GENERAL DISCUSSION (continued)
DEBAT GENERAL (suite)
DEBATE GENERAL (continuación)

CHAIRMAN: Good morning, Ladies and Gentlemen. Thank you for arriving on time. We will start with our normal business of general discussion.

In the first instance I have the honour to invite His Excellency Ilker Tuncay of the Agricultural and Rural Affairs Department of Turkey.

Ilker TUNCAY (Turkey): Mr Chairman, Distinguished Ministers and Delegates, Ladies and Gentlemen: It gives me great pleasure to address the Twenty-sixth Session of the FAO Conference. These conferences have proved to be a very useful forum since 1945 for reviewing world food and agricultural situations, their problems and their solutions.

In my presentation, I would first like to share with you some of my thoughts on the main features of the world economy as it relates to the food and agricultural situation prevailing today.

The political and economic reforms taking place in Central and Eastern Europe and in many developing countries make it evident that the traditional rifts among countries or groups of countries are gradually closing. Values such as market economy are becoming a common denominator for most of them.

While the process of these reforms in the national economies incurs certain level of cost for their societies, the governments stand determined to complete this process in order not to remain behind in a growing competitive environment in the world.

In this respect, it is in the common interest of all countries to build new forms of partnerships.

Turning to the world food and agricultural situation, I believe that our traditional challenge to reduce poverty and hunger maintains its highest priority. As is mentioned in the Conference document, growth in world agricultural production has fallen below the medium-term trend during the last two years.

On the trade side, international prices of the main traded agricultural commodities fell significantly in 1990 and the first months of 1991. Analysis of world agricultural situations indicates that continuing debt problems, high interest rates and unfavourable terms of trade still hamper the efforts of developing countries in reaching their development targets.

Agriculture remains to be the sector which is most affected by the adversities of world economic environment. In addition, people dependent on agriculture are expected to bear the heaviest burden of today's national economic reforms. Therefore, under the circumstances it is unfortunate to see that world hunger and malnutrition has not abated.

In our opinion, this can only be solved when agricultural cooperation has been chosen as the focal point of international efforts.

Distinguished Delegates, at this point I would like to touch briefly on the recent developments in Turkish agriculture.

Agriculture has long been an important sector in the Turkish economy which is mainly due to rich natural resources. Our recent policies towards market economy have added to the above advantages leading us to obtain satisfactory growth in agricultural production. In fact, this sector realized an annual average growth rate of 4 percent in the last seven years reaching a peak of 7.9 percent in 1986. It is indeed true that my country has a successful record in keeping her agricultural output in pace with population growth. The success achieved in this respect is the result of sustained self-help efforts of the farmers and the promotion of private enterprises for the production and distribution of inputs as well as marketing of the commodities. In this direction, the Government has intensified its efforts on research and extension to support this evolution.

Forestry development programmes also have been intensified throughout the country in recent years. Re-establishment of the Ministry of Forestry this year is expected to contribute to further expansion of these programmes.

Our agenda for the future comprises programmes to further raise productivity and improve the quality of products and facilitate access into the world markets.

I am pleased to point out that our overall agricultural cooperation with other countries has rapidly grown in recent years. It is worth mentioning that the technical cooperation and assistance extended to other developing countries by Turkey has been expanded through various channels including TCDC arrangements established with FAO. Under these arrangements about 500 technicians from various countries were trained at varying levels in Turkey in 1990. In order to facilitate and better coordinate such efforts, which are currently exerted by individual institutes, we are now in the process of establishing an international agricultural forestry training centre in Turkey.

Likewise, we are willing to share our facilities and capacity of forestry with other FAO member countries, particularly in the Mediterranean area.

Our recent initiative to shape Black Sea Economic Cooperation is another example for Turkey's determination and commitment to regional and global cooperation.

Mr Chairman, Distinguished Delegates, at this point, I would like to praise FAO for its tremendous efforts in assisting the developing countries and contributing to technical and economic cooperation among these countries.

The recent orientation in the roles and functions of FAO under the able leadership of the Director-General, Mr Edouard Saouma, deserves particular commendation.

I will conclude my remarks by hoping that this Conference will have a positive impact for the achievement of our common objectives in the field of agricultural development. Let me assure you that my country is ready to play her part towards this end.

Thank you.

