CHAIRMAN: Distinguished Delegates, I should like to acknowledge most sincerely the honour you have accorded me and my country by electing me as Chairman of this Commission.I shall endeavour to ensure that the work of the Commission is successful.
I should also like to express my congratulations to the four Vice-Chairmen of the Commission, Ambassador Valdes of the Philippines, Mr. El Dalati of Syria, Mr. Landymore of the United Kingdom, and Ambassador La Corte of Venezuela.I must thank them for agreeing to serve on this Commission and I look forward to fruitful collaboration with them.
Furthermore, I should like to propose as Rapporteur of our Commission Mr. Parves Masud of Pakistan. As you know, he has made valuable contributions to FAO meetings and has had an opportunity of following the items under discussion at the earlier session of the Council.If he is available, I will ask him to take up his position as Rapporteur and, on behalf of the Commission, I thank him for having accepted this burden.
S. KRONVALL (Sweden): It is my pleasure, on behalf of the Swedish delegation, to second the nomination of Mr. Parves Masud of the Pakistan delegation as Rapporteur of this Commission.I am convinced that Mr. Masud's long experience in FAO activities and his high personal qualifications will contribute to a successful outcome of the work of Commission III.
I therefore wholeheartedly support the election of Mr. Masud as our Rapporteur.
I. HAKIM (Indonesia): My delegation would also like to support the nomination of. Mr. Masud as our Rapporteur. We know Mr. Masud very well here in FAO from his activities during our sessions and at various meetings. We are sure he will fulfill th e task we have asked of him, and therefore we wholeheartedly support the nomination of Mr. Masud.
CHAIRMAN: If no other delegation wishes to take the floor I take it that the appointment of Mr. Masud as Rapporteur of this Commission is unanimously agreed.
Applause
Applaudissements
Aplausos
CHAIRMAN: At this stage, I want to limit my remarks to the first two items before us, Item 17, the Composition and Terms of Reference of the Council, Programme Committee, Finance Committee and CCLM, and Item 18, which is Amendments to the FAO Constitution and Géneral Rules of the Organization.
As you know, these two items are very closely interrelated, since most of the issues discussed under Item 17 will eventually necessitate amendments of the FAO Basic Texts.In order to avoid duplication of discussions, I would therefore suggest taking Items 17 and 18~together, and discussing the substantive points one by one in each case, carrying through until we agree on the required amendments before taking up the next point.In this way I hope we can save some time and energy.
As you will have noticed from the Journal of the Conference, the first point is the increase in Council seats. We have to give priority to this point to enable the Conference to elect the Council members at the Twentieth Plenary Meeting on 28 November.This requires an amendment to the Constitution and if we can reach agreement on this point today, which I hope we shall, the first part of the report on this limited subject can be ready for adoption by this Commission tomorrow morning. Once we have disposed of this priority question, we can move to the next point on the Agenda, Items 17 and 18.For the time being, however, I invite you to concentrate your attention exclusively on the question of the increase of Council seats on which we must reach an early decision.
The relevant documents before you are C 77/LIM/13, page 2, paras. 208-211 and the Conference Resolution in document C 77/LIM/13-Sup.1, Appendix A, both of which are extracts from the report of the Seventy-First Session of the Council.
I now invite the Legal Counsel to introduce the subject.
LEGAL COUNSEL: As you already;stated, Mr. Chairman, the question the increase in the number of Council seats is dealt with in documents C 77/LIM/13 and C 77/LIM/13-Sup.1. The first document sets forth the proposal of the Council and the second document contains a draft Conference resolution designed to give effect to that proposal.
It will be recalled that the Conference, at its last session, adopted Resolution 3/75, paragraph 9, which requested the Council ''to embark as soon as possible on a study of the composition and terms of reference of the Council, the Programme Commitee, the Finance Committee and the CCLM''.
In order to give effect to this request,the Council at its post-Conference session two years ago established a working party which considered, among other things, the number and distribution of seats of the Council. The report of the ad hoc Committee which was submitted to the Council at its Seventy-First Session in June of this year set forth various alternative proposals ranging between the possibility of maintaining the Council at its present size and that of increasing its size by adding as many as eleven seats.
On the one hand, emphasis was placedon the need to keep the Council to a manageable size in order to retain efficiency. On the other hand, it was recognized that the increase in the Organization's membership since 1973, when the number of seats had been fixed at 42, called for a limited increase in the size of the Council and that there was a need for improving the geographical representation of certain regions, especially that of Africa. Accordingly, the majority of the members of the Council agreed on an intermediate solution whereby the number of seats would be increased by seven, thus bringing the total membership of the Council to forty-nine.It was also agreed that three additional seats should be allocated to Africa, and one each to Asia and the Far East, to Europe, to Latin America and to the Near East.
If the Conference were to endorse that proposal, it would be necessary to amend Article V, paragraph 1 of the Constitution and Rule XXII, paragraphe 1 (b) of the General Rules of the Organization. The proposed amendment to the Constitution has been duly circulated by the Director-General to all Member Nations within the notice period required under Article XX of the Constitution.
