

M. PANJSHERI (Afghanistan): I want to say congratulations to Mr. Flores on his important job and also I want to discuss my country's forestry situation.

Forests in our country occupy 1.978 million hectares and play an important part in the national economy. They provide cover to the mountains, haul down larger precipitation, prevent soil losses arid check the onward march of deserts. Forest protection and regeneration, restoration and scientific exploitation are urgently required to sustain and save them from further depradation.

We need reforestation to tide us over the serious problem of denudation, land degradation, and to prevent desertification. Here I would like to draw attention to the kind recommendations made by the Nairobi Conference on Desertification. The Conference urged the United Nations, and the Specialized Agencies, to provide adequate technical and financial aid in addition to combat desertification through scientific forest and pasture management. Pastures in our country occupy 62 percent of the total land area, and constitute an extremely important source of animal nutrition. Therefore, I will resquest FAO to consider the setting up of an expert committee to evaluate the present position of forests, range lands and pastures in our country. The recommendations of the Committee would provide guidelines to prepare a sound investment programme.

I hope that training of our forestry personnel along with the establishment of a Forest Research Institute will receive the sympathetic attention of the FAO.

E. DIAZ BUSTABAD (Cuba): En primer lugar, deseamos felicitar al Sr. Flores por su elección acerca del Departamento de Montes. Nos alegramos doblemente, en primer término porque procede de un país en desarrollo, y en segundo término por ser un país de la región latinoamericana.

En primer lugar, consideramos oportunas las recomendaciones formuladas en el cuarto período de sesiones del Comité de Montes que se recogen en el documento CL 74/8.

Sin embargo, debemos llamar la atención de los países miembros del Consejo sobre el hecho real de que los esfuerzos nacionales son elemento primordial para el desarrollo forestal. En este contexto es necesario que se explore y cuantifique la función de los bosques en relación con la producción de alimentos, así como sus posibilidades para generar empleo y proporcionar bienes y servicios, medios elementales para las poblaciones rurales; que la FAO siga apoyando los esfuerzos por crear en los países en desarrollo un sólido equipo de profesionales con capacitación adecuada en materia de preparación y evaluación de proyectos forestales; reconocer la importancia de los árboles y los bosques en las comunidades agrícolas, aspectos que deberán ser tomados en cuenta cuando se analicen los tratados de la Conferencia Mundial sobre Reforma Agraria. Otro aspecto a tener en cuenta es la importancia de la Cooperación Tecnica entre países en desarrollo especialmente mediante la recopilación y divulgación de informes sobre instituciones regionales, subregionales, nacionales que existen en los países en desarrollo que tengan la posibilidad de cooperar en este campo.

Por último, consideramos oportuno que la FAO estudie la posibilidad de establecer un sistema dentro del Departamento de Montes que se ocupe de la planificación, realización y coordinación de los programas forestales para el desarrollo.

R. PERALTA (Panamá): Antes de nada quiero felicitar al Sr. Flores Rodas por su nuevo cargo por varias razones. La principal de ellas por venir de un país en desarrollo y por pertenecer al área Centroameri­cana de dondo provenimos nosotros tambien y, además, porque conocemos sus esfuerzos y su conocimiento en el campo y estamos seguros de que realizará una gran gestión en su cargo.

Estamos completamente de acuerdo con el documento CL 74/8 y no queremos redundar en las afirmaciones aquí vertidas por lo otros delegados que me han precedido; pero es de todos conocido que la gran mayoría de los bosques mundiales se encuentran el el área tropical, área subdesarrollada y, en muchos casos, en desarrollo, y que nuestra agricultura irracional y tradicional ha hecho que la gran mayoría de nuestros bosques hayan sido devastados irracionalmente, por lo que nosotros creemos que es deber de la FAO tratar de procurar a nuestros países en desarrollo una asistencia técnica más en consonancia con nuestras realidades nacionales, ya sea en el uso de las plantas autóctonas, o de los bosques netamente comerciales e industriales, además de procurar conseguir para nuestros países en desarro­llo la asistencia económica necesaria a unos plazos suficientemente largos y con unos intereses su­ficientemente blandos que puedan permitir la implantación de estos bosques de una forma verdadera­mente racional.

El caso nuestro, el caso de Panamá, es un caso típico de cualquiera de los países en desarrollo donde su agricultura irracional ha acabado no solamente con los bosques, con el subsuelo boscoso, sino que Panamá ha servido al mundo a través del presente siglo con la presencia de su Canal que ha facilita­do y agilizado el transporte marítimo y a través de este desbosque irracional podríamos decir que hemos casi acabado con la cuenca hidrográfica canalera que pone en peligro el uso y la existencia de dicho Canal en los años venideros.

Nos encontramos empeñados en una reforestación para salvar la cuenca canalera y por eso nos empeña­mos también en solicitar, tanto la asistencia técnica, como la económica en la forma que hemos men­cionado para lograr en un futuro cercano restablecer los bosques de las cuencas de este área pana­meña que sirve al mundo.

I. OROZCO GUZMAN (México): Mi delegación también desea expresar su satisfacción por el nombramiento de que ha sido objeto el Dr. Flores Rodas para ocupar el puesto de Subdirector General del Departa­mento de Montes de la FAO. Le damos la bienvenida y le ofrecemos nuestra colaboración más completa.

En relación con el Informe del Comité de Montes, deseamos únicamente reiterar el apoyo de mi Gobierno a las actividades que lleva a cabo este propio Comité y a toda la acción que desarrolla la FAO relacionada con ese sector tan vital para la humanidad. Mi delegación deseaba, asimismo, llamar la atención del Consejo sobre el párrafo 89 del Informe en el que se expresa el ofrecimiento del delegado de México que asistió al cuarto período de sesiones de dicho Comité, para hospedar en mi país al noveno Congreso Forestal Mundial. Ese mismo ofrecimiento ha sido reiterado con ocasión de la celebración del Octavo Congreso Forestal Mundial y oportunamente el Consejo habrá de tomar una decisión al respecto.

D. FONACIER (Philippines): First of all, we express our congratulations to Dr. Flores on his appointment as ADG of the Forestry Department of FAO.

Secondly, our delegation views the Djakarta Declaration substantially as a reiterative support of the report of the Fourth Session of the Committee on Forestry. Our delegation supports and therefore endorses the recommendations of the Committee contained in both the Djakarta and C0F0 reports.

However, we would like to encourage an early and serious consideration of the immediate possibility of implementing the recommendations of the Committee in paragraphs 14 and 16 concerning the provision of financial support to reforestation or forest renewal.

We feel timely and substantial funding of forest renewal activity is the key to maintaining forest resources, particularly in the tropical region.

Our delegation therefore strongly proposes that to give early realization to our intention in forest renewal, particularly in the tropical region, the Council considers (a) expressing its support to the position of the tropical timber producing countries in UNCTAD regarding proposed stabilization measures, particularly efforts to improve prices for wood export commodities in order that producing countries may be able to generate the necessary funds to support costly afforestation and reforestation programmes. In brief, the cost of forest renewal needs to be considered by the consuming countries in determining prices of wood export commodities; (b) that financial institutions, such as the IBRD, be encouraged to increase their funds for lending in order to support forest renewal programmes of developing countries, and that developed countries, which have long benefited from the tropical timber trade, likewise be encouraged to invest in forest renewal programmes in developing countries.

