CHAIRMAN: The business before us is now the Programme of Work and Budget 1988-89 and Medium-Term Objectives. The Chair will turn the floor over to Mr Shah who will give the Secretariat's introduction of the item.
V. J. SHAH (Director, Office of Programme, Budget and Evaluation): I am pleased to submit for the consideration of the Conference the Director-General's proposals for the Programme of Work and Budget 1988-89.
The challenges of world hunger remain more compelling than ever. The number of the world's undernourished is still on the increase, despite the remarkable progress of agriculture in many developing regions during recent years. Within the fields of agriculture, forestry, fisheries and nutrition, our Organization is dealing with issues which are of vital importance to the lives of hundreds of millions of people. We are under constant pressure to do more.
The proposals for the Programme of Work for 1988-89 are framed firstly in the context of the long-term outlook for food and agriculture. The long-term outlook for food and agriculture was considered by the Committee on Agriculture in March 1987 and its judgement was endorsed by the Council, in June. The Council agreed with the assessment of long-term trends which indicated a further imbalance in the world food system, with surpluses in some regions accompanied by chronic shortages in others. It also foresaw a growing threat to the environment arising from pollution and the degradation of natural resources.
The Committee on Agriculture and the Council endorsed eight principal goals for world agriculture. While their relative importance varies both nationally and regionally, they have sufficient universality to provide the basic framework for FAO's nrèdium-term objectives.
The medium-term objectives, according to the Conference's own previous decision, are submitted for your consideration as an integral part of the programme and budget proposals. They have been endorsed by the Council.
As the Council stressed, the selection of priorities is based on the prior guidance of and recommendations from FAO Regional Conferences, the full range of technical advisory bodies, and the results of the in-depth reviews undertaken by the Programme Committee. They also, of course, reflect the recommendations of the Council itself and of the Conference.
The process of selection has led to a concentration on programmes and activities for which there is the greatest demand. It has also involved a search for new horizons through innovative programmes and modalities, with a greater reliance on the appropriate application of new technologies.
Continuity is respected in carrying forward programmes which are still justified, and where we have a proven record of effective delivery. Innovation is called into play, to channel resources to new areas by reducing or discarding programmes and activities which have outlived their justification or cannot compete with more pressing demands.
As a result, the programme priorities that are advocated include:
- a concentration of effort on increasing agricultural production in those countries which face chronic food shortages and deficits, through a focus on soil and water management, measures for the provision of more and better inputs, and the effective utilization of biotechnology;
- implementation of the Tropical Forestry Action Plan and the Programmes of Action of the World Conference on Fisheries Management and Development;
- environmental protection and prudent management of renewable resources; policy studies for agricultural development and improved food security;
- and the more effective management and utilization of all our scientific, technical, social and economic data bases.
The relevance of FAO's field activities to requirements of recipient countries, and efficiency in field operations, are heavily dependent on the solidity, breadth and quality of the Regular Programme. As emphasized by the Council, the importance of the organic and dynamic links between FAO's technical assistance activities at field level and its Regular Programme are reflected in the proposals before you.
The overall approach is to devote as much of our resources as possible to the technical and economic substance of the Organization's work. We have therefore continued to apply the policy of judiciously cutting administrative expenditures wherever possible, in order to make room for increases in the technical and economic programmes.
The Programme and Finance Committees have commended this approach. In particular, they have welcomed the continued application of policies of increasing efficiency, making further economies in administration, reducing expenditures on established posts, increasing computerization and streamlining activities.
On the impact on Programme Budget, the proposals before you, Mr Chairman, involve a minimal programme increase - a quarter of one percent over the re-costed 1986-87 budget base. I can offer no stronger evidence of the efforts made by the Director-General to take into account the burden on all Member Nations, but at the same time to reconcile this with the need to meet the demands made on us.
Despite a programme increase of just over US$ 1 million, technical and economic programmes would receive a net programme increase of US$ 4.7 million, or 2.3 percent over their present level. This is only possible by reducing the provision for General Policy and Direction by over US$ 2 million, or 6.5 percent; Development Support Programmes by US$ 1 million, or 1.4 percent; and Support Services by US$ 0.5 million, or 1 percent.
25 established posts are proposed for elimination. The proportion of expenditure on established posts, which was 77 percent in the biennium 1974-75, is thus further reduced in the next biennium .. to 51.7 percent.
The proposals in the Summary Programme of Work and Budget which was presented to the Programme Committee and the Council were somewhat higher. The Director-General had then proposed a real programme increase of one half of one percent, amounting to US$ 2.2 million.
Members of the Council expressed differing reactions to the real programme increase proposed.
A few members reiterated their advocacy of zero programme or real growth throughout the United Nations System, together with the maximum absorption of non-discretionary cost increases. They urged the Director-General to aim at this objective in the Programme of Work and Budget. The majority of the Council, however, supported the proposals submitted in the Summary. A large portion of this majority would have wished the real programme increase to be higher, in view of the extent of the requirements for, and in view of the dependence on FAO assistance. They drew attention to the fact that the approved Programme of Work and Budget for 1986-87 was not being implemented in full due to force ma jeure, and that the modest net increase proposed could not even remedy the programme adjustments made in this biennium.
The reduction of the real programme increase to half the level proposed in the Summary is the Director-General's response, it represents his efforts to have Member Nations once again to unite in a consensus.
As regards cost increases, the estimate of cost increases in the Summary amounted to US$ 18 million. As noted by the Finance Committee and the Council, this provision for cost increases was calculated on the basis of the methodology approved by the Finance Committee and was very moderate. It should provide realistic protection for approved programmes against factors beyond the Organization's control.
We have, once again, reviewed the proposed cost increases. There is no new development which would warrant reduction of the total estimate of US$ 18 million. On the contrary, as recognized by the Finance Committee, a number of recommendations of the International Civil Service Commission, at its current Session, if accepted by the UN General Assembly, would bring about-additional cost increases during the next biennium, 1988-89 well beyond the proposed provision. However, the Director-General had promised the Council to lower this provision in recognition of the widespread economic difficulties facing many of our Member Nations, and the difficulties they would face in meeting a higher level of assessed contributions. He has accordingly reduced the provision for cost increases in the proposals before you by US$ 5 million.
It should be clear that this reduction does not mean that we expect cost increases to be lower than those estimated in the Summary. It means simply, very simply, that we do not include provision for the full amount; cost increases beyond the level of US$ 13 million now provided for will have to be absorbed during the implementation of the next Programme of Work and Budget in the next biennium.
The proposals,Sat the budgetary rate approved for this biennium, would have involved an increase in the budget from US$ 437 million to US$ 451 million. However, the depreciation of the US dollar and the current dollar/lire exchange rate have the effect of raising the effective budget level to a requirement of somewhat over US$ 481.7 million at the rate of 1 350 lire to the US dollar, which was the rate when we sent this document for processing. At a rate of 1 250 lire to the US dollar, the effective budget level would be US$ 490 7 million. It will be recognized I am sure by the Commission that this is totally beyond the control of the Organization. Any suggestion that the consequences of this currency factor be absorbed, would be tantamount to a negative budget and a drastically reduced Programme of Work.
Through every state of consideration of these proposals, both the representatives of Member Nations and the Director-General have been obliged to bear in mind the financial difficulties which affect us in this biennium.
Your Commission will consider the impact of these financial problems on Regular Programme activities under a separate agenda item. Commission III of the Conference will consider the financial implications and the measures still required. We therefore submit that this is neither the time nor place, to go further into the subject.
I have to mention it, however, as some members of the Council considered that expectations of a likely continuation of such difficulties into 1988-89 made it desirable to prepare a Programme of Work and Budget at a lower budget level, or alternatively including a contingency plan which would permit the Programme of Work to be implemented in the light of contributions actually received. These members accordingly suggested that the Director-General consider submitting the full Programme of Work and Budget proposals on these lines.
The vast majority of the Council, however, did not agree with this approach. In the view of this majority, this was tantamount to disregarding the constitutional requirements of all Member Nations to honour their obligations in full, and to put the implementation of the full Programme of Work, as approved by the Conference on an ill.-assured legal basis. Consequently, no hypothesis or projection of financial difficulties could be accepted by them as a principle.
Financial difficulties will have to be faced, as always in any biennium. The Director-General relies on and looks to the Conference to give him the necessary authority and flexibility to deal with such problems. And Member Nations have the proper forum for discussion in Commission III, precisely for that purpose. However, we submit that consideration and approval of the proposed Programme of Work and Budget for 1988-89 cannot be sullied, or compromised by such factors. The acceptance of noncompliance with obligations accepted by Member Nations in the Conference would be unconstitutional, would in fact act as a further encouragement to non-compliance and would be immensely damaging to the integrity of this Organization.
May I conclude with the sentiments expressed in the Director-General's Introduction to the document before you.
It can confidently be said that the proposals for the Programme of Work and Budget for 1988-89 represent a platform for the unity of this Organization, a unity to be reconfirmed by the act of acceptance.
The proposals have obtained an impressive response of agreement at all the stages of the various intergovernmental bodies, including the Council, where they have been considered. Member Nations have made it clear that essentially they agree on the long-term trends, the medium-term objectives and the plan of action for the next biennium.
For his part, the Director-General has done everything possible to respond to all shades of opinion and expressions of view, not least by the further changes which he has introduced since the Summary.
The Director-General remains ever confident that Member Nations wish their Organization to remain vital, effective and responsive to the demands made on it. He hopes that Member Nations will see their way to a consensus approval of the proposals which he hereby submits.
He has done everything possible to help bring this about. The differences which separate you - it seems to him - are not on the substance of the proposals but on pre-determined approaches and theories such as on budget levels. He hopes you will not allow such differences to prevent you from establishing a common ground.
Now is the time for you to unite and the Director-General hopes that in recognition of this need, you will all be able to reach a consensus.
After this introduction of the Programme of Work and Budget on behalf of the Director-General may I now offer a few comments to facilitate consideration of the document before you. There is no change in the basic structure of the document.