The draft resolution set forth in Appendix A of document C 77/LIM/13-Sup.1 has been reviewed by the Resolutions Committee of the Conference as far as its form is concerned, and I understand that no
modifications have been proposed by the Resolutions Committee.The next consideration by the Resolutions Committee is in document C 77/LIM/33 which has been circulated this morning.It is identical with the text appearing in document C 77/LIM/13-Sup.1.
I. MOSKOVITS (Malta): This is the first opportunity for my delegation to speak in this Commission, and first of all we would like to congratulate you, Mr. Chairman, on your election as Chairman, and also to congratulate the Vice-Chairmen. We would like to express our great satisfaction that Mr. Masud will be the Rapporteur of the Commission.
May I recall that it was the delegation of Malta which, at the Seventeenth and also at the Eighteenth Session of the Conference, asked that a thorough investigation be made into the composition, functions and role of the Council.
The paper before us gives the result of the work of the ad hoc Working Party adopted in full by the Council. This delegation accepts the Council's proposals and the modifications to the Constitution which are necessary in this regard, in part as to the increase of Council seats. Nonetheless we regret to say that this solution resolves only part of the problem as we see it and does not give full satis-faction to the problem before us.
When we made our proposals we hoped that not only the number of Council seats would be examined by the Council and its Working Party but also that the structural changes that we feel are needed to make the work of the Council more effective and efficient would give an opportunity to foster real collabora-tion among all the Member Nations to this Organization, as requested by Conference Resolution 3/75.
The Conference also expressed its hope that the solution that will be reached before the Nineteenth Conference will solve the problem permanently and once and for all.I think nobody among us here thinks that the solution we are adopting now is a permanent solution, but as I told you, we accepted it as an intermediary solution and hope that the question will be re-examined. I am wondering if this Commission wishes perhaps to propose to the Conference that the work started by the ad hoc Working Party and the Council should be continued in the following biennium or perhaps later.
J. BERTELING (Netherlands): Increasing the number of Council seats seems a logical consequence of the interests of countries to be elected to the Council. It seems to me the Council is very important. However, the effectiveness of the Council might very well decrease by increasing the number of seats. My delegation is of the opinion that FAO is a very important Organization that should organize its work as effectively as possible. We therefore would prefer the smallest possible increase of zero seats, but we could accept the proposed increase.
R. SALMI (Finland): Mr. Chairman, please allow me on behalf of the Nordic countries - Denmark, Iceland, Norway, Sweden and Finland - to congratulate you on your election to the Chairmanship of this Commission. We are confident that under your leadership the Commission will succeed in its task.
As to the question of increasing the number of seats in the FAO Council, the problem of maintaining the desired amount of efficiency in the Council's work has been put forward on a number of occasions, and rightly so.It cannot be denied that there are some disadvantages connected with the increase in the number of seats in the Council. However, these disadvantages can rightfully be considered as necessary evils related to the growth of an international organization. None of us would like to see FAO diminish in scope or in the number of members. The proposed increase in the number of seats in the Council from 42 to 49 to which the majority of Council members have been able to agree therefore equally finds the support of the Nordic countries.
P. BYRNES (United States of America): Mr. Chairman, may I also congratulate you on your election as Chairman of this Commission and welcome as Rapporteur our friend Mr. Masud of Pakistan.
My Government has traditionally thought that in the interests of efficiency and effectiveness the Executive Bodies of the various agencies should be as small as possible. Nevertheless we recognize that the increased size of membership, particularly in the African Region, and the desire of all members to participate in the important work of the Council. Therefore, we agree to increasing the size of the Council from 42 to 49. We support the proposed Resolution and the necessary amendment to our Constitution.
M.A. MAKKI (Saudi Arabia) (interpretation from Arabic): Mr. Chairman, I also wish to congratulate you and the Vice-Chairmen on your election and I am sure that under your guidance the work of this Commission will arrive at positive results.
With respect to the item under scrutiny we are, of course, very much in favour of the increase of the number of seats in Council tecause we think many countries, particularly African countries who recently acceded to independence and joined the Organization a short time ago, would be unfairly treated if not represented on the Council. We also agree with the proposal made by the delegate of Malta to have this matter resumed again in the future and that the solution be not regarded as definitive, final and permanent. We therefore agree with the increase from 42 to 49 in the number of seats on the Council and accept the amendments consequent to it.
J.S. CAMARA (Guinée): Je tiens tout d'abord à joindre ma voix à celles des delegations qui m'ont précédé pour vous présenter toutes nos félicitations à vous comme aux Vice-Présidents, ainsi qu'à notre ami et collègue Masud, qui va être notre rapporteur.