These are but some measures by which we can all realize the bringing back of our forestry resources for the benefit of coming generations.

D. F. SMITH (United Kingdom) : I would like on behalf of the United Kingdom delegation to congratulate Mr. Flores Rodas on taking up his new post of Assistant Director-General. My government strongly supports the increased attention being paid to rural developmento to which reference is made in the Report of the Committee on Forestry. We think also that the emphasis now being place by FAO on the integration of forestry with agriculture is fully justified. We believe therefore that it is sensible that FAO should give consideration to establishing a small section within the Forestry Department to deal with the implementation, coordination and programming of forestry activities in the integrated development of rural communities. No doubt whatever section is set up within FAO will coordinate its activities with the new International Council for Research in Agroforestry.

CHAIRMAN: This concludes the list of members who have asked for the floor, but we have information from the Hungarian delegation that they will submit their comments in writing to the Secretariat.

I. OZORAI (Hungary): The paper CL 74/8 very well summarizes all which had been said at the fourth session of the Committee on Forestry.

It is recommended that FAO consider undertaking a new, in-depth world study on trends and outlook in the sector of forestry and primary wood-processing industry. We deem this objective as of great importance. The papers issued so far by FAO could also be well utilized in preparing forestry development plans. We shall be at your disposal with pleasure in elaborating evaluations and studies also in the future.

We fully agree with the statment that revenues obtained from the forestry sector should be reinvested in the development of basic material production. We have to emphasize however, that the forests should also perform servicing functions to an increasing extent and forestry can meet these increasing costs only at the expense of its main function, that is wood production. For this reason we think it necessary to emphasize that the costs of servicing, functioning of forestry should be shifted on to a much wider circle of the society.

FAO is recommended to continue to support efforts to create, at country level, a strong corps of professionals, adequately trained in the area of preparation and evaluation of forestry projects. This is correct but at the same time it is important that the consumers of wood should also be given up-to-date information and education on the better utlization and appreciation of the wood products and forest services. This is necessary so much the more because the role attributed to the forest and to its services is not yet fully recognized by the public opinion.

8. Action arising out of the Eighth World Forestry Congress - Djakarta, 16-28 October 1978
8. Suite à donner au huitième Congrès forestier mondial - Djakarta, 16-28 octobre 1978
8. Medidas dimanantes del Octavo Congreso Forestal Mundial - Yakarta, 16-28 octubre 1978

M.A. FLORES RODAS (Subdirector General, Jefe del Departamento de Montes): Se ha presentado para la in­formación del Consejo el documento CL 74/INF/9, que se refiere a la acción relacionada con el Octavo Congreso Forestal Mundial, celebrado del 16 al 28 de octubre en Yakarta, Indonesia.

El informe sobre el Congreso Forestal Mundial incluye la Declaración de Yakarta, que es suficientemente explícita y está a la total disposición de los señores miembros del Consejo para su información.

CHAIRMAN: As has been pointed out, this report is for information but I should like to call on the delegate of Indonesia to take the floor.

LUKITO DARYADI (Indonesia): First of all, on behalf of my Government, I should like to express our gratitude to the governments of all those many countries which decided to be represented at the 8th WFC despite the remoteness of its venue.

This has enabled a new record of representation at world forestry congresses to be established; more than 100 countries attended the conference - the highest attendance of the 50 years' history of world forestry congresses.

We wish to address particular thanks to the governments of Sweden and the Federal Republic of Germany for their generous contributions which have enabled several participants from developing countries to be present. The Governments of Sweden and the Federal Republic of Germany and Indonesia have given fellowships to lecturers and students to attend the Congress.

The role of FAO should be mentioned here in assisting the entire organizing of the Congress since the preparation stage up to the cutgoing proceeding. My Government's appreciation and gratitude go to FAO in this respect.

May I be permitted, Mr. Chairman, to read to you a few paragraphs of the Jakarta Declaration which should be, in my opinion, of particular interest to the participants in this session of the Council.

Being acutely aware that the human population is still increasing by 70 million people every year, the Congress paid particular attention to the role which forest can play in improving the conditions for agricultural and livestock production, for instance through shelterbelts, regulation of waterflow, erosion control, as well as a source of supplementary animal fodder in dry periods. The Congress urged an ever greater effort to use forests for these indirect means of ensuring and increasing food produc­tion. Moreover, foresters should look beyond their forest reserves to areas where the planting of trees can be of major benefit to people and to agriculture other than for the direct harvesting of timber.

By reason of the gravity of world food shortages, indirect means are not enough. In many countries, an enlarged concept of multiple-use forestry is required, one which encompasses the more direct production of food from forests and forest trees, as well as from wild fauna. The Congress also called attention to the fact that in recent decades, floods, droughts, and the spread of deserts have increased. This trend will continue unless proper land management, including reforestation, is undertaken by governments with urgency. The droughts and accelerated desertification in Asia, Africa, and Latin America - and the extremely destructive floods in Asia - have caused loss of lives and misery to millions. In recent years, however, there have been many examples of successful techniques in agro-forestry which governments can use to halt these destructive trends. The Congress urged an increase in applied research in this field in order to enable governments to deal with such problems effectively.

As forests and forest trees are an essential element for maintaning the environmental stability necessary for the continuous production of food by rural communities, and to meet some of their most basic needs, the Congress affirmed that it should be the concept of all in the forestry profession that forestry make its full contribution to the development of rural communities, particularly of the rural poor of the developing world. A commitment to rural development on the part of foresters will be of no avail unless there is a firm commitment on the part of governments. Such committment must include action to reduce inequalities in the countryside, notably in the distribution of land and in access to social and support services. It means encouraging self-reliance, mutual aid and cooperation. It means recognizing people as the motive force of development, not simply as the passive object of development.

Foresters must have the responsibility of managing forest lands and the natural resources existing thereon. Forestry administrations must have the rank, political backing, and effectiveness to discharge adequately such responsibilities to the best advantage of the people.

One of the most important changes since the previous Congress has been the energy crisis and its many implications for forestry and forest industries. The Congress was particularly concerned with the "poor man's energy crisis," the growing firewood shortage brought about by population pressure, dwindling forests, and the increased cost of alternative means of cooking and heating. This situation has reduced even further the already intolerably low living conditions of some 1 500 million of the rural poor. Furthermore, the burning of plant residues and animal dung has seriously affected soil fertility and hence food production. The Congress urged all governments in countries with a major requirement for fuelwood, and not well endowed with forest resources, to give the highest priority to its production in appropriate locations, with full participation of local people and suitably integrated with agriculture.