The section on the Programme Framework gives an analysis of the programme budget proposals. It discusses the selection of strategies and priorities, the proportion of expenditure on posts as a part of the total budget, changes in established posts, details of cost increases and other financial aspects of the proposals. It brings us to a part of the document which amounts to no more than two pages but which is rather crucial to the discussion. I refer to the English text of the document. On page 29, there is a section dealing with the currency factor to indicate what the budget level would be at different rates of exchange. On page 30, there is a table showing a comparison of the present budget with the proposed budget, and on page 31 there is an explanation showing what would be the effect of the various budget levels on contributions of Member Nations.
The draft resolution provided in the document gives the text as it will be considered by the Conference when it adopts the Programme of Work and Budget in Plenary next week. The figures in the draft resolution are given at the rate of Lire 1 760 to the dollar, the present rate for the present biennium as approved by the last Conference. The text of this draft resolution will of course be updated to permit the Conference to decide on the rate of exchange which it will adopt, together with the Programme of Work and Budget.
It is in the Programme Budget itself that a very considerable expansion of details on proposed activities is now given. We are now providing indication of budgetary outlays and changes at programme element level as well as mention of activities and outputs under each element. The narratives are more specific than ever before. This applies more particularly to Chapter 2"Technical and Economic Programmes".
The three annexes in the document are more for information, and yet they are an integral part of the document.
Annex I presents the proposed programme in respective regional contexts. It does not deal only with the activities of the regional offices, because the technical and economic programmes of FAO are an integral whole, whether the activities are carried out at Headquarters or in regional offices or at country level. Annex II deals with the budget by organizational unit, and gives information by objects of expenditure, both for the present biennium and for the next, together with organizational charts. Annex III deals with salary schedules and staffing tables.
There are three supplements to the Programme of Work and Budget. There is nothing new in Sups. 1 and 2. They provide the customary lists of main publications and meetings which will form part of our programme of activity in the next biennium.
I should draw attention to a few correction to Supplement 2. I should indicate that these are only corrections of detail and the total number of meetings and the total cost is as given in the Supplement 2 before you.
Under sub-programme 2.1.4.2, AGE sessions 701, 702, 703, 704, 705 and 706 involve two sessions each, not one.
Three sessions covered in the provision were omitted from the list through an oversight.
(1) 2.1.4.2: AGE 901 - FAO/IAEA Seminar for Developing Countries in Africa on Food Irradiation;
(2) 2.1.8.3: ESC 724-12 - Intergovernmental Group on Tea, Sub-group of Exporters;
(3) 2.2.3.2: CIFA Sub-Committee for the Development and Management of Fisheries of Lake Tanganyika.
Under sub-programme 2.1.6.3, the 17 Codex sessions organized and paid for by the host government were not listed as the information was provided too late.
However, these sessions are covered in the document, as regards the total number and the cost.
This time there is a brief Sup. 3, only two pages in fact, which mentions minor organizational changes affecting three Headquarters divisions, ESC, AGP and AGA. In view of the detailed consideration by our Establishments Committee of the staffing implications regarding these changes which took place during the summer, it was not possible to include this information in the document before it was sent for processing and it, therefore, appears in a Supplement. Finally, there is a Corrigendum 1 which gives the results of the upgradings proposed for the next biennium.
I realise that I have been rather lengthy in this introduction but the subject is of such an importance that the Director-General felt that it merited this introduction. I hope that the Commission will find it helpful. I remain at your disposal now throughout your debate to provide any clarifications that the Commission may wish.
CHAIRMAN: Thank you Mr Shah. By no means was your introduction too lengthy. It was appropriate to the seriousness of the issue before us and we appreciate the introduction you made on behalf of the Secretariat.
M.M. SIDDIQUE ULLAH (Bangladesh): When the Programme of Work and Budget for 1988-89 was discussed at the 91st Session of the Council in June we were present as a Member of the Council. At that time we had endorsed the Programme of Work and Budget recommended by the Programme Committee and Finance Committee. We endorsed it as we thought that it represented the aspirations of the developing countries. However, there were some critical observations on the proposed Programme of Budget in the Council meeting. Therefore, the Council adopted the Programme of Budget 1988-89 subject to recommendation of as many of the critical observations as possible. That is how the Council endorsed the Programme of Budget for consideration by the Conference. That was our understanding. We note that the Programme of Budget 1988-89 now before us is slightly different to that considered by the Council. As explained by the Director-General in his forward to the document the differences have occurred because he tried to respond to the wishes of some of the delegates at the Council session. Therefore, we welcome these changes because we believe they increase the acceptability of the Programme of Budget. We hope it would now get a wider support than was evident in the Council session.
As far as the Bangladesh delegation is concerned, we indicate our full and unconditional support for the Programme of Budget now before us. I wish now to offer our views on the theory of zero growth in the Programme of Budget. The concept does not fit in with the reality of the world we live in. Everything in the world is increasing. The world's population is increasing and national incomes are rising. Comforts of human society at certain levels are also increasing. Defence expenditures are also increasing and so also are poverty and misery. The problems of hunger and depravation in the world are increasing and multiplying. According to the astrologers even the universe is expanding. In this context how can one accept the concept of zero growth in the Programme of Budget of FAO. Therefore, we reject this concept.
However, I wish to make a few points for the consideration of the Commission. In the first place, the presentation before us does not take into account the outstanding unpaid contributions that might become available during the biennium and, as such, there is no indication of any planned utilization of such amounts. At least I did not find it in the document. A clarification on this point is perhaps necessary.
Secondly, we know that the position of the dollar against lire has created a serious budgetary problem. Although the Conference is expected to take a decision on the exchange rate to be applied during the 1988-89 biennium, it is not clear what should be the actual rate. A highly fluctuating exchange rate can upset the budget of the Programme of Work and this has been amply evidenced during the 1986-87 biennium,
At the 91st Council meeting the need for greater stability of the exchange rate to be applied in FAO's accounting and budgeting system was felt. There was a suggestion to change the accounting system to SDR. As far as I recollect this decision came from Switzerland and was endorsed by Bangladesh. However, there is yet no indication that this suggestion had received any serious consideration. Since the exchange rate to be applied during the 1988-89 biennium is not yet clear the budget proposed itself is uncertain. The budget level between US$ 451 million and 496 million is only indicative. As a result the share of contribution of each Member in accordance with approved scales of contribution is also indicative. The sooner this uncertainty is removed the better for all concerned.
Gerald Phirinyahe KHOJANE (Lesotho): The Lesotho Delegation endorses the programme priorities advocated in the Programme of Work and Budget for 1988/89. In particular, increasing agricultural production through a focus on soil and water management, provision of more and better inputs, and effective-utilization of biotechnology have a special appeal to this delegation. This is why we totally agree that FAO's study on "African Agriculture - the next 25 years" endorsed by the last Regional Conference for Africa, the Programme of Action for Africa, the Study and Plan of Action requested by Latin American and the Caribbean States set a clear course for the organization to follow in the next biennium and beyond. A feasibility study on the provision of expanded aid-in-kind for agricultural inputs is a good start in this direction and we are looking forward to other complementary initiatives.
FAO has already identified a need for increased investment in the agriculture, forestry and" fisheries sectors of the developing world. While developing countries are aware of the need to allocate more of their domestic resources to this sector, many, like my own, are dependent on a continuing flow of external funds if growth and development are to be sustained. FAO's investment support services have in the past been tremendous help in assisting member countries to identify and formulate viable investment projects and in mobilizing resources for investment in agriculture, forestry and fisheries. This role is expected to assume even greater importance during the 1988/89 biennium. It will be important, therefore, to ensure that funds and professional staff are adequate for this purpose.
In this period of budgetary constraints, affecting flow of financial resources to the developing countries, food aid assistance is increasingly gaining its rightful place as a development resource. As developing countries are more and more acknowledging food aid assistance as a development resource, there is bound to be an increased demand on FAO experts to assist in the formulation of viable projects for food aid assistance. We therefore urge the Secretariat to expect more requests for technical inputs into WFP food aid assistance projects than probably provided for in the Programme 1988/89.
Reliance on consultants to comply with the increased but unorganized demands on FAO may not be the best method of responding to the call of those in urgent need. We have therefore always questioned the prudence of reducing the number of professional and general service posts with a risk of increasing reliance on consultants. This is why we feel relieved that the programme provision for consultants shows a decrease while provision for contractual services will increase. For this reason, we endorse a proposal to create new professional posts to implement priority programmes for which it is not advisable to rely on short-term expertise. However, we wish to emphasize that elimination of some posts to compensate for the creation of new ones should be done with caution.
FAO Global Information and Early Warning System for food and agriculture (GIEWS) has proved to be an invaluable service when the attention of the international community was drawn to the acaoe food crisis in Africa in time for relief action. It is appropriate, therefore, that during the biennium 1988/89 priority continues to be accorded to improving remote sensing assistance for the advanced warning of agricultural drought, desert locusts and/or floods. It is especially significant that FAO is even prepared to take a step further to promote and support national warning systems particularly in Africa South of the Sahara and on the Indian sub-continent.
It is encouraging to notice that the Secretariat has accommodated comments of the Governing Bodies and recommendations of auditors in the Programme of Work and Budget for 1988/89. In particular, we wish to commend the following provisions:
(a) extending monitoring to the sub-programme level and including an ex post facto review of sub-programme expenditures; (b) monitoring of actual manpower to sub-programmes against planned input; and (c) comparing estimated costs with actual expenditure in areas as far as practicable.
Finally, addressing ourselves to the level of the Programme of Work and Budget viewed in the light of the programme priorities for the biennium 1988/89, we find the appropriation figure of US$496 260 000 rather modest in relation to the legitimate demands on FAO. But in the spirit of the need to contain budget growth due to widespread economic difficulties facing many countries to meet higher levels of assessed contributions, we are ready to go along with it. Indeed, we find the efforts of the Director-General to suppress the Programme of Work and Budget for 1988/89 to the almost aspired zero growth highly commendable. It must have taken a lot of sacrifice and willpower to attain the programme increase of merely 0.25 percent. We therefore do not hesitate to happily join the consensus for the approval of the Programme of Work and Budget for 1988/89.