Concernant ce point spécifique, nous tenons à réaffirmer, même si nous donnons notre accord à la proposition du Conseil, notre insatisfaction pour la région africaine et, partant de là, nous pensons que nous ne sommes pas au bout de nos peines et que ce problème doit rester ouvert comme l'a proposé le délégué de Malte. Donc, ma délégation appuie la proposition de Malte, à savoir que le groupe de travail et le Conseil poursuivent leur tâche pour que des propositions beaucoup plus équitables soient trouvées pour la composition du Conseil, car, malgré la proposition du Conseil et ses recommandations, il se trouve que la région africaine est toujours défavorisée par rapport aux. autres régions. Nous sommes, certes, pour l'efficacité du Conseil; nous avons toujours dit que le Conseil doit être un instrument efficace au service de la FAO, mais cela ne doit pas empêcher une réprésentation plus équitable de toutes les régions au sein du Conseil, car l'Acte constitutif même de la FAO le dit, tous les Etats doivent participer aux activités de la FAO et, en tant que telle,notre région doit pleine-ment participer, parce que c'est une des régions où se posent avec le plus d'acuité les problèmes alimentaires. C'est pour cela que nous estimons que nous devons être mieux représentés que nous ne le sommes aujourd'hui.
Les trois sièges qui sont donnés à la région africaine, nous nous y rallions, mais nous ne sommes pas satisfaits et nous souhaitons que cela soit mentionné dans le procès-verbal de cette session; ce n'est pas une satisfaction car en tenant compte de la répartition actuelle et de la répartition proposée, toutes les régions vont bénéficier d'un siège, et proportionnellement, pour l'Afrique ce n'est pas trois sièges mais cinq que nous aurions du avoir pour pouvoir être au même niveau que les autres régions. Nous pensons que tout en nous ralliant à cette proposition, le groupe de travail doit poursuivre sa tâche pour qu'à la prochaine session de la Conférence générale il y ait équité entre toutes les régions.
J. L. TOFFIN (France): Permettez-moi tout d'abord de vous féliciter à mon tour de votre nomination comme Président de cette Commission et de vous dire que nous sommes également fort heureux d'avoir comme rapporteur notre collègue M. Masud du Pakistan.
La délégation française approuve l'augmentation proposée du nombre des membres du Conseil. Elle estime que cette augmentation correspond en fait à l'augmentation du nombre d'Etats Membres de l'Organisation au cours de ces dernières années, et que d'autre part cette augmentation reste modérée, et qu'elle a ainsi l'avantage d'améliorer d'une part la répartition géographique au sein du Conseil, notamment pour la région africaine et même si cette répartition pourrait encore jouer davantage pour cette région, il y a tout de même un progrès, et en même temps nous considérons que les effectifs du Conseil tels qu'ils sont désormais fixés restent dans une ligne raisonnable pour permettre un travail efficace.
Aussi bien, ma délégation confirme son accord à la réforme proposée et aux amendements constitutionnels auxquels cette réforme va donner lieu.
CHANG SHIH-CHAN (China) (interpretation from Chinese): As the membership of FAO has been expanded in recent years, it is necessary to increase the number of seats on the Council. The proposal submitted to the Conference on this subject has made it possible to provide new opportunities for Third World countries for work in this Organization. Therefore, the Chinese delegation supports this proposal.
S.H. AL-SHAKIR (Iraq)(interpretation from Arabie):On behalf of the Iraqi delegation we wish to con-gratulate you on your appointment to the Chair of this Commission and also the Vice-Chairmen and our Rapporteur.
We have followed very carefully the amendments proposed by the Commission and by the Council. And the amendments before us, although they are limited in scope, nevertheless provide a great opportunity for a more equitable distribution and greater contribution in the work of the Council.
The increase in membership of the Council is due to the many countries who recently acceded to independence, particularly in the African region, and also to the highly complex nature of FAO and its increased responsibilities, particularly in the future, and it is in view of this that our delegation supports the proposal to that effect.
L. LAPEBY (Gabon): Je voudrais joindre ma voix à celles des orateurs qui m'ont précédés pour vous féliciter de votre élection au poste de Président de cette Commission et féliciter les Vice-Présidents. Je suis très heureux que M. Masud ait été choisi pour jouer le role difficile du rapporteur de notre Commission.
Il est important, compte tenu de l'augmentation du nombre de pays membres au sein de notre Organisation, que conjointement le nombre de sièges au Conseil augmente.Cependant, si l'on se réfère aux termes mêmes de la Constitution de notre Organisation, il reste quand même que la solution qui nous est pro-posée n'est pas encore équitable, non seulement entre les régions, mais je dirai même au sein des régions car il serait bon que tous les pays puissent participer aux activités du Conseil qui est l'organe directeur de notre Organisation.
C'est pourquoi je joins ma voix à celle du délégué de Malte et je voudrais souhaiter que la solution qui nous est proposée actuellement ne soit pas la solution définitive, mais que le groupe de travail continue et s'efforce de trouver une solution plus juste et plus équitable qui puisse satisfaire non seulement les aspirations des différents groupes de ce monde mais aussi les changements que notre Organisation connaît et aider en quelque sorte à rétablir un équilibre qui a existé mais qui n'existe plus du fait de l'augmentation du nombre d'Etats Membres de notre Organisation.