The energy crisis has a further and potentially far-reaching implication for forestry - the possibility for forests to become an important source of high grade as well as low grade energy. Because of the iterdependence of liquid and gaseous fuels and chemicals, forests offer an equally exciting opportunity for providing the synthetic organic materials so indispensable to modern society and which are now produced from fossil fuels. The Congress brought to the attention of governments and international technical and financing organizations this important new role which forests may be asked to play, urging the early intensification of the necessary programmes of research and development.

The Congress stressed the need for comprehensive forest land management, industries to be reorganized and new technologies to be adopted in order to use more effectively smaller logs and a wider range of species. It also urged developing countries to undertake further processing and to produce a wide range of products for both domestic consumption and export. The utilization of the forest resource must be aimed at enhancing the welfare particular of the communities living or working in the forest and, more generally, generally, of all the people of the country possessing such a resource.

The Congress urged governments to take appropriate corrective action, including changes to the social and economic structures wherever needed, with respect to unsatisfactory health, safety, status and remuneration conditions of forest workers. There was an urgent need for a more highly trained work-force, and the Congress stressed that governments should devote more resources to the initial and continuing training of workers, technicians and professionals in both forestry and forest industries.

The Congress noted with concern that, if present trends continue and potential demands materialize, there is the prospect of a serious gap between the world's needs for industrial and other wood products and the capacity of the world's forests to supply these and other essential goods and services. This gap can only be avoided if the shrinkage of the forest area is halted, if natural forests are properly managed, if harvesting is more complete and more efficient, if there is subsequent full and prudent use of all products harvested, if large areas of successful plantations are created and intensively managed, and, finally, if the return from forest utilization reaches the communities owning, living, or working in the forests.

Mr. Chairman, the Jakarta Declaration has been applied to the programme of my Government in particular for the next Third Development Plan. The Declaration has been supported also by the Fourth Meeting of the ASEAN Forestry Experts in Kuala Lumpur, 20 - 22 November 1978 - last week. I would like that this Council may wish to consider transmitting the Jakarta Declaration to the forthcoming session of the FAO Conference in 1979 for its consideration.

As Secretary General of the Congress I may be perhaps allowed to express the wish, for the sake of my successor, that the decision on the location of the next Congress be taken somewhat earlier than in the case of the 8th WFC. It would certainly help the organizing committee if such a decision were taken before the end of 1981.

CHAIRMAN: Your country hosted this very important Congress and we wish to congratulate your country for doing that.

H. MAURIA (Finland) : On this occasion it is to the point to thank the government of Indonesia for the remarkable effort which it had made in favour of the arrangement for the Eighth World Forestry Congress in Jakarta last October which made it a total success and we also want to express our sincere thanks for the hospitality of the Indonesian government and the Indonesian people. May I also on this occasion direct a vote of thanks to the General Secretary of the World Forestry Congress, Mr. Daryadi, who is at this Council meeting. We believe that the Jakarta Declaration has spoken out very clearly on the role of forestry for people and for the society. It has pointed out the need tor a number of important forestry policy measures to be implemented by governments and it has drawn attention to technical and financial needs for the forestry and forest industry.

In all, we wish that the Declaration should be carefully studied in Member Countries, not only by forestry administration people but that its conclusions should be presented and highlighted, also for decision makers and planning authorities and people who are involved in development in agricultural and rural development.

Finally, I would support what the delegate of Indonesia suggested, to present the Jakarta Declaration to the next FAO Conference.

E. DIAZ BUSTABAD (Cuba) : Queremos cooperar con usted en sus labores por lo que seremos extremadamente breves. En primer lugar, tomamos nota de la información contenida en este documento que consideramos muy útil, pero quisiéramos referirnos a un aspecto en el cual se toma en consideración la situación de la sede del Noveno Congreso Forestal Mundial, y si leemos el texto se nos señala lo siguiente: ''Como es posible que otros países se expresen en el mismo sentido, el Consejo podría considerar la fijación de fechas para la selección del país hospedante del próximo Congreso".

A tal respecto, nuestra delegación considera conveniente que esta fecha sea el período de sesiones previo del Consejo a la Conferencia General que se celebrará en 1981. Consideramos que con tres años, ya que este Congreso Forestal Mundial se celebrará en 1984, se podrá adoptar una decisión conveniente. Además, existe también la posibilidad de que las delegaciones que acaban de llegar a sus países de origen, efectúen las conversaciones correspondientes, y existan intereses por parte de otros países, y hay que brindarles la posibilidad de ofrecerse como sedes del Noveno Congreso Forestal Mundial.

G. BULA HOYOS (Colombia): En primer lugar queremos manifestar nuestra simpatía por lo que expresó la delegación de Finlandia sobre la conveniencia de que en el informe de este período de sesiones del Consejo se consigne nuestro agradecimiento al Gobierno de Indonesia por las facilidades que ofreció y que aseguraron una realización satisfactoria y exitosa del Octavo Congreso Forestal Mundial.

Apoyamos la propuesta de nuestro colega y vecino de Cuba sobre la fijación de fechas para decidir el país hospedante del Noveno Congreso Forestal Mundial.

El párrafo 4 de la Nota Informativa nos indica que hasta ahora dos países se han ofrecido como sedes para ese Noveno Congreso. Son la Unión Soviética y México. Consideramos que ambas naciones tienen características y condiciones que harían afortunada la celebración de ese Congreso en cualquiera de estos dos países. Sin embargo, la delegación de Colombia, anticipadamente, comunica que acoge con viva simpatía la posibilidad de que el Noveno Congreso se celebre en México, país de nuestra región de América Latina. Decimos esto porque consideramos oportuno que después de haberse celebrado el Octavo Congreso en Indonesia, en el Asia Lejana, el próximo se desplace hacia América Latina, otra importante repión de países en desarrollo.

M.A. FLORES RODAS (Subdirector General, Jefe del Departamento de Montes): Como el documento referente a la acción a tomar después del Octavo Congreso Forestal Mundial era unicamente para información de los honorables miembros del Consejo, la verdad es que muy poco puedo resumir. Agradecemos nuevamente al honorable Gobierno de Indonesia su amabilidad por haber hospedado el dicho Congreso, y tomamos nota de la sugerencia de Cuba y Colombia sobre el tiempo de 1981 para designar el próximo país huésped del Noveno Congreso Forestal Mundial.

Creo que con eso, señor Presidente, resumo la reacción del honorable Consejo sobre el documento anterior,

CHAIRMAN : What we will have to do then, perhaps Council will agree to submit the Jakarta Declaration to the next Conference but the date and the place of the next meeting,, the country to be chosen, should be delayed until more countries have responded. With that we conclude this item.

IV.PROGRAMME, BUDGETARY, FINANCIAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE MATTERS
IV. QUESTIONS CONCERNANT LE PROGRAMME, LE BUDGET, LES FINANCES ET L'ADMINISTRATION
IV. ASUNTOS DEL PROGRAMA Y ASUNTOS PRESUPUESTARIOS, FINANCIEROS Y ADMINISTRATIVOS

16. Evaluation of the Technical Cooperation Programme
16. Evaluation du Programme de cooperation technique
16. Evaluación del Programa de Cooperación Técnica

E.M. WEST (Director, Office of Programme, Budget and Evaluation) : Since the subject of this Agenda item is an evaluation of the TCP, the Director-General has asked me to introduce this item because, as you see from my caption which has just been put here I am responsible not only for Programme and Budget but also for evaluation.