J. LYNCH (Canada): As this is the first time I am intervening here I would like to congratulate you on your selection. I would also like to join in thanking Mr Shah for his very good presentation. I think the calm and very lucid way in which he deals with such large increases can only recall the radio announcers of World War II who became known for their ability to announce disasters one after the other as the "voices of doom". I would note that with respect to one comment made by Mr Shah, which I may have misunderstood because of his calm style of delivery. I think he had referred to the agenda items which come up later relating to the Working Capital Fund and the Special Reserve Account as being items that perhaps should not be introduced here in the discussion of the budget. I believe he used the term that the budget discussion should not be "sullied" by the discussion of these other items. I would note and I am sure he can take me to task on this later on, that in the Director-General's introduction on the first page there are two references, one to a Special Reserve Account and one to a Working Capital Fund. I think they are fairly significant. We might perhaps just take a note of them and perhaps read them out, but on the first page of document C 87/3 in the right-hand column it says: "The dollar depreciation is leading us to the full utilization of the Special Reserve Account precisely for its intended purpose. After its exhaustion the effects of dollar depreciation will be covered from savings" and in the next paragraph, "The use of the Working Capital Fund to offset part of the shortfall at the end of the biennium and the need to borrow to cover obligations are issues depending on our action or inaction in ordering Member States' constitutional obligations." I believe that the fact that the Secretariat has taken the effort to highlight these particular items on the very first page of the introduction to the budgetary document does bode well for us, bearing at least in mind these particular items which come up later on our agenda and will be discussed in Commission III.
But to turn to the major task before us, that task is to review the FAO's budget for the '1988/-89 biennium. In this context as members of this Commission we should bear in mind that FAO, like other specialist agencies in the United Nations system, faces great financial difficulties. Late payment of assessed contributions, decline in the dollar and the decline in income as a result of falling interest rates are the main causes of the current financial crisis. Canada, historically, has never failed to pay its contribution to the FAO on time. However, given our understanding of the constraints operating on other countries, including the largest contributor as well as many developing countries, we recognize that it is extremely unlikely that there will be full payment of assessed contributions early in either year of the coming biennium. We therefore consider that the FAO must be realistic, and would join with other countries in the Council, such as the Federal Republic of Germany, to urge that the FAO initiate contingency measures which anticipate the fact that programmes as submitted in the proposed 1988/89 budget could become largely meaningless when the respective contributions in both amount and time are unpredictable as they are likely to be. By "contingency measures" Canada means that the FAO should try to have a core stand-by budget to ensure the financing of indispensable FAO activities.
In his introduction, Mr Shah made reference to certain constitutional and legal arguments stating that to draw up contingency measures would be unconstitutional and encourages States further in noncompliance with their legal obligations. This may be true, but I do not think the timing should dissuade us from dealing with that subject now. There will come a time during the next biennium when reality will force the Secretariat to do that which they are urging us not to do now and I believe that it would be important for us to provide some input or advice to the Secretariat in adopting those contingency measures.
In addition to concerns about the availability of financial resources, Canada is concerned at the level of the proposed 1988/89 budget. While we appreciate the efforts which have been made by the Secretariat to keep the proposed budget modest in the light of the financial burden it will place on Member States, we believe that a variety of economic factors make this an inappropriate time to propose a budget containing real growth. While the proposed budget contains only 0.25 percent programme increase this should not cause any of us to lose sight of the fact that because of currency fluctuations we are speaking of very large increases - perhaps from $437 million to $490 million. I would note that several other UN specialized agencies, including the World Health Organization, the International Labour Organisation and the International Civil Aviation Organization, have already adopted budgets for the coming biennium 1988/89 which contain negative real growth. We believe that given the difficult economic circumstances facing most FAO members it would be desirable at this time to hold the line on growth and absorb cost increases to the maximum extent possible. Our concern about the need for financial constraint is prompted by two factors. First, we are concerned by the dramatic effect which the fluctuation in currency exchange rates will have on the assessed contributions of most Member States calculated in national currencies. To use Canada's case only as an example: we anticipate that, expressed in Canadian dollars, our assessed contribution for 1988 will increase by 20 percent over our 1987 contribution. We are aware of other countries whose increase in payment in terms of local currencies will be very much more than that. In several cases there will be increases of over 50 percent in assessed contributions in national currency terms.
Second, we are concerned by the fact that the proposed replenishment of the FAO Working Capital Fund and Special Reserve Account will result in additional financial demands on Member States which will be felt by national governments simultaneously with the impact of the increase in the annual contributions as a result of the Regular Programme of Work and Budget. My Government believes that the proposed replenishment of the Working Capital Fund and the Special Reserve Fund is justified and have supported the need for specialized agencies to have realistic working capital funds if they are to be effective. Nevertheless we as representatives ot Member States must recognize that the magnitude of the replenishment of the Working Capital Fund and Special Reserve Account is determined in part by the replenishment of the budget for the 1988/89 biennium and that the magnitude of the increase being proposed is such that it may put additional limitations on the ability of many Member States to make their financial contributions to the FAO as promptly and as fully as they would like. We would also like to use this opportunity to emphasize that the FAO Secretariat should use the Working Capital Fund and Special Reserve Account in a disciplined manner, not as a means to ensure indirectly higher levels of growth in the programmes than the membership has and will approve directly.
In addition to these fundamental comments on the proposed 1988/89 budget and related financial matters, I would like to offer two additional comments on other points related to the proposed budget with which we have difficulty. First, while we acknowledge improvements in the presentation of the Programme of Work and Budget we believe that there is room for more improvement, particularly providing a clear impression of how the priority-setting mentioned in the introduction to the budget document has been carried out. I will not bore you now with certain comments we might have about how greater transparency could be encouraged, but I would perhaps reserve the right to return at a later stage.
Second, we feel that the establishment of new country offices should be postponed to a future biennium, given the financial difficulties which our Organization currently faces and which have prompted the Director-General to propose significant reductions elsewhere in the budget.
In conclusion my Government cannot support the proposed budget.
Hermann REDL (Austria) (original language German): First of all, I should like to thank Dr Shah for his precise and clear introduction. The Austrian delegation has considered with special interest the presentation that we have in the document submitted. We particularly welcome that the priorities established over the last biennium, that is to say the promotion of food production, the increase in food security, the consolidation of information systems, intensification of training, promotion of economic and technical cooperation between countries in development are being continued.
As regards the regional aspects, it is to be observed that as we said it is particularly to be welcomed that also in the future Programme of Work and Budget the African region will be enjoying particular priority. The extension of the programme of activities by FAO and special consideration given in the priorities of the Director-General are fully endorsed by us. This is particularly true for the work that is proposed in the framework of Chapter 2. We are pleased to note that it has been possible to reduce staff costs from 77.2 percent in the last biennium to 51.7 percent. This also means even compared with the 1986/87 biennium, a considerable reduction of staff costs.
As regards the extension of programme activities in Chapter 2, we would note that as regards the further pursuance of programme activities there is a great deal of useful work. The' use of improved seeds as a basis for better production is something which goes without challenge and we shall be applying all our efforts to these programmes and in particular the training aspects, both national and regional, will be given high importance. As regards activities in the field of forestry we must observe that many woods and forests are at risk in Europe because of pollutants from cars and lorries. There is considerable degradation of the climate and we can see effects throughout the world. We hope therefore that in the future activities of FAO, particularly as regards the dying forests, particular importance will be attached.
As regards the field of food, consideration should be given to the fact that this is something requiring no emphasis here. We support the activities of FAO as regards Codex Alimentarius, both regionally and world-wide. However, due to the tight budget position it seems to us necessary that great economy should be observed in the search for greater efficiency in the use of the available resources.
As regards the details given in Chapter 4, Technical Cooperation Programme, our view is that TCP puts FAO in a position to provide rapid help to countries. This also means that project planning must constantly be adjusted to new situations in order to ensure optimum use of the available resources. Once again, I must emphasize that the TCP activities in the African region enjoy our full support.
May I be allowed, as a repsentative of a European country, to make a brief comment on the work of FAO in Europe. As already mentioned, my country supports the work done in the field of the Codex Alimentarius and also of the Forestry Commission in FAO. Close cooperation in the Committees for Agriculture and Forestry with the ECE authorities seems to us to be very desirable and should be given yet greater emphasis.
The transfer of know-how and knowledge in Europe seems to us to be a matter that should be given every support on behalf of the developing countries. We feel that Europe could also give financial backing to this. I should like to assure you that Austria, within the limit of its capabilities, will be pressing these proposals in the appropriate bodies. From all these points of view and in view of the current world situation, the budget as put forward by the Director-General seems to us to be fully acceptable. In the Plenary the Austrian Delegation emphasized that the Programme of Work and Budget, as put forward by the Director-Genral, enjoyed our full support. I wish to emphasize this again here. We also hope that the draft programme by the Director-General, in consideration of amendments and adjustments, will receive the full support of the Twenty-fourth Conference.
Hidayat Ganda ATMADJA (Indonesia): My delegation would like to express its appreciation of the excellent work done by the FAO Secretariat in preparing documents relating to the Programme of Work and Budget of the Organization for 1988/89. We would also like to congratulate Mr Shah on his comprehensive presentation.
My delegation realizes that it is very difficult to develop a Programme of Work and Budget in the light of financial difficulties faced by the Organization because of the uncertain economic situation that we now face. Also it would be hard to formulate programmes of work and budget to meet the needs of various member countries. Bearing that in mind, my delegation supports the strategy, priority and approach contained in the Programme of Work and Budget put forward by the Director-General.
We have seen that the proposal is in conformity with the requirements of most developing countries in supporting their development efforts. The programme in fact stresses support for the efforts in respect of increasing food production in many food-deficit countries. We are happy to note that the Programme puts its priorities on improving soil productivity and water management, supporting tropical forestry action plans, fisheries management and development and environmental protection as well as promoting bio-technology.
I believe that priority is also given, among other things, to the effort to stimulate long-term investment-technical and economic programmes as well as field programme activities including technical cooperation programmes and technical cooperation among developing countries. Within this aspect, my delegation appreciates the work of FAO in developing the Organization to move in an efficient and effective way by reducing administrative costs and dealing with economic and social as well as economic programmes. My delegation is of the view that this Programme could only be done if all member countries made their contribution on time. Therefore we would suggest that the support of all member countries in this respect is required. We appeal to those whose contributions are still not fulfilled to do what is necessary to help the Organization to carry out its programme. In conclusion, my delegation fully endorses the proposals under the Programme of Work and Budget for the biennium 1988/89.