G.K. MBURATHI (Kenya): My delegation would like to take this opportunity to add our congratulations to you for being elected as the Chairman of this Commission. We are confident that you will deliver our deliberations to good final conclusions .We would also like to congratulate your Vice-Chairmen and the Rapporteur of the Commission.
The Kenya delegation has followed the deliberations of the Council in reviewing the number of seats to the Council for the previous biennium. While we support the increase in the number of seats from 42 to 49 we would like to re-emphasize or reiterate what has already been said particularly by the delegate of Malta that this should be a temporary solution. We say this in the light of the fact that in our region, Africa, not every country is in a position to be in the same fora as we are, that is not every nation in Africa is yet free.Therefore the balance of representation has to be continuously reviewed by the Council with a view to maintaining a proper regional balance in the Council. This is the only way that we can expect effective participation by all regions. Therefore I would like to say again that we support the raising of the number of seats from 42 to 49, and further proposed amendments to the FAO Constitution and the General Rules of the Organization.
T. HAYAKAWA (Japan): First of all I would like to congratulate you on your election as Chairman of this Commission and our distinguished representative from Pakistan as Rapporteur.
In respect of the proposed amendment, the increase in the numbers of the Council, our delegation has expressed the view through various opportunities that the number of seats of the Council should be limited to the smallest possible in order to maintain the effectiveness of the work of the Council. But in view of the increase of the member countries of FAO we think that the proposed increase in seats from 42 to 49 is a justifiable one and so our delegation would like to support this proposed amendment.
H. BAEYENS (Belgique): Je vous adresse, tout comme les orateurs précédents, mes félicitations pour votre élection et je félicite M. Masud pour sa désignation comme rapporteur.
Toute solution à un problème doit nécessairement être le résultat d'un compromis et lorsqu'on dit "compromis", on dit aussi qu'aucun des partenaires n'est vraiment satisfait de la solution. Néanmoins, nous avons examiné en Belgique la solution qui est proposée ici pour ce qui est du nombre de sièges du Conseil. Nous avons évalué les avantages et les inconvénients et je suis en mesure de donner l'appui de ma délégation à la résolution qui nous est proposée.
Miss F. JAWHAR HAYAT (Kuwait) (interpretation from Arabie): Thank you, Mr. Chairman. We congratulate you on your election and we extend our congratulations to Mr. Masudfor his election as Rapporteur of this Commission. We would like to express our support concerning increasing the number of seats of the Council, this is to give a chance to the new members who joined this Organization at its Nineteenth Session.
It is therefore natural that the number of seats should be increased to increase the effectiveness of the Council and to underline the fairness of the regional distribution. We also support the proposal of the delegate from Malta that this should be an interim solution only.
J. CHAMI (Liban): Je suis très heureux de me joindre aux orateurs qui m'ont précédé pour vous féliciter à l'occasion de votre élection à la présidence de cette Commission.Cette Commission dis-cutera de points très importants. Je félicite également mon ami M. Masud.
Notre délégation a participé aux réunions du groupe de travail chargé par le Conseil d'étudier diverses questions concernant l'Acte constitutif et le Règlement général de l'Organisation et je voudrais ici exprimer notre appréciation et nos remerciements au Président du groupe, M. le délégué de la France, qui a permis à ce groupe de travail, en dépit des points litigieux et des discussions difficiles, d'arriver au résultat qui est actuellement soumis au Conseil, en juin dernier, et qui a reçu son appro-bation unanime.
Je ne rentrerai pas dans des discussions de toutes les questions soumises, mais je me limiterai ce marin à la question relative à l'augmentation des sièges du Conseil.En conformité avec l'esprit d'équité et l'amélioration de la représentation géographique, notre délégation appuie l'augmentation proposée et nous ne nous opposons pas à ce que le groupe de travail poursuive sa tâche à l'avenir pour modifier le nombre de sièges dans l'intérêt général de la FAO.
J.O. ALABI (Nigeria): My delegation joins the others in congratulating you on your election.
We wish to support the proposed increase in the number of seats from 42 to 49 in order to improve the geographical distribution of seats on the Council. We note, however, that Africa still has not got enough seats for the 38 member countries in Africa. There will now be only eleven seats. Compared with other regions this number of seats is still insufficient. We, however, accept this increase and like Oliver Twist ask for more in the future.
D. VUJICIC (Yugoslavia): First of all I would like to congratulate you and the Vice-Chairmen on being elected to lead our discussions in this Commission. Also it is my special satisfaction to congratulate the very able representative and my good friend Mr. Masud of Pakistan, who has been elected as Rapporteur to this Commission.