You will recall chat the Ditector-General took the initiative at your Seventy-First Session in June 1977 in announcing that he would carry out his evaluation of the first stage of the programme. "It noted with approval the intention of the Director-General to arrange for an evaluation which would assess performance adherence to approve criteria procedures and results. The Director-General was requested to submit his report of such an evaluation....." to this session of the Council. So it is clear that the evaluation is not in any way to revise the decision taken by the Sixty-ninth Session of the Council to establish the TCP nor to revise the decision of the Conference to increase the provision for it in the current Programme of Work and Budget, but to assess performance, adherence to approved criteria, procedures and rules.

As indicated in the document before you, the evaluation has been an intensive exercise using a variety of competent sources of information and judgement, including an independent report made to the Director-General by a Consultant. The latter was, however, only one of the elements in the overall exercise which involved governments, the Director-General, FAO representatives, UNDP Resident representatives, project personnel, regional and headquarters staff and other external observers. The results are set out in the document CL 74/14. It will be noted that there is an Annex which gives an analysis of quantitative performance followed by qualitative assessment.

As regards the quantitative performance, the Annex deals only with the first twenty months of the operations up to the 1 July 1978. The Programme has, of course, continued to gain momentum since then and the latest overall statistics are as follows; up to the end of October a total of 356 projects involving $26.26 million have been approved. Of these, more than 31% have been in Africa, more than 28% in Asia and the Far East, more than 18% in the Near East and more than 19% in Latin America; emer­gencies account for just more than 21% of the total.

The qualitative assessment in Annex I of the document deals with the involvement of governments, how projects fitted into each criteria. Other aspects of the Programme, such as its focus on increasing food production, on least developed countries, on utilization of national institutions, on local or regional procurement of supplies, and soforth, and finally, with applications of rules and procedures. The findings are summed up in the main part of the document.

I would like here to refer particularly to paragraphs 10 to 12 of the document setting out the general conclusions from all sources of information and assessment. I should like to stress in particular the points that this Programme, which is the first really tangible manifestation of a constitutional pro­vision existing in our basic texts since 1945, is indeed "operating in conformity to the objectives, criteria and procedures proposed by the Director-General and approved by the governing bodies. In particular it is meeting urgent and short-term needs, without duplication or substitution of other sources of assistance and in a practical flexible and effective manner, in priority fields of food, agricultural production, particularly in the least developed countries."

In this connexion I should like to try to dispel some confusion which might still exist in a very few quarters about the unique characteristics of the TCP, as seen in the evaluation report. It is unique because it is not programmed in advance. There is however a difference between unprogrammed and unfo­reseen activities. Emergencies are, of course, unforeseen. But the need for example, for various types of assistance in the field of investment may be clearly foreseen even though it cannot always be programmed in advance.

Secondly, the TCP was unique in being set up explicitly to deal with urgent short-term requirements in a rapid and flexible manner. It was never said or intended, however, that it should not and could not enter into fields which might be theoretically covered at some time or other by other sources of assistance. On the contrary, as its role in emergencies and as a catalyst shows, there are many sources of assistance but their statutes and/or rules, procedures or habits do not provide rapid small-scale, flexible response in an unprogrammed context or on a short-term basis.

This is a factor which I think emerges from the evaluation. It would take too long to spell out sup­porting details as given in the document. My colleagues who are responsible for the running of the TCP are here to support me, if required, including information on two matters which are apparently of peculiar interest to a few delegates, that is, projects which constitute complimentarity, follow-up and preparatory assistance to UNDP-financed projects and TCP projects which are related to other technical assistance programmes and/or investment organizations. These projects clearly show that the TCP is indeed adhering to the basic aims and criteria and covers not only small-scale unprogrammed activities, catalysing without duplicating other sources. That is why the TCP is popular not only with governments but, as reported in the report before you, with Resident Representatives and other financ­ing institutions

The document makes some recommendations to governments which on the basis of experience would increase the impact of the programmes. These are contained in paragraph 13(i) to (vi). In paragraphs 14 to 16 of the document the Director-General gives some information on the steps he has already taken for closer internal integration of the Technical Cooperation Programme with other FAO action programmes, for improvement in proiect handling and backstopping, including the delegation of authority to FAO Repre­sentatives to approve urgent small-scale project requests up to certain limited amounts.

Finally, in paragraphs 17(i) to (iv) there are some recommendations for Council consideration on additions to the guidelines in order to improve the impact of the programme. These relate to action in support of TCDC, a more liberal interpretation of the investment category, flexibility in time limits and a little more flexibility in categories of action.

As you will have noted, the Regional Conferences have expressed their views in resolutions and recommendations, which are summarized in the document before vou. and the Programme Committee has given a very positive response to the evaluation and to the Director-General's proposals. I will, of course, leave it to the Chairman of the Programme Committee to expatiate on the Committee's views.

I should like to conclude by referring back to what the Director-General said in his opening address, copies of which you now have in document CL 74/INF/5. Towards the end of his address he referred to the Evaluation Report and the use of the Programme Committee, stressing that the TCP projects have been short-term, small-scale, concrete, rapid in action, economical and efficient, non-duplicative and catalytic. He emphasized the essential characteristics of the Programme as immediacy and flexi­bility. As regards the recommendations before you, he pointed out that they were not fundamental but that the TCP was fundamental to realization of FAO's constitutional mandates. The TCP was not just a symbol, he said, but, together with our policy of decentralization primarily at the country level, was a cornerstone of the new FAO.

CHAIRMAN: As mentioned by Mr. West and as you have seen in the documents, the Programme Committee deliberated extensively on this matter. We have the Chairman of the Programme Committee here and I would like to ask him to take the floor.

M.TRKULJA (Chairman, Programme Committee) : I do not think that my task here is very difficult, since after all, as is seen, I hope, very clearly from the Report itself, the Programme Committee reached a full consensus on all substantial aspects of TCP, so I would like only to highlight some main issues.

May I say first that the Programme Committee, having considered, of course, the TCP Evaluation Report as very important, postponed its debate on this issue for almost one week to give enough time to all Members to study the Director-General's document and all other documentation given to the Committee and of course to give a fair opportunity to the Members to seek instructions from their capitals.

In connexion with this, I would like to stress one point, that in line with universally adopted practice in all international organizations, the Programme Committee was given full access to the report of the independent consultant.

I would also like to mention that the Programme Committee had before it four resolutions of the Regional Conferences, all expressing full support for TCP and indeed urging its continuation and strengthening in the future.

I would now say that the Programme Committee found the Director-General's document objective and comprehensive. The Programme Committee also found that the TCP in slightly more than 24 months of operation had already proved the validity of its original concept and found further that the Programme was operating in full conformity with the objectives, criteria and procedures proposed by the Director-General, as Mr. West just now stressed, and adopted by the governing bodies.