Ms Janet Lesley TOMI (Australia): The Australian delegation has a number of reservations concerning the proposed Programme of Work and Budget for the next biennium. First, the proposed budget, we have just heard through Mr Shah's introduction, is now fixed at US$ 490 million at the current exchange rate. In fact the total budget would be considerably greater if the Secretariat's proposals to top up the Working Capital fund and replenish the Special Reserve Account through the imposition of additional excess levels are not set aside. Secondly, we are concerned that the Secretariat has failed to base its budget proposals on a realistic assessment of likely contributions, and to limit expenditure to achieve real zero growth together with the maximum absorption of costs of currency fluctuations and inflation. The delegation of Australia is unable to support budgetary proposals, the net effect of which is to put countries like ourselves in the position of making additional contributions to accounts depleted by the unwillingness of others to pay.
According to the report of the Ninety-second Session of the Council session, only 90 of the 158 Member Nations had paid their current assessments in full as at 31st October 1987. At the same time for the preceding year the situation was even worse, when only 65 Member Nations had paid in full with no payment received for theat year from 61 Member States.. It would appear that Australia remains one of the diminishing number of Member Nations which has hitherto consistently paid its contribution promptly and in full. We would urge all Member Nations to make every effort to meet their financial obligations to the Organization to ensure equity in the distribution of the financial burden.
Thirdly, Australia wishes to express its disappointment and concern that the Secretariat has failed to tackle growth in the budget in a responsible fiscal manner. It is our firm view that the only viable long-term solution is a rigorous review of programme priorities in order to contain costs so as to achieve a realistic budget.
In this respect we would like to place on the record our strong support for the Draft Resolution presented by the Delegation of the United States advocating changes in FAO's budget and programme procedures. We believe that the whole budget process is too complicated and too rigid and that any changes are too difficult to achieve. The report of the External Auditor on the accounts of the Regular Programme for the financial period 1984-85 ended 31st December 1985 notes that while there is a comprehensive system of budgetary planning in place, programme budgeting is not concerned with monitoring by object of expenditure and that there is no out-turn statement comparing estimated costs with actual expenditure in object of expenditure costs. In other words, the following biennial budget is prepared before the end of the current period and determined by Conference almost 6 months before the out-turn of the preceding budget is known. This is only one small example of why we believe improvements are called for in the budgetary accounting and reporting processes which will make the operations of the Organization clearly transparent and readily understandable to Member Nations and fully accountable.
The Delegation of Australia is certain that Australia is not alone in its concern that, faced with serious domestic budgetary constraints, the resources we can provide to the United Nations and its specialized agencies are not without limit. Nor can the secretariats of the international organizations ignore the image they present to their members, which in turn have a responsibility to their own people to justify the resources allocated to international organizations. This becomes politicaliy more difficult to justify when the perception exists that an organization has not adjusted to the harsh economic and financial realities which confront most Member Nations in the 1980s. Accordingly as long as the cost to us of multilateralism continue to raise steeply in nominal terms, the Australian Government will have to make hard choices in the allocation of its international assistance and will remain unable to support budgetary proposals that fail to take account of our concerns.
Bashir El Mabrouk SAID (Libya) (original language Arabic): We have listened with interest to the excellent presentation by Mr Shah with regard to the Programme of Work and Budget for 1988-89. On behalf of my delegation I should like to thank him and congratulate him. Further study of this document confirms that the proposals put forward have been the subject of a serious approach and that the requirements of developing countries have been understood, and this in view of the important financial difficulties that we all face today. Considering the document, we appreciate that the various bodies of the Organization are indeed competent and have demonstrated their efficiency more than once and have been able to adjust to the developing circumstances. This leads me to look at the future with some optimism and we would like to say that the ideas put forward in the document have been translated into fact, which confirms what has been said at earlier meetings.
I should now like to refer to the document itself. I do not want to go through all the details of the technical aspects, all the more since I have spoken of these at earlier meetings of the Programme Committee, Council sessions and elsewhere. There are three things I would like to touch upon. First of all, essential considerations in the presentation of the document and, secondly, the way in which these considerations impinge upon the programme. Then I should like to make some further general observations.
On the first part, let me say quite frankly that those who have followed the activities of the Organization for some time will be aware of the major thrusts and the major objectives in the Organization's activities.
There are two main features of this strategy. First, there is the real approach, that is to say the consideration of the real needs of developing countries and the realities of the international economic situation. The Organization has been able to take this on board. This is an enlightened form of realism. It does not mean simply yielding to circumstances.
Secondly, we need to unify the Organization's ranks and we must attempt to achieve the maximum of consensus. The Organization has always hoped that its proposals would be a call for unity rather than division. It is important to understand these aspects in order to understand the major thrust of the programmes submitted. Large resources will be necessary for the technical programmes that serve agricultural development in developing countries despite zero growth, the lack of growth in the budget, which is a matter of satisfaction, but this is another aspect to which we wish to refer, that is to say, better recruitment in order to cut down operating costs.
Table 3, page 29, shows us what the expenditur has been, and I think that this table shows that we are on the right lines. Accordingly my delegation can agree with the general considerations and the philosophies that underlie the programme and we would give support to these proposals that aim at decentralization and the support for the programme as desired by the developing countries.
There is reference to problems of liquidity, which is a matter of current concern. These are the matters which have to be limited, we have to know how the budget is to be drawn up, and today we can only take this as a basis for the coming period.
Further, we would not wish the discussion on the programme and budget to become a political discussion rather than a technical discussion, which would drift off into physical considerations without logical foundation.
A number of points were raised and we have listened to questions put by delegations on the priorities. These are not the Secretariat's priorities, we must remember: these are priorities that have been laid down by the countries and these have been discussed at every level, including the Council and governing bodies.
This document sets forth very clearly the ideas that have been advocated at these meetings. The Programme Committee has discussed these and has prepared a report that indicates the effort that has been put in by the Secretariat in producing the document. My delegation gives its support to the Programme of Work and Budget for 1988-89.
Temei ISKIT (Turkey): We would like to thank Mr Shah and congratulate him on the very clear presentation he has made on the proposed Programme of Work and Budget for 1988-89.
My delegation had the opportunity to express its views at the last Council Session and my Minister also briefly exposed our approach to the proposals concerning the Programme of Work and Budget at the Plenary. If I may just briefly touch upon these views, Turkey fully endorses the strategies, priorities and programmes proposed by the Director-General in his Programme of Work and Budget for 1988-89.
Our support is mainly based on the fact that we really think that in some ways it is our own budget, because these proposals reflect an odd result of a long process to which all Member Nations, including mine, have largely contributed.
We also welcome the effort to ensure a better and clearer presentation of priorities, programmes and budget estimates. We appreciate in particular the overall approach which aims to devote maximum resources to technical and economic programmes, to refine programme priorities, to increase efficiency and to cut costs.
To sum up, we consider that given the present budgetary and financial constraints and uncertainties the proposals before us seem to be balanced enough to deserve a consensus including the budget level, which foresees an increase of 0.25 percent over the recosted base.
We also had the opportunity at the last Council Session to express our views concerning some ideas referring to a contingency or core budget. I again reiterate our views very briefly on this subject. Turkey thinks that the Director-General under the Basic Texts could not act otherwise. He could not act on the hypothesis that some Member Nations will pay at some given time and so much. He has to go only by the Basic Texts and on the basis that the only revenue of the Organization is the commitments of the Member Nations based on the assessed contributions. So we consider that we cannot start discussing a core budget or a contingency budget at this stage, first because it would be against our Basic Texts and Constitution, and secondly it would not be practical because it would imply reopening the whole process of budget programme preparation.
Please allow me now to touch upon a point which is dear to Turkey concerning the priorities of the Programme and Budget. Of course we had ample opportunity to express our views on the various sets of programme priorities, and priorities in the means of action, but my Minister picked up a point in particular at the Plenary and this is the importance we attach to economic and technical cooperation among developing countries.
As our activities show, as our contribution to the TCDC and ECDE activities shows, we do not consider the ECDC and TCDC as empty concepts, we contribute to them. In this context we have programmes of TCDC and ECDC in cooperation with FAO which are in course. On the basis of the success of these programmes I have at this stage a suggestion, or even a proposal, to make. This concerns the establishment of an FAO regional centre for training in agricultural and rural development and my Government offers to host this permanent centre in Ankara providing all the facilities and trainers.
We hope that this proposal will meet with approval, of course going through the normal process of such proposals, and we hope that this will respond., if established, to the requirements of the countries of the region, based of course on the requests of these countries.
Again I hope that we will have the opportunity to come back to this proposal in our further work. I just wanted to take this opportunity to make this suggestion officially.
I would like to conclude by reiterating our hope that the Budget and Programme proposals for 1988-89,which are before us, will be approved by consensus at the Plenary.
LI DACHUN (China) (original language Chinese): First I wish to thank Mr Shah for his introduction of the Programme of Work and Budget. I wish to make some general observations on the Programme of Work and Budget, one concerning the budget level. The 91st Session of the Council held last June conducted deep-going discussions on the Programme of Work and Budget, but much to our regret the meeting was not able to reach a consensus on this matter. Now we have noted that in the budget presented for discussion at this meeting programme increase has been reduced from 0.48 percent to 0.25 percent and cost increase reduced from US$ 18 million to US$ 13 million. This represents the result of the effort made by the Director-General to coordinate the views of all parties concerned according to the recommendations of the discussion at last June's Council meeting.
It will be conducive to reach a consensus on this matter during the discussions of the Conference. We feel that in comparison with the previous 'budgets, the increased level of this budget is relatively lower, therefore it can be accepted, It is our sincere hope that the parties concerned will accept this budget level.
At the same time we have also noted that in the next biennium budget there will be a 2.3 per cent increase for technical and economic programmes. This increase is achieved through cutting the administrative expenditures. We support the measures taken by FAO to ensure the. substantial increase for the programme.
2. As for priorities of the programme we agree with the five programme priorities that are advocated by the Director-General, namely to help those countries which are faced with chronic food deficit to develop agriculture and grain production. Due to various reasons Africa does not only need emergency assistance but also needs medium long-term assistance, especially in the fields of economy, technology and inter-lateral development. Therefore we support FAO to place programme priorities in Africa. At the same time due consideration should be given to the needs of other regions.