My delegation, as all the others so far, would like also to render its full support to the proposal of the Council and the Working Group which was established two years ago for enlargement of the Council seats from 42 to 49 and for the regional distribution of these new additional seven seats. This will give the possibility for a more equitable regional and geographical distribution of the seats and better representation of various views and positions of countries of this Organization. We would also like to state that we share the view and the concern of the delegate of Malta concerning the proposals which concern the work of the Council. The Commission or Working Group which was given terms of reference by the Conference and the Council two years ago was much wider than the suggestions that we have received from this Group and the Council. Practically in this matter only the problem, at least
temporarily, of the number of seats and distribution of seats has been solved but the terms of refer-ence, of the Council meant that the work of the Council practically has not been discussed or only touched by this Working Group and this is why we are of the opinion that the Conference should request the Council and to propose the method and provisions how to continue this work so that before the next Conference or for the next Conference we get also those suggestions concerning the terms of reference which have already been in the Working Group which worked for the last two years.It is to give us proposals on terms of reference, method of work, improvement of work of the Council, of this Council Commission, the Programme Committee, the Finance Committee and so on.
SANG WOO PARK (Korea, Rep. of): First of all, Mr. Chairman, on behalf of my delegation I would like to associate ourselves with other speakers in congratulating you on your election to the Chairmanship of this Commission.
Concerning the matter under discussion, my delegation regards it as necessary and desirable to increase the number of seats on the Council, because the number of member countries of this Organization has increased and because the enlargement of the Council would give more opportunities to participate in important decision-making of FAO to a greater number of countries; therefore my delegation strongly supports the Resolution.
Miss L. NAVANI (Thailand): Mr. Chairman, may I join previous speakers in congratulating you on your election of this Commission, as well as the. Vice-Chairmen and the Rapporteur, Mr. Masud.
My delegation is of the opinion that it is most appropriate at this stage to increase the number of Council seats from 42 to 49, to be in line with the increased membership of the Organization; there-fore my delegation would like to confirm with satisfaction our support for the proposal and the amendment put before us.
W.A.F. GRABISCH (Germany, Fed. Rep. of)(interpretation from German):Mr. Chairman, my delega-tion also would like to congratulate you on your election as Chairman of this important Commission and also to congratulate the Vice-Chairmen.
My delegation, too, accepts the proposals made to us. As regards the proposal made by the delegate of Malta, that the ad hoc Working Group should continue its deliberations on the Council's composition and method of work, we have some difficulty. As we all know, the last round of discussions took a considerable time and what we now have before us is a compromise, as the delegate of Belgium said, and I do not suppose anybody is really happy about it. If, however, Member States wish this group of questions to be taken up again and discussed further, then in the view of my delegation such discus-sions should take place in the Council itself, so that the maximum number of member countries could take part in the discussion, and not in a special ad hoc Working Group.
M. EL FADHEL KHELIL (Tunisie) (interpretation de l'arabe): Etant donne que je prends la parole pour la première fois dans cette Commission, permettez-moi de joindre ma voix à celle de ceux qui ont pris la parole avant moi et cela afin de vous féliciter ainsi que les Vice-Présidents, de votre élection.
Je voudrais également remercier le Groupe de travail qui a étudié les questions, notamment la question d'une augmentation du nombre des sièges au sein du Conseil. Ma délégation appuie les propositions présentées car cela implique l'augmentation du nombre des pays membres dans l'Organisation. Nous pensons que le Groupe de travail devrait continuer à étudier ces questions afin qu'une représentation plus équitable et une répartition géographique également équitable soient le résultat de ces travaux.
Nous pensons que cela apportera aux travaux du Conseil quelque chose de plus efficace et de plus positif. Nous pensons également que l'élargissement du Conseil permettra aux résolutions et aux décisions prises par le Conseil d'etre plus représentatives.
S.M.L. MARIKAR (Sri Lanka): Mr. Chairman, let me on behalf of Sri Lanka congratulate Mauritius and Pakistan on their elevation to high office in this Commission.
Sri Lanka was Chairman of the Asian Group at the time this matter was taken up in the Working Party and, together with India, represented the Asian Group on the Working Party on the Reconstitution of FAO Bodies.It was our opinion that there should be due recognition of the fact that the population of the Asian region far outweighs that of all other regions put together. In addition it seems as if all problems of poverty and underdevelopment are concentrated in that region. That is not to deny the fact that other regions have problems. We were therefore very happy when in the Working Party and later in the Council we were able to come to some sort of compromise. Forty-nine reflects a delicate balance of interests. We support it, and although we are not, like many other people, particularly satisfied, we can go along with it. Who is satisfied with a compromise? We all have doubts in the end.
B. SAMANEZ CONCHA (Perú): En primer lugar, quiero aunar mi voz a la de los otros oradores para feli-citar a usted y a los Vicepresidentes que lo acompañan en este importante Comité, así como al distin-guido representante de Pakistán, que actuará como Relator de nuestras labores.
En cuanto al tema, quisiera expresar que apoyamos el proyecto de enmienda a la Constitución para que se incremente el número de puestos de 42 a 49, pero al mismo tiempo, quiero expresar mi apoyo a la posición formulada por el distinguido representante de Malta, con las ampliaciones que han sido presentadas por los distinguidos representantes de Gabon, Kenya y Yugoslavia.