The Programme Committee wanted especially to stress one, in the view of the Committee, basic feature of the Programme — its unprogrammed nature — which is certainly essential for its promptness and. short-term character. The Committee was of the view that the TCP in no case duplicated; even more, the TCP was operating in full conformity and complimentarity with other programmes within the house, especially projects like the Food Security Scheme, Food Losses Programme, Seed Improvement and Investment.

The Programme Committee further noted with appreciation something which had been very clearly stressed in the report of the consultant, that is the high degree of very intimate involvement of the governments, which certainly makes possible the fostering of continuing dialogue and stressing the continuation of partnership.

Coming to the recommendations to the governments, the Committee expressed its full agreement with the proposals of the Director-General and in doing so, it especially wanted to stress proposals contained in (ii), (v), and (vi) referring to complimentarity, national institutions, local expertise and local resources.

Now I wish to say a few words on national institutions and local institutions. The Committee was fully aware that the prime responsibility for identifying qualified national institutions or regional insti­tutions rests with the governments concerned. Nonetheless, the Committee wanted to urge a kind of continuous campaign making full use, as the Report of the Committee says, of FAO representatives to ensure that the opportunities to use national institutions are fully exploited.

As regards paragraphs 17, the Committee wanted tp make a few observations. It emphasized caution in formulating inter-country projects under the TCP umbrella, and the Committee felt that this cautious approach should be pursued in order not to jeopardise the short-term nature of the basic feature of the Programme. The Committee fully endorsed the proposals of the Director-General referring to a more liberal interpretation of investment projects. It also stressed the proposal of the Director-General as contained in (iv) and expressed its full satisfaction and its hope that duplication will be avoided in the future, and, of course, that complimentarity would be maintained.

The last concensus of the Committee was that it agreed completely with the proposal of the Director-General that full evaluation of the TCP should be undertaken after a full five years of operation; that means in 1982.

I would now really say only a few words about some concerns, warnings or suggestions made by one member of the Committee, which was, in my understanding, at least, first of all related to the problem of physical inputs and some other points, but I had better stop now because the country whose representa­tive expressed these concerns, warnings or suggestions is represented in the Council and would certainly be much more able to present their points than I am able to do.

CHAIRMAN : It seems to me this is a subject which is of great interest to Council -as it should be -because it is a subject which touches both developed and developing countries. This interest is shown by the large number of delegates who have raised their flags to speak. I think you will agree with me that this debate is very important and we have to have some system in which we can keep to our line of discussion. The Director-General has made concrete proposals for Council's approval which are on page 5 of CL 74/14, and I would like members to speak on those points; of course, they can develop their arguments, but in the end these are the things to be decided on.

S.A.A. KHALIL (Chairman, Group of 77) (Interprétation from Arabic) : I will be very brief and comply with your request for brevity. On behalf of the Group of 77, we should like to congratulate the Programme Committee and its Chairman for the very useful analysis of the TCP including also the Director-General's proposal in document CL 74/14, and its conclusions which we fully support. Like the Programme Committee, we in the Group of 77 find the document very useful in giving us in a concise and concrete form a compre­hensive and objective view of the TCP since it started two years ago.

We are glad to note that the Director-General has based his conclusions not only on the consultants' report but also on his own observations and the experience of the member countries which have benefited from the Programme. Our governments have received help from the TCP for emergency training and investment, and urgent small scale requirements, so we were able to judge the promptness and effectiveness of the TCP in relation to our own needs.

Judging by the resolutions and recommendations reported in the separate Council document on the results of regional conferences, we see this is also true of all developing countries, and we notice it is also confirmed by the overall findings in the document. When the Evaluation report and the Programme Committee says FAO is following the guidelines and criteria set up for the TCP, this is not just an impression, it is founded on facts.

A few fundamental issues should be brought to the attention of the Council. First of all, as foreseen in the Constitution of FAO, we should always have such a Programme. Secondly, it is a unique Programme in the sense it is so rapid and flexible, and capable of responding to unforeseen and urgent needs of deve­loping countries. For this we should like to pay tribute to the Director-General and to the small group of people who deal with the TCP on an overall basis, and all the staff concerned in the projects. The Programme does not duplicate national activities, nor does it interfere with the projects financed from bi-lateral aid or other multilateral financing agencies, but it helps to catalyse development efforts.

We are convinced that the TCP is an absolutely indispensable and integral part of the Regular Programme, and therefore should be strengthened financially.

Finally, we are in full agreement with the conclusions of the Director-General's report, and hope the Council will warmly endorse it.

In conclusion, I take the liberty of reserving the right on behalf of the Group of 77 to speak again before the discussion on this item closes.

Ms. F.A. CHENOWETH (Liberia) : We have a document in front of us which in our opinion is very well prepared. We have listened to the comments on the document which we feel also have been very well done.

Looking at the global picture of hunger and malnutrition, the picture of a poor land with little technology, our Director-General saw a real need and he proposed a solution in the form of an action programme called the TCP. One notable aspect of the Programme observed by many of us then, and proven to many of us today, is that it is outstanding in its corrective measures as well as preventive measures.

The programme was approved and got off to a very early start, and has made a true impact in many countries today. Liberia, as a beneficiary of this Programme, can truly attest to this. We agree with the feeling of the Director-General as to the summing up of the independent consultant in his letter to the Director-General as stated under item 12. Further to this the Liberian delegation fully supports the Director-General's position and recommendations to governments as outlined under item 19 in the document. The action he has taken, and those to be taken as outlined in a document under item 14, also have our strong support. We support - and we hope all those here will join us in this support - the Director-General's proposals for Council approval as outlined in item 17. That this should become in the slightest form a matter of controversy would be, to say the least, very disappointing.

We have listened with great interest to other countries from the developed world as they have indicated their governments' decision to contribute food and other emergency aid as well as their cash donations. At the same time, we have listened with much dismay to the bleak picture of local conditions, many caused by disasters, of the least developed and most seriously affected countries, but we congratulate and thank those who are so willing to help.

For those deprived countries who continue to be adversely affected by unscrupulous practices by stronger and more developed countries, and by the mean hand of nature itself, we continue to be concerned. We have all heard the views expressed by the developed and least developed countries as to who is responsible for the plight of the poor in the least developed countries. If one wanted to be very objective, one would accept the fact that both sides have to take a share of the responsibility to effect changes. It is our strong view, and the view of all members of my delegation and my government, that a programme like the TCP is one that will help the least developed countries and the most seriously affected members. We therefore urge support for the Programme, and hope donor countries will find it expedient to increase their level of support.

Let us remember in our consideration the wise old saying that if you give a man a fish you have to feed him for ever, but if you teach him how to fish he will be able to feed himself. This issue, then, should be a matter which we should want to dispose of and one we should want to support, as in our view it is one that I am sure most of us will agree to.