3.With regard to new programme priorities we support FAO to take biotechnology as a new priority in the next biennium. Biotechnology has great potential in promoting the high degree of development of agricultural production. FAO can play a unique role in technology transfer, manpower training and information provision. However, we also appreciate the useful work done by FAO which includes collaboration with IAEA to help Member States to deal with agricultural problems arising from the aaccidental release of radial nuclei. Therefore we support FAO to increase the appropriation in the next biennium for this item and to continue its work in this field.
4.Concerning the Field Programme: this is an inseparable part of the Programme of Work and Budget under discussion and its financial resources are mainly from extra-budgetary resources. We are happy to note that extra-budgetary resources in 1988 and 1989 have some increase from the lowest level in 1983 with some increase for the fund of FAO's UNDP programme, a fairly large increase for Trust Fund and some development of FAO's Investments. However, we have to point out that the increased range for an some extra budgetary sources is not big enough. It is well known to all that an insufficiency of extra-budgetary funds is closely related to the results of the Field Programme. For developing countries the Field Programme is an important way to help developing countries to improve production and therefore we hope that the international community will make active efforts in this regard and will make their due contributions to the developing countries.
5.The technology transfer and manpower training are extremely important to developing countries. FAO can play its useful part in these two areas. It is our hope that FAO should continue to give priority to the work in these two areas in its future work.
Before the conclusion of my speech I wish once again to express our thanks and appreciation to the Director-General and the staff on the Secretariat for the arduous task that they have accomplished in preparing this Programme of Work and Budget and our support to the strategy goal priority and the budgetary level of the Programme of Work and Budget.
Matti HANNULA (Finland): I would like to congratulate you on your election to the Chair. The Finnish Delegation considers that the timetable and procedure followed presently do not offer member nations enough of possibilities to really influence the level of budget as well as the process of
decision-making including setting priorities for the work of the organization. We strongly feel that there is a need for an involvement by Regional Conferences, Special Committees like the Committees on Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries as well as for a re-scheduling of the work of the Programme and Finance Committees. Changes like these will facilitate the influence of member countries on the decision-making process, when approving the Programme of Work and Budget of our organization. As an example we would like to mention the practice used at present in the Committee on Agriculture. The Committee is not supposed to discuss budget questions, but is nevertheless requested to give its views on the programme of work. Because these two issues are closely inter-related, it would be appropriate in the future to request the Committee to discuss priorities and their budgetary implications within the framework of a realistic budget target. The Committees should also be requested to discuss and work out clear priorities of the programme of work within their respective areas of competence. It is evident that a pre-requisite for such a process is a better transparency of all documentation provided by the Secretariat, and some sort of evaluation of performed activities.
The level of the budget, which must be considered to be almost a zero budget meets with the approval by our delegation. In connection with the budget the financial problems of the organization are discussed. The Finnish delegation would like to stress, as was stated by our Minister, Mr Pohjala, at the Plenary session, that any international organization will run into big difficulties, if its members do not fulfil their obligations concerning the timely payment of membership fees. We strongly encourage all members of FAO to.take full responsibility for the financial situation of their organization. When it comes to the practical management of the organization, we are in favour of savings in administrative costs by avoiding a too heavy bureaucracy, which must be fought against in any large organization. For the future we consider that the setting of priorities must be the most important issue for the organization, because it will not be possible to work efficiently on the entire front as has been attempted so far. It is also important to establish efficient links between different divisions, e.g. agriculture and forestry as these fields are closely inter-related being parts of the same farm unit. In extension and other development work there should be an integrated approach to solving the problems of the farm. We also want to emphasize FAO's role as an organization providing advice for member governments in agricultural policy matters. In general, it must be stressed that efficient management and leadership play an important role for the achievement of favourable final results.
Due to the prevailing financial difficulties of FAO our delegation is not in favour of increasing at this time the number of country representations. Even if the proposal in principle is well justified, we are not able to support this idea, before the financial situation has improved.
The Finnish delegation would like to present some principles on priorities in the programme of work for 1988-89 that should be seriously considered when planning the work of the organization.
When we are discussing the setting of priorities in a regional context, we strongly support the continuing emphasis on Africa as can be seen in table A on page 257 of the document C 87/3. The agriculture and food situation in Africa is still so serious that Africa must be considered as a first priority region. This does, Mr Chairman, not mean that other regions should be forgotten. There is an evident need of an active involvement by FAO in all the developing regions of the world.
Turning now to particular programmes we would like to state that Finland has traditionally been in favour of a strong involvement by FAO in the forestry sector. Having said that we regret to inform you that we have not been able to see clear signs that forestry has been given higher priority among FAO programmes than the case has been during previous years. The efforts of the Finnish delegation in this respect at previous FAO meetings have not been fruitful. Within the forestry sector we want to pay special attention to Community forestry. Forests as producers oí firewood and shelter have such a big importance for developing countries. These facts cannot be neglected in the future. Promotion of forestry is also very important from the point of view of protection of the environment. Erosion and desertification can be stopped and prevented by forestation.
Protection of the environment in a broader sense is in the view of our delegation a priority area. We strongly support the idea of working for sustained development. If we do not in FAO as well as in other UN and international organizations pay attention to environmental hazards in economic development, we will all suffer in the future. Therefore we support the proposals of the Bruntland Commission and propose that environmental aspects should be given due consideration in all relevant FAO programmes and projects.
Salim SARRAF (Liban) (langue originale arabe): C'est la première fois que ma délégation intervient ici dans cette commission. Je vous félicite donc pour votre élection. Nous remercions aussi M, Shah qui a très bien présenté ce document C 87/3.
Nous avons, je crois, dans nos discussions antérieures, perdu beaucoup de temps. Dès lors, pour ne pas en perdre davantage et pour éviter les discussions inutiles, nous serons extrêmement brefs dans notre déclaration. Nous sommes favorables aux propositions figurant dans le document C 87/3 et nous approuvons cela d'autant plus volontiers que le Directeur général a apporté à ce texte des amendements pour donner suite aux voeux exprimés par les pays membres lors des réunions antérieures du Conseil.
Nous sommes, sans réserve, favorables à ce programme de travail et budget pour l'exercice financier 88-89. Puisse un consensus se dégager sur ce point.
Rudolf GENSKE (Germany, Federal Republic of) (original language German): I should like to begin by thanking Mr Shah for the excellent introduction he has given to us to the Programme of Work and Budget for 1988-89 (document C 87/3). The Programme of Work and Budget for the next biennium have been intensively discussed over the last few months in different technical bodies. The Finance and Programme Committees, and the Council have been dealing with them. We are pleased to see that a great number of proposals and suggestions that were made in these bodies have been incorporated into the new Programme and Budget document.
Let me make first of all a few general comments concerning the Programme of Work. During the 91st FAO Council Session we had already pointed out that while the priorities were established rightly in the Programme of Work, we considered that a further priority might be appropriately added, environmental protection and prudent management of renewable resources. I am happy to observe that the Secretariat has taken up this idea. In our view a greater awareness of the need for taking greater care of environment and resources are now becoming a basic component of concepts and discussion approaches. This is true even when it has not always found the required degree of acceptance.
We consider it important that the programme of our Organization should meet practical needs and be practice-oriented. Federal Minister Kiechle has pointed out this repeatedly. This also includes that we try to achieve through the increased cultivation of food crops also greater incomes for the producers. As regards the marketing of agricultural products we must proceed from the view that agriculture as the basic pillar of development will still for many years continue to have the leading role in the economies of the developing countries. The programme of our Organization must therefore try to bring about beyond pure production efforts also a more balanced access to markets and to the establishment of purchasing power for broader sections of the population.
Let me now turn to some of the budgetary aspects. We acknowledge that the preparation of the Programme of Work and Budget for 1988-89 has been extraordinarily difficult. This is true for the whole of the United Nations system. Indispensable economies in the regular budget for 1986-87 are connected to this. Our Organization was not alone in this respect. The United Nations itself economized US$ 163 million; WHO, as the UN organization with the largest budget volume, US$ 35 million and ILO which has a smaller budget volume than FAO was able to spare US$ 17.3 million. We think that our Organization with its economies of US$ 25 million comes out quite well in the comparison. We welcome the fact that the Director-General has postponed the establishment of four new FAO country representations in the Major Programme 3.4 until the current financial crisis has been solved. We think that these new country representations should be abandoned at all in the next biennium, even if through phased timing the establishment of these representations would involve additional expenditures of no more than US$ 550 000.
With the revised final proposal for the Programme of Work and Budget for 1988-89, with a real growth rate of only 0.25 per cent, FAO has virtually achieved the level of zero growth requested for long by us in the budgets of the United Nations system. We welcome this because the growth rate for our own national budget for 1988 will also he by 0.6 percent below the planned economic growth
We particularly welcome the fact there has been a further reduction in administrative costs and in the share of staff expenditures which now amount to only 51.7 percent. We are also aware of the difficulties resulting from the unpredictability of currency development.
The representative of my country in the Finance Committee had positively appreciated the low real budget increase. As already in May of this year he had called for an emergency provision to be made, that is to say that activities whose financing is insecure because of arrears in contributions to be expected should be included in a standby programme. In this way the Director-General would be in a position to be able to implement the major part of the programme on a financially secure basis from the beginning of the budget period. Activities in the standby programme would only be implemented as and when arrears are made up or when resources become free as a result of delays of other programmes or when other miscellaneous resources become available.
We can only approve the Programme of Work and Budget for 1988-89 which we consider basically reasonable provided that such emergency planning is provided for. Relevant decisions of principle already exist in UNIDO, WHO, ILO and WMO. In the present form - without this provision for emergency - we are therefore not able to give our agreement to the Programme of Work and Budget for 1988-89.
During the 91st Council meeting, my delegation already made the point that organizations in the UN system cannot spend more money than available to them. Therefore, we see the delays and failures to pay the compulsory contributions as the major cause for our current financial crisis, and therefore call upon all Member States who have not yet paid their contributions to fulfill their obligations as promptly as possible. We hope that we will still be able to come to an agreement and to approve the Programme of Work and Budget by consensus.