Ignaz KIECHLE (Germany) (Original language German): Since our last meeting at the Twenty-fifth FAO Conference two years ago, the world political climate has fundamentally changed. In almost all countries, the people have turned their backs on the communist system and declared their belief in freedom, self-determination and democracy, as well as in the principles of the market economy. With the change in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe as well as in the Soviet Union, an end was brought to the East-West confrontation, and the German partition was overcome.

I am very happy to be able to speak to you now for the first time as representative of the reunified Germany. I take this opportunity to thank our friends from around the world who have given us support on the road to state unity. I should like to assure you that we shall also continue to assume our greater responsibility within the international community.

The new worldwide political realities open up opportunities for more intensive cooperation between the industrialized countries and the developing countries which now, without ideological ballast, can be focused more strongly on the real needs of the people. In this respect, the basic conditions have improved to solve the really decisive problems that we face at the threshold of the Twenty-first Century. I am thinking in this respect, above all, of the need to overcome the prosperity divide between north and south as the basis for peaceful coexistence of all peoples. It should not be a matter of indifference to us that we see worldwide 550 million people suffering from hunger and malnutrition and 1.1 billion people living beneath the absolute poverty line. The combat against hunger, poverty and underdevelopment must, therefore, have the highest priority. This calls for an intensification of international cooperation. However, the improvement of the economic situation in the Third World countries must not take place at the cost of the ecological balance because an intact environment is also part of a dignified life. Therefore, increasing importance is attached to the maintenance of the natural bases of life in the framework of development aid. I am aware that the increasing rapprochement between east and west in the developing countries is followed with mixed feelings. There is apprehension that the problems of the Third World could be pushed into the background by the radical changes in the former east block countries.

On behalf of the Federal Government, I should like to say this: The extremely difficult economic and ecological consequences of communist economic policy cannot be overcome by the affected countries alone. Therefore, the western industrialized countries have declared their readiness to provide financial support to the countries in the process of reform. Although Germany assumes a pioneer role here, it will intensify its development aid efforts for the countries of the south. Furthermore,

Germany has cancelled the public debts of all least developed countries, with one exception. From 1978 until today, we have forgiven all developing countries about DM 9 billion. The main focuses of German development aid are relieving poverty, promotion of training, creation of jobs, rural development, and the protection of the natural bases of life. The countries of the Third World will rely also in the coming years on the provision of know-how, technology and capital from the industrialized countries and Germany will be happy to make an appropriate contribution. However, we will make the allocation of funds contingent more strongly than so far on the creation of an environment which is based on democracy, rule of the law and market economy in the countries concerned. An important part in development policy cooperation is also played by the non-governmental organizations whose activities are primarily financed from private donations. The German citizens in 1990 donated almost US$620 million, about a billion Deutsch marks, for humanitarian purposes in the Third World. This demonstrates once again that the citizens of our country recognize the need of people in other parts of the world and do their best to contribute to their relief.

The magnitude of the development policy challenges calls for determined concerted action on the part of the international community. This fact is taken into account by FAO under the leadership of its Director-General, Edouard Saouma, with the Programme of Work for the next two years and with its medium-term planning for 1992-97. It trusts in this respect in coordinated action and close cooperation with its Member States, with the other UN specialized agencies and programmes and the NGOs. At the two previous Conferences, the work of FAO was subjected to critical review. The documents that Director-General Saouma submitted to this year's Conference demonstrate that the efforts to reform FAO's activities have been successful. Thus, the policy advice of FAO to the developing countries in agricultural, food, environmental and population issues has become more efficient. Servicing and coordinating of projects has also been improved. More than in the past, important cross-sectoral activities are taken into consideration in FAO's work, such as the protection of the natural bases of life, the conservation and sustainable use of plant and animal genetic resources and the efforts to improve the situation of women within the framework of rural development. Considering the continuously difficult financial situation of FAO, this deserves special appreciation.

I welcome the fact that FAO has succeeded in effectively limiting the increase in costs. I hope that despite some still open issues concerning the calculation of personnel costs and the replenishment of the Special Reserve Account, the budget for 1992-93 will be adopted by consensus. With regard to the difficult financial situation the budget for 1992-93 should not be increased in real terms against the level of 1990-91.

The new Programme of Work had to be adjusted to the limited financial possibilities, and in this respect it cannot be avoided that justified expectations and concerns of Member States in need of help must be left out of account.