We must therefore join, in more meaningful ways, in these cooperative methods to meet the needs of the world, in the realization that true progress can only be made on the basis of a consensus between donors and recipient countries.

B. DE AZEVEDO BRITO (Brazil): I would like to preface my comments with a word of thanks for both Mr. West and Mr. Trkulja for their introductory remarks.

My delegation is particularly pleased with the opportunity given to the Council to undertake an objective evaluation of the Technical Cooperation Programme after the first two years of its operations. I feel I do not need to underline the basic premise of our exercise.

What the Council is asked to do at this stage is simply to assess on the basis of available evidence the actual performance of TCP. Even so, as a preliminary observation we would like to state here once again our basic understanding that the Technical Cooperation Programme of FAO constitutes an essential and integral part of the activities performed by the Organization by virtue of its Constitution. Technical assistance within the Regular Programme of the Organization is not in our view an anomoly for which excuses should be found. It is in fact, as has already been indicated, a constitutional requirement. Extra-budgetary resources were never envisaged as a substitute for technical assistance within the Regular Programme of FAO, nor of any other organization of the United Nations system. I make these preliminary observations since the actual evaluation of the results of TCP is to some extent linked to the very nature of that programme.

Turning back to the exercise of evaluating TCP, my delegation feels that we should be grateful for being able to rely on the dispassionate and informative report in document CL 74/14. The report, which the Programme Committee has examined thoroughly, and I must say conscientiously, draws a number of important conclusions which the Programme Committee in its collective wisdom found it appropriate to endorse.

Without wishing to be repetitive, I feel nonetheless compelled to underline a couple of the conclusions of the Report which in our view should be kept in mind by the Council. Logically the first of these conclusions is that the TCP projects are being implemented strictly in accordancd with the aims, criteria and focuses originally envisaged for the programme. From that it follows that the operations within TCP have not departed from their approved objectives. More specifically, the findings of the evaluation, as reflected in the Director-General's report, leave no doubt that TCP's activities in the past two years have focussed primarily on increasing food production, that the poorer segments of the population have been, practically in all cases, the real beneficiaries, and finally that the programme has shown a high degree of flexibility, efficiency and speed in dealing with the most pressing needs in the recipient countries. All this is brought out very clearly in the Director-General's report.

On the basis of our own experience we would like to say that we agree unreservedly with this assessment, as we also share the belief that notwithstanding its limited resources the operations of TCP have suc­ceeded in ensuring a high and most welcome degree of government involvement. This last point is in our view particularly crucial, since technical cooperation is only relevant and desirable when the benefi­ciaries are in fact matched with the purported benefits.

There is now a dialogue, a fruitful and welcome dialogue, between FAO and the Member States. For once we have a programme in which participating countries are unmistalably interested and which provides a sense of partnership that is directly linked to the unprogrammed nature of TCP. Programmes within TCP are planned by the recipient countries themselves. They are not superimposed from outside but emerge from the grass roots. From those we are making development a reality. They are not based on hypothe­tical requirements conceived in a faraway office but on a directly felt need, clearly identified within a specific context.

This particular virtue of TCP is highly significant in the field of agricultural development, for agri­culture is an economic activity in which plans cannot possibly take into account all the developments nor possibly contemplate the infinitely varied conditions of production which might result from climate, soil, available technology, etc. In the light of this my delegation is not at all surprised to read in document CL 74/14 that it was felt that TCP is a crucially important innovation which has made a remarkable start.

On the basis of these observations, fully supported by our own experience with the Technical Cooperation Programme, my delegation would like to concur with the recommendations to governments reproduced in paragraph 13 of the document under review and with the proposals for Council approval advanced in paragraph 17 of the same document. Our endorsement of these recommendations and proposals is extended in the belief that they are geared to the further improvement of TCP as a flexible programme capable of providing short-term urgent assistance with a clear multiplier effect in the development process of the recipient countries. I very much hope that the Council will endorse these recommendations and proposals and, based on its own positive evaluation of TCP, will favour a strenthening of that programme in the next biennium.

What is in question in this evaluation exercise is our determination to bring about a new and innovative phase in international cooperation for development, more effective, more authentic and more attuned to the requirements of those really in need of the support of the international community. As the second largest contributor to the Regular Programme of the Organization among the developing countries, after China, we take comfort in identifying a case in which beyond any possible doubt scarce resources are being used in a most effective and rational manner.

H.L. CLAVERIE RODRIGUEZ (Venezuela): Sr. Presidente, al iniciar esta disertación de hoy, quisiera agradecer al Sr. West, asistente al Director General, y al Sr. Trkulja, de Yugoslavia, Presidente del Comité del Programa, por sus intervenciones.

El Sr. Trkulja ha realizado un efectivísimo análisis, eficaz y muy verdadero de lo sucedido en el Comité del Programa. Por ello le expreso nuestro agradecimiento.

Quisiera iniciar esta intervención de la Delegación Venezolana sobre el Programa de Cooperación Técnica y la evaluación del mismo, tal como lo ofrece a nuestra consideración el documento CL 74/14, solicitando de antemano, Sr. Presidente, su indulgencia y la de este Consejo por los minutos que me lleve exponer las ideas y opiniones que le transmite nuestra delegación. Trataremos, señor, de no traspasar los límites de sus deseos iniciales, pero la gran importancia que concedemos a esta materia nos induce a no ser estrictamente telegráficos.

Por supuesto que aprobamos en todos sus aspectos la intervención hecha hace pocos minutos por el Presidente del Grupo de los 77; hacemos nuestro todo su alcance y le agradecemos el haberlo expues­to tan claramente.

El Programa de Cooperación Técnica que viene adelantando esta Organización, producto de la pragmá­tica iniciativa del actual Director General, ha venido contando desde sus inicios con el apoyo y aliento del Gobierno de Venezuela y por supuesto, de nuestra delegación.

Hemos sido afortunados por haber sido testigos de su nacimiento en el ya histórico 69° Consejo de esta casa durante la primavera de 1976. Ya desde esa ocasión lo vislumbramos como un buen instrumento no solo de ayuda, sino de desarrollo para los países del mundo en desarrollo que tanta necesidad tienen de la misma, incluido naturalmente el nuestro.

Por ello nuestra gratitud es amplia y sincera y nuestro reconocimiento lleno de simpatía hacia el Director General, Edouard Saouma, por esta feliz iniciativa que hoy más que nunca deseamos apoyar.

En el 35 Comité del Programa, del cual formamos parte por mandato de este Consejo, discutimos ampliamente el tema de la evaluación del Programa de Cooperación Técnica, tal como nos fue presen­tado por la Secretaría del Comité y a la luz de los resultados obtenidos en la evaluación encargada por el Director General al Asesor Linner y la cual reviste un carácter privado entre ambos.

Estimamos en su real valor esa iniciativa del Director General con la cual sólo pone de manifiesto su sinceridad y preocupación por el funcionamiento de este programa básico dentro del cuerpo general de políticas con que encuadra su gestión administrativa.