Adel Helmy EL-SARKI (Egypt) (original language Arabic): Mr Chairman, I would like in the first place to express my sincere gratitude to Mr Shah for the excellent presentation of this document, and would also like to commend the efforts of the secretariat in the preparation of the document so that it truly reflects the different viewpoints and recommendations sounded by the various organs of FAO. After careful study of the document presented to the Ninety-first Session of the Executive Council and, on the basis of the realistic technical and economic objectives of the program aimed at the increase of agricultural production, the effective application of technology, the reinforcement of data collection bases, the protection of the environment and the conservation of natural resources, my country has certain observations concerning the following programs.
With regards the Major Program 3-1 for the planning of field programs, we would like to express our satisfaction with the fact that this program encourages technical cooperation between developing countries and aims at greater reliance on national cadres in the management and operation of different projects.
Mr Chairman, after review of the medium-term objectives and work plan of the Major Project 3-2 concerning investment, the delegation of my country fully endorses the program because it highlights the different investment projects and promotes the participation on the private sector in various investment activities.
The delegation of my country also fully supports the Major Program 3-4 concerning country representatives in view of the effective contribution of representatives in giving consultation and advice and in extending technical assistance when most- needed. My country itself has had a successful experience with this program; however, we feel we need to draw a new policy and secure its approval by the Executive Council. This policy is envisaged to prescribe the standard requirements for the establishment of country offices and to determine the relationship between country offices and regional offices with the possibility of charging country offices to serve more than one country if the volume of their projects so requires.
The support given to my country by the technical assistance program had a positive impact on its agricultural development programs. We happily endorse the establishment of the new cadre for technical cooperation between developing countries, and welcome the prospected benefits to be made possible by such cadres. The new trend adopted for the allocation of resources to the different components of this program as referred to under para. 26 of this document is another source of our satisfaction, and we hope that the list of projects implemented will be submitted to the Council.
After review of the sub-program 5.1.2 concerning the library, we note with satisfaction that allocations to the library and to the support of agricultural library systems have not been affected.
With regards sub-program 5.1.3, we feel that further guidance and orientation are needed. Hence a plan is required to determine the number of publications. In this context, reports on meetings and conferences should be summarized and strictly limited to the results and recommendations of meetings. The practice of including summaries of all documents presented should be discontinued.
Mr Chairman, the delegation of my country commends the new system adopted to allocate the greatest amount of financial resources to technical and economic programs and at the same time to cut down on administrative costs. We feel that under the circumstances of the financial crisis, the 1988 budget as proposed by the Director-General, is satisfactory.
Mr Chairman, my country is indeed one of the greatest supporters of Technical Cooperation among Developing Countries. It has hosted the Technical Cooperation Meeting in 1986 and we are presently preparing for another round of meetings in the field of technical cooperation to examine the role of documentation centres in developing countries. Documents for these meetings are being prepared by the competent bodies in my country in its capacity as hosting the meetings. Training is provided by several centres and institutes in agriculture and agricultural activities related to trainees from developing countries and from international organizations alike. Such institutes are bound by strong ties and agreements with international organizations particularly, the Food and Agriculture Organization and the World Bank. The Egyptian International Agricultural Centre and the Rural Development Centre are prepared to receive trainees from within the region and from other regions as well. The Centres are well equipped and possess adequate facilities in addition to technical and administrative cadres able to handle any training tasks entrusted to them.
Abdal Halem AL NOMAN (Iraq) (original language Arabic): I would like once again to express my thanks to you for providing us with this opportunity to speak on this important subject as it deals with the budget organization and the services provided to developing countries to increase their agricultural output and to provide the necessary resources and food for their inhabitants. After having reviewed the various documents on the budget and after having heard the introduction of the Secretariat, and considering the difficult circumstances during which they were established, I would like to point out that the Medium-Term Objectives aimed at increasing production and productivity as well as the improvement of the terms of trade and rural development, in addition to the importance accorded to fisheries and forestry, all these projects and proposals are in fact vital and important to the overall proposals of the budget. These objectives as set out in the budget were very carefully discussed by the various member countries with a view to developing their agriculture. In fact we think that these proposals indicate a very clear awareness of the needs of the developing countries. The increase in the budget of the Organization to achieve these goals through the improvement of services is commendable. This will help the Organization to stress the priorities requested by the member countries, it will also help member countries to adopt those new technologies that will increase efficiency and effectiveness.
The budget provides for support to local institutions and organizations which will also help them to improve their own country's development. Achievement of these basic goals reflects the increased budgetary cost. However, the indication in the budget document of a cut-back in costs indicates that the Organization, as I said, is to give priority to the technical sides of its programmes. For this reason we fully support the contents of the Programme of Work and Budget as well as those measures taken by the Director-General and we believe that any further increases in the budget can be avoided if the member countries work to fulfill their financial obligations to the Organization in time, and if local personnel and expertise were resorted to in the implementation of field programmes, as this will help to reduce overall costs especially those related to travel and living allowances of imported expertise.
We wish once again to express our thanks and gratitude for the excellent quality of these documents.
Pedro Agostirihô KANGA (Angola): Tout d'abord, nous tenons à remercier M. Shah de son introduction très brillante du Programme de travail et budget pour 1988-89. L'analyse exhaustive faite sur ce Programme de travail et budget présentés par le Directeur général nous a amenés à conclure que le travail réalisé était de longue haleine si l'on veut concilier sous les différents aspects qu'ils revêtent les problèmes auxquels la FAO se heurte en ce moment.
Le cas de la FAO est similaire à celui de toutes les organisations du système des Nations Unies victimes de la crise économique mondiale due plus particulièrement à la fluctuation monétaire dudonar,aùx' termes de l'échange, au système monétaire international dans les institutions .spécialisées, au prix des matières premières et à la dette extérieure galopante pour la majorité des pays en développement membres de la FAO. Les organisations internationales en général se heurtent à des problèmes budgétaires et financiers cruciaux et la FAO, tel qư 'evoqué ci-dessus, se trouve également entraînée dans le marasme économique du moment.
Les efforts déployés par le Directeur général de l'Organisation en faisant sans doute les acrobaties nécessaires pour arriver à présenter ce Programme de travail et budget pour 1988-89 nous convient à lui manifester sincèrement nos vives félicitations. Nous apprécions le dévouement du Directeur général et du Secrétaire et les efforts qu'ils ont fournis en vue de satisfaire les opinions et les points de vue exprimés par les uns et les autres lors de l'examen du Sommaire par les organes techniques consultatifs.
Vous conviendrez avec nous que le problème de la faim continue a sévir dans le monde et plus particulièrement en Afrique et en Asie. Malgré la gravité de la situation économique internationale, il est temps de prendre les décisions qui s'imposent. Et certaines questions qui se posent méritent une étude approfondie pour trouver des solutions adéquates à tous les problèmes de retard ou de non respect dans nos engagements car il est évident que rendre le cadre financier de la FAO opérationnel ne dépendrait que du flux financier constitué essentiellement de l'acquittement de leurs obligations par tous ses Etats Membres dans le règlement régulier de leurs contributions. Il est important de retenir cette observation que la FAO ne connaît pas de crise financière mais plutôt une carence de liquidités car elle est l'une des organisations du système des Nations Unies qui peut être fière de présenter, comme par le passé, une gestion saine.
Nous ne voudrions vraiment pas entrer dans le détail du document dont nous sommes saisis car nous l'avons fait dans d'autres organes consultatifs de l'Organisation. S'agissant de stratégies prioritaires, nous appuyons les suggestions du Directeur général relatives à l'affectation de ressources à de nouvelles priorités telles que définies au chapitre des stratégies et priorités.
Parlant une fois encore du Programme de coopération technique, nous exprimons notre regret de voir que les ressources affectées au PCT sont en stagnation malgré notre souhait de les voir augmenter, ne fût-ce que de 1 pour cent, car le succès déjà enregistré depuis la création de ce Programme a suffisamment démontré son dynamisme.
Une augmentation de 1,1 million de dollars, soit 0,25 pour cent par rapport au programme biennal antérieur actualisé, est vraiment dérisoire. Nous considérons ce budget comme un budget historique car il s'agit du plus petit présenté jusqu'ici. En huit ans, le budget de la FAO a été réduit de 4 pour cent et il a un taux de croissance zéro.
Nous éprouvons réellement beaucoup de difficultés à appuyer ce niveau. Il ne répond en aucun cas, pour nous, aux besoins actuels, à un moment où de nombreux pays s'enlisent dans une situation économique mondiale qui se traduit par la persistance de la pénurie alimentaire.
Malgré les difficultés que nous venons d'exprimer, animé d'un esprit conciliant, mon pays appuie le niveau du Programme de travail et budget pour 1988-89 tel qu'il est présenté.
Pour terminer, nous exprimons le souhait que tous les Etats Membres qui ne l'ont pas encore fait honorent leurs engagements en temps opportun et au niveau prévu.
Usama AL-BILBEISI (Jordan) (original language Arabic): Allow me first of all to express my thanks to all those who have prepared this detailed document on the budget and for the detailed figures and statistics that reflect the activities and the ambitions of this Organization. Here I wish to point out the following. First of all, it goes without saying that a cutback in administrative costs is something worthy of expressions of gratitude, but this should not affect the performance of the Organization.
A second point we wish to refer to is the great importance we attach to TCPs as these are an effective means of responding to urgent needs and of effective implementation.
After having reviewed the various items of the budget in the document we note the very limited increase in the funds allocated to the transfer of technology. This is a source of certain concern, as research and transfer of technology and extension activities are very important, especially where improved efficient technology and its transfer are vital for an increase in production and an increase in farmers' income.
A last comment: we wish to stress here the need to give special importance to the training element in all field programmes and in all opportunities available, especially for developing countries, as this is a vital means of introducing improvement of development and production in member countries.
I would like to reaffirm my country's willingness to provide this Organization with all the necessary support. This is based on our appreciation of FAO's role in development and our firm conviction of the need for genuine international cooperation which would be an essential foundation for a world free from hunger, poverty and underdevelopment.
SAMBA MOOMI-TE-AVELELA (Zaïre): Permettez-moi tout d'abord de vous féliciter pour votre élection; je profite de l'occasion pour présenter à Monsieur SHAH nos vives félicitations pour sa brillante présentation du document C 87/3 relatif au programme de travail et budget 1988/1989 de la FAO.