M.A. BENDJENNA (Algérie): Je voudrais tout d'abord vous féliciter pour votre élection à la présidence de cette Commission. Mes félicitations s'adressent aux Vice-Présidents ainsi qu'au rapporteur.
En ce qui concerne l'objectif de notre discussion, notre délégation pense, étant donné que notre Organisation prend de plus en plus d'ampleur et qu'elle tend vers l'universalité, que l'augmentation du nombre de sièges du Conseil devrait être plus importante afin de permettre une représentation géo-graphique plus équitable en laveur de l'Afrique. Cependant, dans un esprit de conciliation, ma délé-gation appuie cette première phase de l'augmentation proposée par le Conseil, tout en soulignant qu'il faut continuer à chercher d'autres solutions pour permettre à toutes les régions d'être représentées plus êquitablement. Pour terminer, je fais mienne la proposition exprimée par la délégation de Malte, qui a été également appuyée par d'autres délégations.
A.B. WILLIAMS-BAFFOE (Ghana):I congratulate you, Mr. Chairman, on your election to the Chairmanship of this Commission. I should like to add the voice of my delegation to those of previous speakers in supporting the additional seven seats on the Council, thus bringing the total to 49. It should, however, be appreciated that the continent of Africa is not yet represented adequately in the geographical distribution of the Council. We would therefore hope that adequate provision will be made when the time comes.
A.F. CHOWDHURY (Bangladesh): Allow me, Mr. Chairman, to congratulate you on your election as Chairman of this Commission, and the Vice-Chairmen also. We also congratulate Mr. Masud of Pakistan on his election to the office of Rapporteur.
My delegation supports the increase in the number of seats on the Council from 42 to 49. I do not wish to dilate upon the reasons for that support - they have already been amply and ably expressed by other delegations - but my delegation takes note of the anxiety of the delegates of Malta and Kenya regarding the solution of the problem of proper representation of the African continent. No solution is permanent. This solution which we are discussing today is on the basis of today's position of the total membership of FAO.In the course of time, when the membership is further increased, I think this question may be raised again.
K. ARIKAN (Turkey): First of all, Mr. Chairman, I should like to join other delegates in congratulating you and the Vice-Chairmen on your election to office and also to express our great pleasure at the election of Mr. Masud, delegate of Pakistan, as Rapporteur. We are confident that your able guidance will contribute greatly to the successful completion of the work of this Commission.
My delegation supports the proposed increase in the number of Council seats. We believe that the time which has elapsed since the creation of the Council justifies the addition of seven seats to the Council.
P. CELAN (Roumanie):Permettez-moi d'abord de vous féliciter, au nom de ma délégation, pour votre élection à la présidence de cette Commission, ainsi que les Vice-Présidents. Je suis heureux d'avoir M. Masud comme rapporteur.
Je désire confirmer la position de mon pays, qui approuve l'actuelle proposition visant à l'augmentation du nombre de sièges au Conseil, de 42 à 49. Mais en même temps, nous nous prononçons toujours pour qu'une représentation géographique équitable soit réalisée et nous considérons que l'actuelle solution doit faire l'objet d'une analyse future afin d'arriver à une révision équitable, au sein du Conseil, de toutes les régions.
E. DIAZ BUSTABAD (Cuba): En primer lugar lo felicitamos a usted por su elección y al resto de la Mesa que lo acompaña.
Estamos de acuerdo con el aumento del numero de puestos del Consejo y consideramos que se toma en cuenta el aumento de los países que han ingresado en la Organización. Por tanto, apoyamos la propuesta de aumento del número de puestos de 42 a 49 y por consiguiente estamos de acuerdo con el proyecto de resolución que se nos presenta.Por otra parte, nos parecen muy justas las demandas de la región de Africa, de que se mantenga el Grupo de Trabajo funcionando, sobre todo si se toman en cuenta los países que se liberan y pasan a formar parte de la Organización y que pertenecen a esta región.
E.K. PORTE (Liberia): Mr. Chairman, the Liberian delegation would like to join the rest of the speakers in congratulating you and your officers on your election in this Commission.
We join other delegates who have supported the increase in the number of Council members and the resolution before the Commission.
M.S. ZEHNI (Libya) (interpretation from Arabic): On behalf of my delegation I would like to congratu-late you, Mr. Chairman, on your election.I also congratulate Mr. Masud on his election as Rapporteur.
I entirely support the increase in the number of Council members.I too would wish for fairer geographical distribution.I think the work should be carried on in order to find a better solution.
E. DOUEK (Israël): Tout d'abord, je désire joindre ma voix à celle des autres orateurs afin de vous féliciter pour votre élection à la présidence de cette Commission.
Etant donné que nous croyons que le Conseil est un instrument important pour la bonne conduite des travaux de l'Organisation, ma délégation approuve son élargissement et l'augmentation du nombre des sièges en son sein; ceci afin que les pays membres soient mieux représentés.