El Informe del 35 Comité del Programa ofrecido a consideración de este cuerpo, recoge claramente nuestra opinión sobre la marcha del PCT y sobre las medidas que serían necesarias adoptar a objeto de reforzarlo y a fin de hacerlo más dinámico y efectivo, características éstas indispensables e inherentes a su propria condición.

Apoyamos pues, en toda su magnitud las medidas recogidas en el Comité del Programa y en la evalua­ción realizada por el Asesor particular al Director General. Nuestro Gobierno ha adelantado un análisis paralelo sobre el PCT y su funcionamiento, para lo cual ha sido necesario realizar una investigación concreta de carácter bilateral. Nos agrada hoy reconocer que los resultados son satisfactorios, llenos de amplitud y objetividad si se tiene presente el arco de acción cubiertos por el PCT durante sus dos años de vida.

Sería injusto no reconocer la acción del PCT en nuestra propia región latinoamericana, muchos de cuyos países solicitaron ayuda y obtuvieron respuesta efectiva y rápida en cada uno de los casos, para lo cual no se dejó prevalecer ningún tipo de criterio restrictivo.

Por todo ello nos sentimos agradecidos y hacemos sincera mención de nuestro reconocimiento.

No obstante todo lo que me he permitido mencionar en esta intervención, opinamos que, al igual que cualquier iniciativa es proclive de aceptar mejoras sin perder de vista su objetivo final, el pro­grama de Cooperación Técnica es capaz igualmente de aceptarlas, para lo cual dispone de los elementos y elasticidad necesarios.

En este sentido apoyamos en su completa amplitud las medidas adoptadas por el Director General y enun­ciadas en los párrafos 14, 15 y 16 del documento CL 74/14, tendientes a lograr una mayor interacción del PCT dentro de las estructuras internas de las actividades técnicas y administrativas de la FAO.

Igualmente, nos parecen aceptables y justas las recomendaciones que el Director General eleva a los gobiernos sobre la base de la experiencia adquirida.

Al analizar las propuestas sometidas a consideración del Consejo, tenemos que reconocer que no lle­gamos a entender a cabalidad el por qué limitar a un máximo de tres países el eventual frente común de ataque en el caso de un problema común para el cual puedan destinarse recursos especiales del PCT, tal como se describe en la primera de estas recomendaciones. Entendemos que así la acción del PCT se vería reforzada y la misma revistiría un carácter más eficaz, permitiendo que el mismo produzca efectos multiplicadores originados en su propia acción específica.

Las relaciones económicas regionales y subregionales en la actualidad y en el futuro previsible, se están acometiendo en gran medida bajo el espíritu de estructuras económicas integradas, a cuya disposición se han colocado instituciones especializadas con carácter de cooperación y colaboración interregional.

Me permito recordar aquí la existencia en América Latina del Sistema Económico Latinoamericano (SELA) con sus Comités de Acción para diferentes áreas. Pues bien, pensamos que debería darse la oportunidad a que el PCT ejerciera su acción en determinados casos como los que contempla la Recomendación primera al Consejo, produciendo efectos multiplicadores por demás positivos y coadyu­vantes a ejercer efectos colaterales de tipo integracionista. Esta pudiera ser, una acción del PCT que, reforzada como la entendemos, produciría grandes y eficaces efectos.

Para concluir, desearíamos definir la posición de la Delegación de Venezuela, en el sentido de de­clarar nuestra total inconformidad ante la idea de restringir a niveles inaceptables los límites per­misibles de uso de recursos ordinarios del PCT, destinados a la adquisición de insumos físicos y equipos en los propios países solicitantes de la colaboración. Creemos sinceramente, que la men­cionada opinión no tiene ningún sentido desde el punto de vista de la ayuda a los países en desa­rrollo y que por lo tanto no debería avanzar, pues la misma estaría llamada a desvirtuar y desmentir la tantas veces expresada buena voluntad de los países desarrollados para contribuir y colaborar al desarrollo del cada vez mayor numero de países en vías de desarrollo que necesitan urgentes acciones de ayuda comercial y financiera.

Concluyo, entonces, apoyando en nombre de nuestra delegación el funcionamiento actual del Programa de Cooperación Técnica en su total amplitud, tal cual ha sido presentado en esta Casa por el Director General, señor Saouma,y adelantado por su misma administración; igualmente apoyamos la evaluación del Asesor Linner y al PCT en toda su extensión. Agradezco altamente a usted, y a este Consejo, por la paciencia que me han dispensado, pero realmente consideramos un deber intervenir en este tema, tal como lo hemos hecho.

G. BULA HOYOS (Colombia): Deseamos felicitar muy cordialmente al señor Trkulja por la forma clara y concreta como ha hecho su primera presentación ante el Consejo en calidad de Presidente del Comité del Programa. La lectura del documento CL 74/14 arroja dos conclusiones fundamentales para la con­sideración de este tema. La primera, el Programa de Cooperación Técnica, constituye buen éxito y se ejecuta de acuerdo con los objetivos, los criterios y las prioridades establecidas como se afirma enfáticamente en el párrafo 10.

La segunda, en la ejecución del programa ha existido plena cooperación por parte de los representan­tes residentes del PNUD y se ha asegurado la necesaria coordinación, es decir, que no se ha producido la fragmentación de que hablaron algunas pocas delegaciones cuando por primera vez nuestro Consejo se ocupó de este asunto; por el contrario, el párrafo 10 del documento, confirma que no se ha dupli­cado ni reemplazado la asistencia procedente de otras fuentes, sino que se las ha complementado.

A juicio de la delegación de Colombia, bastarían estos dos hechos fundamentales para afirmar que el Programa de Cooperación Técnica se ha ganado su propia luz verde, y tiene derecho a seguir figurando como parte integrante del Programa Ordinario de la FAO, con las reorientaciones propuestas por el Director General, y ojalá con creciente asignación de recursos, porque esto nos parece tan claro y tan obvio que no entendemos, aunque respetamos, la reserva que ha hecho un miembro del Comité del Programa y que aparece en los párrafos 1.6-3 y 1.6-4 del documento CL 74/5. Queremos destacar la labor que ha realizado el señor Linner, Consultor independiente. Sabemos que hizo numerosos viajes y sobre el terreno él pudo constatar directamente los beneficios tangibles del Programa, que, como lo afirma en su carta, representa una afortunada innovación la rapidez con que se atendieron las soli­citudes y se ofreció la asistencia. ;Es sin duda, parece esencial, para la eficacia del programa, que deberá seguirse con esa rapidez y eficacia que constituyen el carácter diferente y positivo del Programa.

El apoyo que los gobiernos han ofrecido al PCT, según el párrafo 13, confirman la validez y la aceptación general del Programa, y a nuestro juicio, debiera también ofrecer razones de meditación al PNUD y a las agencias de ejecución para que traten de mejorar el manejo de la Asistencia Técnica y ofrecer más atención a los gobiernos en cuanto hace referencia a los retardos habituales en la ejecución de los proyectos que todo conocemos.