Concernant le programme, comme l'a dit le chef de la délégation zaïroise ce matin, ainsi que les délégations qui ont pris la parole avant nous, nous considérons qu'il est conforme aux besoins illimités que les pays en développement sont en droit d'attendre en matière d'assistance de la part de la FAO. Toutes les actions ici proposées sont un minimum que la FAO devra faire au cours du prochain biennium.
En ce qui concerne le budget 1988/1989, ma délégation pense qu'il doit être adopté par consensus. Il faudra également que les Etats Membres fassent des efforts pour s'acquitter de leur contribution dans les délais impartis, afin que notre Organisation puisse honorer ses engagements.
Pedro OYARCE YURASZECK (Chile): Mi Delegación desea en orimer término agradecer a la Secretaría por la presentación e introducción de este Documento.
La orientación global dada en el Programa de Labores y Presupuesto para el ejercicio 1988-89 refleja equilibradamente, de una parte, componentes derivados del retraso en el pago de contribuciones, la depreciación del dólar, la reducción de ingresos por conceoto de intereses; y, por la otra, la necesidad de los países en desarrollo, acentuada, entre otros elementos, oor variables vinculadas a la deuda externa.
Las modificaciones propuestas para el próximo bienio denotan un meioramiento en la asignación de recursos para Droeramas técnicos v una disminución de aquellos destinados al servicio de oolíticas y dirección. La orientación oue se plantea en este Documento es producto de un esfuerzo valioso y serio por ajustar a la FAO, al igual que a otras agencias del Sistema de Naciones Unidas, a una situación internacional crítica y a unpproblema especifico de liquidez:
Mi Delegación concuerda con las cinco prioridades pronuestas y comprende el nivel de asignación sugerida. Mi país recientemente ha expresado en el transcuros de la presente Asamblea General su comprensión y solidaridad con la acción de la Organización en beneficio del continente africano.
En el ámbito estrictamente regional coincidimos con la orientación dada en el Plan de Acción oara el bienio 1988-89,en cuanto a recursos naturales y a otras materias vinculadas a los sistemas de exnlotaciones agrícolas.
En el programa de cultivos se estiman importantes los esfuerzos de la FAO tendientes a intensificar la transparencia de tecnología mediante medios modernos de comunicación destinados a pequeños productores y extensionistas, a desarrollar cultivos hortícolas- y a profundizar el conocimiento y tecnología de pérdida postcosecha.
En cuanto a la información, análisis y políticas en materia de alimentación v agricultura, mi Delegación reconoce el esfuerzo de la FAO. en la preparación del Estudio solicitado en la última Conferencia Regional para América Latina y el Caribe sobre las posibilidades y perspectivas de alimentación, agricultura y el desarrollo rural en la Región;
Al mismo tiempo, es interesante destacar las actividades desarrolladas en esta esfera en cuanto al análisis de precios y mercados de los productos básicos, la colaboración con organismos regionales de integración y cooperación, así como la capacitación y planificación del desarrollo agrícola y rural
Por otra parte mi Delegación se complace en observar la inclusión del componente ambiental, reco-giendo las recomendaciones del Informe de la Comisión del Medio Ambiente y Desarrollo.
En relación con el Programa de Campo, nos parece adecuada la orientación propuesta y el fortalecimiento necesario que en esta materia requiere la acción de la Organización. Confiamos que a pesar de las dificultades que plantea este documento a ciertas Delegaciones, pueda ser aprobado por consenso.
Milutin TAPAVICKI (Yugoslavia): The Yugoslav Delegation is in agreement with, in the Programme of Work and Budget for 1988-39, the identified Medium-Term Objectives and the selection of programme priorities. We believe they are realistic and acceptable. They are highly inter-related, thus indicating the need for simultaneous and more closely coordinated action at all levels if we are to get nearer to the attainment of the final goal of the elimination of hunger and malnutrition, and to attaining world food security. This obviously implies effort by all countries and international organizations and the community as a whole to give more generous support to the efforts of the developing countries in the formulation and implementation of food and agricultural development plans.
Our delegation regret the circumstances which have compelled the Director-General to disguise the negative growth and a symbolic real term increase in the budget as much as we appreciate that he has done so. On the budget level our principal position remains unaltered, based on the merits of programmes rather than on any preconceived budgetary theory.
We consider it necessary to exert all possible efforts towards preserving and further promoting the basic orientation of FAO in maintaining the balance between activities of a global nature and those geared.towards specific regional, sub-regional or national issues and problems. We welcome the fact that in the allocation of resources to these two types of activities in the coming biennium priority has been accorded to activities in support of the developing countries for both regional and national plans-.
Our delegation also welcomes further persistent shifts in resources from administration and general support towards substantive programmes. In this regard we strongly support the further strengthening of the role of the Technical Cooperation Programme with the corresponding increase of funds in the Regular Programme. As a member of the United Nations family, FAO is facing a serious and worsening liquidity crisis. In this connection we would like to underline the conclusion of the FAO Council that the real causes of the current financial crisis are not to be found in the orientation, management or efficiency of FAO. It is unacceptable that financial problems of this nature should be taken as a pretext and justification for limiting the Programme of Work and Budget of the FAO in the forthcoming biennium.
The question is, what kind of survival strategy to adopt. We are aware of the advocacy for a core, a stand-by or satellite.budget. However, a small technical trick will not of course solve the real problem. Furthermore, we are positive that such an approach is as dangerous as it is unsound. The only rational option seems to be to apply managerial measures to safeguard to the maximum the major priorities of the Organization. It has to be done under the precise guidance and with the full involvement of the Governing Bodies.
Finally, the Yugoslav Delegation is prepared to endorse the Programme of Work and Budget, although my country is facing economic and balance-of-payments difficulties.
Ugo SESSI (Italie): Permettez-moi tout d'abord de remercier Monsieur Shah pour sa présentation du document C 87|3 qui contient les propositions du Directeur général pour le programme de travail et budget pour l'exercice 1988-1989.
L'examen du programme de travail et budget a lieu cette année à un moment cruçial pour la vie de cette Organisation. En effet, les difficultés financières que la FAO a rencontrées au cours de l'exercice qui se termine le mois prochain n'ont pas, si j'ai bonne mémoire, de pareil précédent, dans son histoire qui compte désormais plus de quarante ans. Je ne me bornerai pas à rappeler les causes et l'étendue des difficultés car nous les connaissons tous. Elles ont fait l'objet d'un examen sérieux de la part du Conseil, du Comité du budget et du Comité du Programme. Elles sont aussi rappelées dans l'introduction du Directeur général au document que nous examinons. En plus, les aspects financiers de ce problème font l'objet de plusieurs points à l'ordre du jour de la Conférence. Cela montre, s'il en était besoin, les profondes conséquences sur la gestion actuelle et future de la FAO des difficultés d'ordre financier dont je parle et qui marquent d'une manière particulière le moment que l'Organisation vit actuellement.
Que nous le voulions ou non, ces problèmes seront dans nos arrière-pensées au cours de la discussion du budget car ils ont et auront une incidence directe sur les programmes de la FAO, sur le niveau budgétaire que la Conférence approuvera et, bien sûr, sur les contributions de nos gouvernements. C'est ici que je voudrais partager au nom de ma délégation, l'opinion exprimée par le Directeur général dans son introduction.
Nous sommes confrontés à un grave problème mais non pas à une crise fondamentale de l'Organisation et surtout pas à une crise de confiance dans la FAO et dans ses objectifs principaux.
Nous espérons qu'à l'issue du débat qui va se dérouler au sein de cette Commission et dans les autres instances de la Conférence, ressortira clairement un appui renouvelé vis-à-vis du rôle et des tâches fondamentales de cette Organisation.
Je vais m'occuper maintenant du document C 87/3, et je le ferai en deux étapes:
En premier lieu, en ce qui concerne les stratégies et priorités qui sont indiquées, nous pouvons en général approuver les propositions du Directeur général, en particulier les propositions tendant:
-à générer un effort accru dans le secteur de la production agricole des pays en déficit vivrier chronique;
-à privilégier les mesures visant à protéger le sol, les eaux et l'environnement en général;
-à favoriser une utilisation optimale des biotechniques.
Nous partageons aussi l'idée d'une amélioration de la gestion et de l'utilisation de toutes les bases de données disponibles à l'Organisation. La FAO constitue en effet un observatoire privilégié de tous les aspects du développement rural et agricole; et nous pensons qu'elle pourrait jouer un rôle accru dans ce secteur, surtout à la suite des dépenses considérables qui ont récemment été effectuées au siège dans le secteur informatique.
Ensuite, en ce qui concerne les programmes de terrain, nous avons pris note de la situation de dépenses effectuées à l'aide de sommes extrabudgétaires qui montrent un niveau constant, en termes globaux, de sommes dépensées pour les projets financés par le PNUD, et une substantielle bonne performance des programmes réalisés à l'aide des donateurs bilatéraux, en coopération avec le gouvernement.
Pour le PNUD, j'espère que le nouveau cycle de programmation, qui a débuté en 1987, et les perspectives favorables des contributions de la part des principaux donateurs permettront un accroissement des moyens mis à la disposition de la FAO qui pourront compenser la chute enregistrée surtout dans les année 83 et 84.
Sur les programmes de collaboration avec les gouvernements et les fonds fiduciaires, il est un peu plus difficile de faire des prévisions car on parle ici d'activités réalisées sur des bases bilatérales entre la FAO et les gouvernements concernés. Dans ce cas, chaque pays décide donc de façon autonome de l'étendue de sa coopération avec la FAO.
En ce qui concerne mon pays, je ne puis que confirmer l'engagement de l'Italie à poursuivre le programme et les expériences réalisées bilatéralement avec la FAO, comme l'a déjà déclaré le chef de ma délégation dans son intervention en plénière.
Les programmes dont je viens entre autres de parler se situent dans les lignes directrices qui régissent la nouvelle loi sur la coopération avec les pays en voie de développement, qui a été adoptée par le Parlement en février 87.
Enfin, sur les activités d'investissement, je voudrais déclarer toute notre satisfaction et tout notre intérêt pour le rôle que joue la FAO en stimulant les courants d'investissements au bénéfice des activités agricoles et rurales dans les pays en voie de développement. Nous espérons que les moyens accrus mis à la disposition de l’IDA, en conjonction avec les ressources du FIDA, bien qu'inférieurs à ce qu'on pourrait attendre, pourront faciliter un effort et une participation majeure de la FAO dans ce secteur.