Nous estimons aussi que la proposition n'apporte pas une solution concrète au problème; c'est pour cela que nous pensons qu'il faut considérer la proposition de la délégation de Malte.
RAMADHAR (India): Mr. Chairman, I would like to join earlier speakers in congratulating you, and also our friend from Pakistan, Mr. Masud, on his appointment as Rapporteur.
Along with Sri Lanka, we were on the Working Party and a number of alternatives were placed before it. After a great deal of deliberation the alternative of increasing the Council seats from 42 to 49 was recommended.As mentioned by the delegate of Sri Lanka, we are not very happy with this proposal, particularly in view of the large population of Asia and the Far East, where the problem of hunger, poverty and malnutrition looms large.But in order to finalize this, we went along with it. My dele-gation will go along with this suggested increase from 42 to 49, and further suggests that if this question is re-opened, the large populations in this particular region should be kept in view.
I. HAKIM (Indonesia): My delegation's task is made easier by the statement of the delegate of Sri Lanka and that of my colleague from India. We would also like to support the view that my region - and I mean Indonesia - is not satisfied with the decision to increase the number of Council seats from 42 to 49.However, as stated before, we can go along with the resolution recommended by the Council.There-fore, we would also like to stress again that while we regard the number of countries as important, at the same time the size of the population should also be taken into account when deciding on the seats for the Council so that the world can really be fully represented in it.
On the second point, with regard to the continuation of the Working Party, my delegation is flexible. However, if - and I say "if" - it is to be continued we should also like one matter to be looked into. That is the geographical distribution of the seven regions in FAO. We think that the countries in the region should be kept open so we have a fair distribution in each of the seven regions or however many regions - seven or eight.I do not know which region but the region should be reflected and the countries in that region should be fully represented.
Having made this point, we support the resolution recommended by the Council.
Sra. M. IVANKOVICH de AROSEMENA (Panamá):La delegación de Panamá desea unirse a las delegaciones que lo han felicitado, por su elección como Presidente de esta Comisión. También felicitamos a los Vicepresidentes y al Sr. Masud, de Pakistán.
La delegación de Panamá considera que el incremento del número de miembros de la Organización y la necesidad de mejorar la representación geográfica de algunas regiones, son motivos que justifican el incremento de los puestos en el Consejo de la FAO. Por lo tanto, apoyamos el incremento de siete puestos, elevando el número de miembros a 49; sin embargo, consideramos que el Grupo de Trabajo debe seguir estudiando este tema de manera que todas las regiones estén debidamente representadas en el Consejo de la Organización.
E. SAENZ (Colombia):Queremos en primer termino unirnos también a las voces de felicitación por su elección como Presidente de esta reunión, así como a los Vicepresidentes y al Relator, nuestro colega de Pakistán.
Hemos tomado la palabra para unirnos igualmente y prestar nuestro asentimiento en el sentido de que estamos de acuerdo y apoyamos las enmiendas que se hacen a la Constitución para que se aumente el número de miembros del Consejo a 49.
B. de AZEVEDO BRITO (Brazil): My delegation would like to join other speakers in congratulating you and other members, and Mr. Masud, of course, on your election. We have a very effective leadership for this Commission.
As far as the subject which we are discussing is concerned, my delegation fully realizes that the pro-posal is a compromise and, as many before me have said, as a compromise this cannot satisfy everybody, and probably does not completely satisfy anybody. We go along with this compromise for an increase from 42 to 49, because we feel at this stage it is the only possible thing to do. On the other hand, we agree that the search for a totally satisfactory solution should continue if it can be found. Therefore, we go along with the proposal made by the delegation of Malta.
In the light of that we would like to stress that there are two regions grossly under-represented in the FAO Council: Africa and Latin America are both very badly represented, taking into account the number of countries. There is also another factor. There are two regions which are over-represented and I do not need to indicate which two they are. But perhaps it is better to spell it out since we have records. They are the North American region and the Southwest Pacific.I think a correction has to be made there in favour of taking into account two regions grossly under-represented and two regions grossly over-represented.I very much hope that future work on this issue will take into account my observations on this point.
A. MARQUINA (Venezuela): La delegación de Venezuela expresa, igualmente, su felicitación a usted, señor Presidente, por haber sido elegido para presidir esta Comisión, así como a los Vicepresidentes y al Relator, señor Masud.
Venezuela apoya la proposición de incremento del numero de siete para elevarlo a 49 miembros.
S. DOSSOU (Bénin): Permettez-moi d'emboîter le pas aux autres délégations en vous félicitant pour votre brillante élection à la tête de notre Commission ainsi que pour exprimer nos félicitations aux autres membres du bureau de cette Commission.