En el Anexo 1, la realización cuantitativa indica que de 433 solicitudes se aprobaron 303, o sea, cerca del 65 por ciento. La distribución geográfica que aparece en el párrafo 1 del Anexo 2, pare­ce equilibrada, ojalá que sigan conservando estas proporciones en el futuro en América Latina.

Entendemos que el PCT se ha concentrado esencialmente en los países de Centroamérica y del Caribe. Esto nos parece adecuado porque son estados que tienen un grado de desarrollo diferente al de la ma­yoría de las naciones de Sudamérica. Sin embargo, en Colombia también nos estamos beneficiando del PCT porque ha ofrecido atención inmediata a las solicitudes de nuestros Gobiernos.

Sobre las propuestas sometidas a la aprobación del Consejo que aparecen en el párrafo 17, apóyanos el Apartado I a fin de que el PCT amplíe su radio de acción y vaya más allá de un solo país y pueda ofrecer asistencia a varios países cuando sea necesario, tal como se refleja en el párrafo 19 del Anexo.

La delegación de Colombia está igualmente de acuerdo con los Apartados II, III y IV, por considerar que es necesario conservar la flexibilidad en los plazos, estimular las inversiones y adoptar nuevas medidas de acuerdo con la evolución que vaya presentándose. En cambio, nos preocupa un poco la afirmación del párrafo 28 del Anexo, según la cual la utilización de instituciones nacionales y expertos locales ha sido más bien limitada. Habrá que insistir para lograr que se incremente el mayor uso de las instituciones y de los expertos nacionales, punto sobre el cual apoyamos la recomendación del Comité del Programa. Comprendemos que esto no es fácil en todos los países en desarrollo, pero vale la pena seguir explorando las posibilidades a este respecto.

Los párrafos 13 y 16 del documento, nos parecen muy acertados en cuanto se refieren a las misiones que vayan a los países de menor desarrollo para ayudarlos a identificar y preparar proyectos que les permitan utilizar los recursos del PCT. Consideramos en este campo que la función de los represen­tantes de la FAO en los países sigue siendo muy importante. A este respecto queremos aquí dejar constancia del reconocimiento y del aprecio positivo del Gobierno de Colombia por la labor que viene cumpliendo en nuestro país el señor Emilio Trigueros, Representante de la FAO, que con su inteligen­cia y consagración viene ofreciendo valiosa asistencia al Gobierno colombiano y particularmente a nuestro Ministerio de Agricultura.

En síntesis, la delegación de Colombia está de acuerdo con esta estimación provisional, así la ha llamado en forma acertada el Comité del Programa, y espera que nuestro PCT siga siendo cada día más positivo y valioso.

C. BATAULT (France): A la 69ème session du Conseil, le Directeur général, M. Edouard Saouma, avait proposé la création d'un programme de coopération technique permettant de faire face à des situations inattendues, et de répondre à des besoins imprévus surgissant dans le cadre du programme de développement établi par les gouvernements et des autres programmes d'aide technique financière.

L'objectif du PCT était de donner aux Etats Membres une aide rapide et souple au moyen d'interven­tions urgentes et de faible ampleur.

Comme l'avait fort bien souligné à l'époque le Directeur général, il s'agissait de donner à l'Orga­nisation une dimension nouvelle en la rendant essentiellement opérationnelle, le programme pouvant servir en plus de catalyseur stimulant l'afflux de ressources tant extérieures qu'intérieures vers le secteur agricole.

Comment devons-nous aujourd'hui, à la 74ème session du Conseil, évaluer ce programme qui fait par­tie intégrante de la FAO et a pu être mis en oeuvre grâce à des économies réalisées sur d'autres parties du budget de l'Organisation?

Tout d'abord, nous devons féliciter le Directeur général des résultats déjà acquis par le PCT. L'évaluation qu'il en a faite, présentée par le Secrétariat dans l'excellent document CL/74/14 et avec talent par M. West, correspond à la notre, et la délégation française est particulièrement satisfaite de voir que les projets approuvés en faveur des pays les moins avancés et le plus grave­ment touchés représentent plus de la moitié des crédits affectés. C'est tout à l'honneur du Direc­teur général et de ses collaborateurs qui se sont attelés à cette tâche avec autant d'efficacité que d'ardeur.

Ainsi, pouvons-nous souscrire aux recommandations aux gouvernements présentées au paragraphe 13 du document qui nous est soumis.

Je voudrais toutefois faire quelques remarques.

Tout d'abord, nous nous félicitons et nous réjouissons de la bonne coopération qui s'est établie entre le PCT et les représentants résidents du PNUD. Nous nous demandons toutefois ce que signifie exactement l'observation contenue au paragraphe 27 de la page A5, selon laquelle la coordination avec d'autres organismes intéressés au niveau des pays n'est pas satisfaisante.

De quoi et de qui s'agit-il exactement; si ce n'est pas indiscret de sa part, la délégation fran­çaise serait heureuse d'avoir des précisions à cet égard.

Je souhaiterais également que l'on précise dans quelles circonstances la mise en oeuvre d'actions d'urgence nécessitent un délai de six mois. Je crois d'ailleurs le comprendre mais j'aimerais tout de même avoir une précision à cet égard.

Enfin, nous approuvons dans l'ensemble les propositions du Directeur general. Le paragraphe 16 tendant à affecter 200 000 dollars par an pour permettre à certains pays d'identifier leurs besoins ne saurait recueillir notre accord. En effet, nous savons que chacun des projets du PCT est étudié et identifié avec beaucoup de soin avant d'être mis en oeuvre, et a notre avis cette identification supplémentaire risque simplement d'entraîner le PCT à s'éloigner de son but et à entrer en concurrence avec d'autres organisations compétentes.

Enfin, Monsieur le Président, la proposition tendant à étendre de 12 à 24 mois certains projets du PCT, bien qu'elle puissejparfois répondre, nous le comprenons fort bien, à des situations réelles, doit, nous semble-t-il, être rejetée en principe car elle s'éloigne du but essentiel du programme qui est de faire face à des situations d'urgence, nécessitant des projets à court terme en évitant tout double emploi, comme vient de le souligner le Président du Comité du programme.

Monsieur le Président, je ne saurais mieux faire à cet égard que de rappeler les quatre principes excellemment définis par le Directeur général lors de la creátion du PCT: Préparation et survie des investissements, formation, principalement d'ordre pratique, besoins d'urgence faisant notamment suite à des fléaux naturels, besoins imprévus.

Telles sont les bases du PCT et tels sont les principes qui ont procédé à sa fondation.

C'est l'application de ces principes, Monsieur le Président, qui en fait, selon l'expression employée judicieusement par le porte-parole du Groupe des 77, "un véritable catalyseur des efforts de développement''.

I1 nous apparaît donc essentiel de voir le PCT, puisque nous voulons assurer son avenir, rester dans le cadre qui lui a été fixé à 1'origine, qui en a fait le remarquable succès de cet organisme opérationnel de la FAO, de cet instrument original et efficace dont notre Organisation, pensons-nous, peut légitimement être fière.

The meeting rose at 12.50 hours
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