That it has nonetheless been possible to draw up a balanced Programme of Work for the solution of the pressing problems, I wish to express my thanks and appreciation to all those who took an active part in it. FAO could achieve its short- and longer-term tasks even much better if all Member States were fully to meet their obligation to pay the contributions. The European Community, whose Member States are already members of FAO, seeks to join our Organization as a whole. I welcome the basically positive

assessment of these efforts since the EC has already demonstrated its commitment to development policy on many occasions inter alia through the successful conclusion of the negotiations on the Fourth Lome Convention. This Convention gives certain developing countries from the African, Caribbean and Pacific Regions easier access to the European market for important agricultural products. At the same time, the financial and technical promotion of agriculture and rural development in these countries is an important component of the Convention.

I hope that the membership of the EC in FAO will still be possible in the course of the present Conference. The EC has also repeatedly stated its readiness within the framework of the GATT negotiations on a further liberalization of world trade to take account of the interests of the developing countries. Here, however, one has to differentiate: on the one hand, there are developing countries which have to rely on the world market to cover their own food requirements as cheaply as possible, while other developing countries try to promote their economic development through increased agricultural exports. We are ready to intensify our efforts to restrict subsidized agricultural exports. In this way the disturbances on the world market would be generally diminished. This would be to the benefit of all developing countries.

But we cannot export less and at the same time import more. I appeal to all GATT members to show flexibility in the further negotiations, and thus to contribute to a fair overall compromise with which our peasant European agriculture can also live.

The current world food and agricultural problems are also again in the foreground of the discussions at this Conference session. And here I should like to refer to the growing importance of world forestry.

This subject was also dealt with on the occasion of this year's World Food Day under the motto “Trees for Life”.

In the coming year this will also stand in the forefront of the World Conference on Environment Development in Rio de Janeiro. Due to its great expert competence we expect from FAO important approaches to solutions.

This especially applies to the tropical forest problems. And here we are also prepared to engage in active cooperation, because for us there is no doubt about it: mankind needs healthy trees and healthy forests to survive just as air to breathe.

The awareness of the close connection between food security and the protection of the natural bases of life must be sharpened further worldwide.

During his recent visit to several countries in Latin America, Federal Chancellor Dr Kohl has also referred to the importance of the forests, in particular tropical forests, for the future of the whole of mankind.

I hope that the discussion about a greater consideration of environmental issues at this Conference will have a signal effect for many Member States.

I take this opportunity of wishing this year's FAO Conference every success.

Lieutenant-General CHIT SWE (Myanmar): Mr Chairman, Excellencies and Distinguished Delegates. May I on behalf of myself and the Union of Myanmar Delegation convey my warm and sincere congratulations to Malik Abdul Majid on his election as Chairman of this important Conference. The unanimous consensus is a tribute to his esteem and stature, and we are fully confident that his wisdom, coupled with his experience, will steer this Conference to a fruitful conclusion.

The world has witnessed considerable historical changes during the past biennium. The transformations have recast the political and economic structures of many countries, that have led in shifts towards market economies in various forms. Meanwhile new economic agreements have come into force in different regions of the world, while the countdown for the Single European Market in 1992 moves forward unabated. It is our hope that the new trends and patterns in global trade that are to emerge do not adversely affect the aspirations of the developing countries.

Mr Chairman, the Food and Agriculture Organization has indicated that, for the current year, the outlook for world cereal production has deteriorated in several major growing countries due to unfavourable climatic conditions. Consequently, it has been estimated that world cereal production in 1991 is forecast to be below trend and sharply less than last year's record. We hope it would not deteriorate further.

The unusual conditions of the south-west monsoon during the year also set in motion severe floods in Bangladesh, China, Viet Nam, Cambodia and in Myanmar. Myanmar was subject to both sporadic drought and floods, the floods being the severest in the past decades. The floods affected over 400 000 acres of crops, mostly paddy, rendered more than 280 000 people homeless, and led to a highly considerable loss in public and private property and infrastructure. Measures have been taken to recultivate damaged areas, with crops appropriate to post-flood growing conditions, and we are glad to report that national food requirements and our normal potential surpluses will not be unduly affected.

The measures of assistance rendered by UN Agencies, international organizations and numerous donor countries towards the relief efforts are highly contributive, and we remain deeply appreciative.