Au nom de la République populaire du Bénin, j'appuie la proposition visant à accroître le nombre des membres du Conseil à 49. Il est vrai que dans cette Organisation nous avons toujours noté que la majorité arithmétique n'a jamais joué et qu'il n'est pas décent non plus que ce soit la majorité des puissants et des bailleurs de fonds qui l'emporte. C'est pourquoi j'estime que cette solution ne peut être, comme l'ont déjà souligné les délégués de Malte, de Guinée et du Nigeria, que provisoire, car même si l'on voulait s'en tenir à la majorité du groupe, pour ne pas le nommer, de Genève, nous arriverions à une représentation de quelques membres seulement si on doit tenir compte des fonds donnés.Si l'on devait tenir compte des populations pour la représentation au Conseil, on aboutirait à avoir quelques Etats détenant le quart de la population du monde. C'est pourquoi la seule solution valable est la répartition géographique et régionale sur la base du nombre d'Etats Membres et je cons-tate qu'à l'heure actuelle, sur 144 membres, l'Afrique compte 38 Etats et c'est pourquoi nous esti-mons que sa représentation au Conseil est insuffisante.
Nous appuyons donc la résolution qui nous est soumise avec les réserves suivantes:c'est une solution provisoire et nous espérons que les prochaines réunions de nos assises iront plus loin.
I. OROZCO GUZMAN (México): Permítanos a nosotros también sumarnos a la felicitación por su elección para presidir nuestra reunión e igualmente nos complace la designación como Relator de esta Comisión de nuestro distinguido amigo Masud.
Examinamos por el momento un aspecto solo del informe que ha presentado el Grupo de Trabajo al Consejo y, desde luego, percibimos que por limitación del tiempo no fueron aportados otros aspectos que tienen relación con el problema que examinamos. Mi delegación es miembro de este Grupo y así pudimos comprobarlo.No obstante nos sumamos al apoyo que ha sido expresado respecto del aumento del número de miembros en el Consejo, según ha sido propuesto por el Grupo primero y después recomendado por el Consejo.
Deseamos expresar la necesidad de que el Grupo de Trabajo haga un estudio ulterior de esos aspectos que no fueron discutidos y que tomen en cuenta la comprensible preocupación de la región latinoamericana, así como entre otras cosas la composición porcentual actual de las distintas regiones que están representadas en el Consejo, según fue expresado en forma clara por nuestro colega del Brasil.
P. ALPEN (Australia): I should like to join previous speakers in congratulating you, Mr. Chairman, on your election, and also the Vice-Chairmen. We are particularly delighted that the Rapporteur of this Commission will be the delegate of Pakistan.
I do not wish to take up the time of the Commission, but I feel it incumbent on me to exercise a right of reply to some remarks made by the delegate of Brazil. He referred to the particular region to which. Australia belongs, and I think it only fair to say that if the proposals, which we support, are accepted the South-West Pacific region, which at present consists of four members and is likely to be increased as other countries accede to independence, is only represented by one member of the Council. I fail to see how this makes our region over-represented, by any form of arithmetic. I need not go into the importance of the region in the field of food and agriculture, and I will rest on this point.
I confirm again that we agree with the proposals made by the Council.
Sra. Doria A.C. BERTA DE ALBERTO (Argentina): Mi delegación desea en primer lugar asociarse a los oradores que han tomado la palabra anteriormente para felicitar al señor Presidente por su elección para dirigir esta importante Comisión. También queremos hacer extensiva esta felicitación a los Vicepresidentes y al Relator de la misma.
Con relación al aumento del numero de puestos, mi país apoya el proyecto de enmienda a la Constitución, en virtud de la cual se aumenta el numero de puestos de 42 a 49 en el seno del Consejo, ya que ello no es sino la consecuencia lógica del constante incremento del número de miembros de nuestra Organización, permitiendo así reflejar mejor la necesidad e inquietudes de cada uno de los países. Sin embargo, y por último, quisiéramos asociarnos a lo ya expresado por otros colegas nuestros de delegaciones latinoamericanas en el sentido de apoyar lo propuesto por el delegado de Malta, y apoyado a su vez por la mayoría de las delegaciones, acerca de la conveniencia de que el Grupo de Trabajo continúe sus funciones tratando de encontrar una solución más favorable y equitativa para todos.
M. NGA-MA (Zaïre): Tout en vous félicitant de votre élection, ma délégation appuie elle aussi la propo-sition de porter le nombre de sièges au Conseil de 42 à 49. Toutefois, nous suggérons que les critères dont il faut tenir compte pour la répartition çles sièges au Conseil soient surtout le nombre des membres de l'Organisation pour une région donnée. Pour terminer, ma délégation soutient l'idée, avancée par plusieurs délégués, qui consiste à demander que le Groupe de travail ad hoc poursuive des études dans ce domaine afin d'aboutir à une répartition équitable des sièges au Conseil.
CHAIRMAN:I am advised that the resolution will be part of the report which we will adopt tomorrow morning, so I think that concludes our deliberations of this morning.
The meeting rose at 11.10 hours
La séance est levée à 11 h 10
Se levanta la sesión a las 11.10 horas