Il faut quand même rappeler que le FIDA pourra compter aussi sur les moyens qui lui seront confiés avec le fonds spécial pour l'Afrique.
En plus, il faut aussi rappeler les expériences très intéressantes réalisées par le PNUD dans les activités des pré-investissements.
Nous croyons que la FAO aurait beaucoup à gagner d'une collaboration plus étroite avec le FIDA, et d'un échange d'expériences avec le PNUD dans ce secteur.
Après ce commentaire d'ordre général, je voudrais exprimer notre position sur les aspects plus significatifs du projet de budget, d'un point de vue plus technique et plus financier, c'est-à-dire sur la partie comprise entre les pages 18 à 32 du document.
Nous avons noté avec intérêt les efforts d'économie et de rigueur déployés par le Directeur général pour faire face aux incertitudes financières. Nous jugeons adéquates les réductions de crédits apportées aux consultants et aux réunions officielles. Nous avons noté avec satisfaction la diminution nette de 25 postes dans les effectifs permanents, qui résulte de la création de 13 nouveaux postes et de la suppression de 38 postes existants, bien qu'à la suite de la présentation du nouveau document supplémentaire, il faille compter seulement sur 20 diminutions nettes - si j'ai bien compris.
Nous avons quand même remarqué que sur les 11 nouveaux postes prévus pour la catégorie "professionnels", 10 postes sont au niveau P-4 P-5. A ce sujet, je voudrais renouveler les réserves déjà manifestées à plusieures reprises par ma délégation. En effet, sur un total prévu de 920 fonctionnaires du cadre organique pour les prochains bienniums, 615 sont au niveau P-4 P-5, c'est-à-dire plus des 2/3.
Selon nous, et dans la situation d'incertitude financière actuelle, le recrutement devrait être effectué au niveau le plus bas possible, pour donner ainsi aux nouveaux fonctionnaires de meilleures possibilités de carrière à l'intérieur de l'Organisation.
Parallèlement, les taux de vacance des postes devraient rester au niveau fixé par le Comité financier.
En ce qui concerne les augmentations de dépenses proposées, si nous n'avons pas d'objection à un relèvement de crédit pour les services informatiques, que nous considérons comme des dépenses d'investissement très rentables, nous aurions préféré éviter l'augmentation de 10% prévue pour les voyages officiels.
Je vous rappelle que le comité des 18 a proposé à l'ONU une réduction de 20% des crédits alloués à ces dépenses dans le budget des Nations Unies. On a procédé à des coupes considérables dans ces dépenses aussi dans les autres Agences spécialisées, comme rappelé par le Représentant de la Rép. Féd. d'Allemagne.
Nous accueillons avec satisfaction la croissance presque nulle du budget en terme réel.
En ce qui concerne la croissance globale, elle dépendra bien sûr du taux de change du dollar que la Conférence choisira. Pour l'instant, il faut noter que la seule hypothèse présentée dans les documents montre qu'avec un taux de change à 1 350 lires pour un dollar qui est, pour l'instant, supérieur au cours actuel, on aurait une croissance globale du budget de l'ordre de 10% comme l'a rappelé M. Shah aujourd'hui.
Rien ne nous est dit sur d'autres hypothèses, mais il n'est pas difficile de calculer la croissance globale du budget si on choisissait le taux de change de 1 250 lires pour un dollar. Dans ce cas, comme on peut le voir dans les tableaux de la page 30 du document (auquel M. Shah faisait également référence), avec un niveau de budget aux alentours de 490 millions de dollars, on aboutirait à une augmentation d'environ 12%.
Il ne faut quand même pas non plus oublier que les crédits proposés ne couvrent pas, pour plusieurs types de dépenses, toutes les augmentations dues à l'inflation et à l'augmentation des coûts, et qu'une partie de ces augmentations devra être absorbée, à l'intérieur du plafond approuvé, par des économies réalisées dans la gestion du budget.
Enfin, il faut aborder la question plus délicate qui. est celle des recettes, étroitement liée à la discussion sur d'autres points à l'ordre du jour, notamment en ce qui concerne la crise financière et les moyens d'y faire face.
Notre préoccupation est d'éviter une situation de vide de pouvoir à laquelle on .a fait référence pendant le débat du dernier Conseil. Ma délégation a posé des questions et a obtenu de la part du Secrétariat l'assurance qu'un mécanisme approprié pourrait être envisagé et mis à la disposition du Conseil dans l'hypothèse où la FAO se trouverait à nouveau dans la situation difficile qui s'est produite dans le courant de cette période budgétaire.
On doit donc prévoir la possibilité pour le Conseil de donner des directives au Directeur général dans le cas où il serait nécessaire de procéder à des ajustements de programmes, à une modification, à une réduction ou à un renvoi de certaines initiatives prévues dans le budget, si nous nous trouvions confrontés à un déficit des recettes prvoqué par le retard ou le manque de paiement des contributions - ou d'une contribution particulièrement importante.
Lors du débat de la troisième commission, ma délégation se réserve le droit de présenter un projet de résolution à ce sujet et nous reprendrons donc ce débat ultérieurement dans une autre instance.
En conclusion, je peux déclarer, compte tenu des observations que je viens de faire et sous réserve que la question des pouvoirs d'intervention du Conseil soit résolue dans l'hypothèse que je viens de mentionner il y a quelques instants, que ma délégation est prête à approuver le projet de programme et budget tel qu'il nous est présenté dans ce document.
Ms Malgorzata PIOTROWSKA (Poland): The Polish delegation fully supports adjustments introduced in the Programme of Work and Budget for the next biennium, according to the changing agricultural and financial situation.
The philosophy explained in the Introduction to the document is in our opinion a correct one and it gives a basis for an even better focussing on important FAO activities in the future, and at the same time preserving a universal character of the Organization and understanding that deep changes could not be implemented in a short time.
Our delegation meets with special satisfaction enlarging FAO's activities in Europe. These activities are important not only for the European region but also for future intensified cooperation of Europe with developing countries.
The Polish delegation is concerned about the disruption in the FAO programme caused by the cash shortages due to late contributions or absence of contributions from Member States. The effect in 1987 has been that priorities established by the Council and Conference have not been adhered to. We are concerned if this trend continues that the priorities and programmes of emphasis approved by this Conference for the coming biennium will become almost meaningless.
Natural Resources: We are particularly pleased with the emphasis placed on the conservation and reclamation of soils, especially as this is to be based on the mobilization of small farmers and peasants. My delegation also wants to stress the importance of rational land use planning and -the development of more efficient farming systems. In the exploitation of natural resources the guiding principle must be concern for environmental protection and the proper management of renewable resources.
Crops: My delegation gives full support to the emphasis given to the preservation of crop genetic resources and is pleased to see the enhanced cooperation with IBPGR. We consider it important to secure the widest agreement on the International Undertaking for Plant Genetic Resources as soon as possible.
My delegation fully supports the major emphasis given to roots and tuber crops which constitute some of the most important basic foods, not only in tropical and sub-tropical countries but also in temperate climate countries like Poland which, as you know, is one of the largest producers of tuber crops in the world.
In this connection we would like to emphasize that it is equally important to enhance and stabilize production of these crops as it is to prevent a third, our potato crop through premature sprouting. We are thus looking into the possibility of using modern methods, including irradiation, to reduce these losses. In that connection we welcome the International Conference on Food Irradiation that FAO is co-sponsoring in Geneva next year with WHO, IAEA and GATT.
Livestock: We are particularly pleased to note in this programme the new emphasis given to the use of modern biotechnology both in an effort to improve livestock reproduction and productivity as well as for diagnosis and control of livestock diseases. It is to be hoped that the use of these new biotechnologies will lead to early results in the two major campaigns for diseases such as rinderpest and trypanosomiasis in Africa. However, these new technologies are of equal interest to other regions and countries, including Poland. We are thinking of food and mouth disease and also of biotechnology for vaccine production as well as for improved nutrition.
The work being started on animal genetic resources is welcomed and we support the organizational changes being made to strengthen activities in this area.
Research and Technology Development: My delegation considers research and technology development to be one of the major tasks of FAO within its whole area of responsibility for agriculture; including soils, crops and livestock as well as fisheries and forestry. We agree with the emphasis given within this programme on improving research management capabilities. We are particularly supportive of the role that FAO is undertaking in supporting advanced research technologies, biotechnology and, where appropriate, genetic engineering as well as the increased use of modern nuclear technology for plant improvement, animal production and health, insect control and preservation of food.
We welcome the inclusion of AGRIS in this programme, an activity to which we give our full support.
Rural Development: We have noted with satisfaction that within this wide-ranging programme the priorities for increased emphasis have been placed on extension and training, formulation of national policies and programmes, and the various programme elements strengthening the role of women in both food production and rural development. In this context my government has welcomed the attention that FAO has drawn to the role fo the small farmer and fisherman in food production and also the plight of the peasants and ways of improving their lot.
Nutrition: My government continues to regard the Codex Alimentarius Commission co-sponsored by FAO and WHO to be one of the most important intergovernmental committees and welcomes the attention being given to food quality. With the rapid increase in the volume of international food trade it is of the utmost importance to have internationally accepted standards of food wholesomeness and quality.
The consequences of nuclear accidents were a painful reminder of this necessity. It is a pity that now, one and a half years after, there are still difficulties in international food trade due to the inability of national governments and international agencies to reach an agreement.
We would like to congratulate FAO on the establishment of radioactive levels in food to facilitate international food trade. These have greatly helped to alleviate the problem and we fully support the plans to initiate activities in the next biennium within this programme and the joint programme with other UN agencies concerned to train food controllers in assessing the radioactive contamination and to advise governments on actions to be taken with regard to food and agriculture in the case of such accidents.
In conclusion I would like to state that my delegation supports the proposed Programme of Work and Budget for the next biennium, stressing the need for consequently introduced changes in the future, especially enlarging the FAO's role in advising and guiding Member States in shaping their macro-economic and social policies in food and agriculture.
The meeting arose at.17.30 hrs
La séance est levée à 17 h 30
Se levanta la sesión a las 17.30 horas