The national economy of Myanmar is still predominantly reliant on agriculture. The arable land to population ratio is very favourable. The country is richly endowed with forest and marine resources; and minerals, gas and petroleum deposits. The pace of economic growth and development, however, had not been comparatively satisfactory. The Government of Myanmar, in recognition of the negative environments, instituted drastic changes to its economic structure in recent years. Significant steps were taken for the shift towards a market economy and with a view to maximize private domestic participation, attract foreign investment and accelerate growth and development. Emphasis has been given to creating profit incentives for farmers as well as small entrepreneurs and to infrastructure development.

The measures were followed by the promulgation of a new Foreign Investment Law. The Law, containing favourable returns on investment has provided equitable conditions for foreign ventures in production, trade and service

sectors. The responses have been encouraging and currently a considerable number of enterprises in forestry, fisheries, oil and mineral exploration, industries and for hotel and tourism are in operation.

Measures were also taken for relaxing controls in international trade, and with mechanisms for exporters to retain the full amount of their foreign exchange earnings, for purchase of appropriate imports. The incentives have generated favourable private sector response, and has led to an increase in the volume of agricultural exports. Similarly, the legislation of the inland border trades with the neighbouring countries have further given a surge to Myanmar's exports in numerous agricultural products. The absolute and ultimate overall effects of the various measures still remain to be fully realized. But early indications signal that the agriculture sector has responded well to the increasing demand and higher prices of agricultural produce.

We also recognize and welcome the long-standing work of FAO on biological diversity and its efforts on strengthening of national capabilities in developing countries in accordance with the Twenty-fifth FAO Conference Resolution 5/89 on Farmers' Rights. The conservation of genetic resources remains extremely essential for the ensurance of an assured supply of basic material for plant and animal breeding; and importantly also for future biotechnology advances. The collection and exchange of plant germplasm continue to be built up in Myanmar, and we hope that our efforts in these spheres will be further strengthened through the enlarging scope of the Special Action Programme on Biological Diversity.

We also appreciate the efforts that FAO contemplates in the livestock and fisheries sectors. The direct contribution of the livestock sector to Myanmar's GDP still remains nominal. However, it has contributed comparatively towards animal protein requirements and is the major source of draft power for cropping and transport. The fisheries sector also remains an important economic component in our national growth. The potential for further development in these sectors remains considerable.

The 2 800 kilometre coast line of Myanmar supports a vast reservoir of varied fish resources and accounts for 80 percent of the total national fish production. The marine resources, however, still remain under-exploited. The total harvest in 1990 amounted to only about half a million metric tons against an estimated sustainable yield of one million metric tons. Our national fishing fleet still lacks the capacity to accommodate the potential; and as an interim bridging measure and in conformity to the United Nations Convention of the Law of the Seas, for sharing surpluses, a number of fishing rights, associated with development programmes, have been granted. The rights are for one year with options for extension and are meant to serve as prelude to more economically viable Joint Ventures under our Foreign Investment Law. I wish to take the opportunity of assuring the Conference that the operations will be controlled under strict legal and administrative mechanisms, so as to prevent over-exploitation or damage to the environment. The inshore fisheries, however, still remain the domain of small-scale and artisanal fishermen, and in apparent need of further support and development. The Law Relating to Aquaculture enacted in 1989, has accelerated the process, and large tracts of suitable areas have been identified, demarcated and reserved for aquaculture.

Mr Chairman, environmental problems and sustainable development have, in the meantime, assumed high prominence on the international fora. In the case of the industrialized countries, the growing use of fossil fuels and chlorofluorocarbons, associated acid rains and effluents have been the principal causes of environmental damage and pollution. On the other hand, the factors instrumental for such problems in most developing countries have been the pressure of population, expansion of agriculture and grazing and the high dependence on biofuel for energy. Therefore, the primary motivation creating environmental problems in developed industrial nations is profit, whereas in the least developed and developing countries it is a matter for survival.

We remain deeply concerned about the current environmental problems that have emerged. In spite of our financial resource constraints, we have taken firm measures to integrate environmental considerations into the various facets of national development. And in support of these measures, the Government has also set up a National Commission for Environmental Affairs, with competency over all environmental affairs and to coordinate efforts in the field of environment in Myanmar.

Perceivably, many standards will emerge from the forthcoming 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development. The problems of the developing countries, however, already remain overwhelming and it might be illusory to assume, they will be able to shoulder the responsibilities of the environment issues within their financial resources. The problems at the same time remain global, and it is hoped an equitable approach could be evolved.

Fortunately Myanmar's natural environment has not been unduly impaired. It has incidentally been due to the relatively limited population pressure, the still low level of industrialization and the limited use of polluting agricultural chemicals. Moreover, a large proportion of the country is still under forests, mostly natural. The forest resources continue to be managed under sound silvicultural systems.

As an agricultural country we attach extreme importance to the protection of the tropical forest ecosystems. We continue to subscribe to the activities of the Tropical Forestry Action Plan, and the tenets of the declaration adopted at the Ministerial Conference on Environment and Development in Asia and the Pacific held in 1990. We also fully endorse the Paris Declaration of the Tenth World Forestry Congress and will effectively cooperate with the international community in this vital area.

Our campaign to combat and eradicate opium poppy cultivation and illicit trafficking in narcotic drugs, is also being waged relentlessly. The Government, at the same time, has been according high priority to the development of the border areas, with a view to improving the rural infrastructure, agricultural development and socio-economic conditions of the region. It is perceived that the measures will be highly complimentary to the poppy eradication programme. The support rendered in the efforts, by FAO, UNDP and UNDCP, among others, has been invaluable and we remain indebted to them. Tangible results have been attained, and information and access have been regularly provided to the UN bodies, diplomatic communities and international news agencies in Myanmar. Myanmar has, at the same time, entered into bilateral cooperation with the People's Republic of China, Thailand and Laos, at the sub-regional level, with a view to

strengthening the war against drugs. Our earnest endeavours in this sphere has also been reported to the world community at the recent Forty-sixth United Nations General Assembly.

The problem of agricultural, food security and economic growth of the developing countries has become more complex. Almost a third of humanity still lack the basic necessities of life, while over one billion people live in absolute poverty. The accomplishment in all other walks of life will remain irrelevant if we fail to address these problems. We firmly believe in all sincerity that the international community will be able to rise to the occasion.

Ray MacSHARRY (EEC): Mr President, Director-General, Ministers, Excellencies, Distinguished Delegates and Observers, Ladies and Gentlemen. It is a great honour and pleasure for me to speak to you again at this most prestigious forum. Since we met two years ago there have been major political developments in the world, and in particular in the Soviet Union and the Central and Eastern Europe. There has been increased need for food aid throughout the world. FAO has kept up with the challenges which these changes present, and I therefore would like to congratulate Mr Saouma and his staff for their continued contribution to improving living standards throughout the world, and to alleviating the plight of the peoples most in need.

It is in recognition of the importance of FAO's work that the Community has strengthened its institutional links with FAO earlier this year. The Community now hopes to become a member of FAO during the present Conference and I will return, Mr President, to this aspect later on.

Among the many important items on the agenda the subject of the world food and agriculture situation is of particular importance. At the FAO Conference two years ago we had an opportunity to review the situation including world market prices and stock levels for major commodities. It has become abundantly clear since then that the Community and many other countries needed to undertake important reforms in the agricultural sector to achieve lasting improvements on the world market.

The European Community has taken up the challenge of agricultural reform with great vigour. On the basis of proposals put forward by the Commission this year, the European Council and the European Parliament have started an in-depth debate on the reform of the Common Agricultural Policy. The main features of the Commission's proposals are that there will be major reductions in prices, as high as 36 percent in cereals, 10 percent in milk, butter 15 percent, and skimmed milk powder 5 percent, and beef as high as 15 percent. There will be supply control measures. For example in the cereal sector we will have set aside, and we will have, in the milk sector, lower milk quotas, tobacco quotas, and upper limits on sheep premia.

There will also be substantial compensation for price reductions and the supply control measures through payments to the farmers, measures better to direct support towards small and medium sized farmers such as extension of small cereal producers from set-aside requirements and mechanisms, and to allow the small milk producers to avoid quota cuts.

The emphasis will be, as I have said, on greater support towards the small and medium sized farmers, of which we have the greatest majority. There will also be accompanying measures dealing with special environmental issues. There will be an accelerated programme to encourage afforestation of agricultural land and new measures to facilitate earlier retirement.

The proposals will be of benefit to Europe's farmers through greater stability of earnings and competitiveness, more balanced markets domestically and internationally, and a more equitable distribution of support.

They will also benefit consumers through reduced prices and, of course, make a contribution to the environment by encouraging less intensive methods of production and better care of the countryside. From the point of view of the delegations represented here, it is important to the contribution they will make in the international trading environment.

I would like to stress that the Commission, Council and the European Parliament all agree on the need for far-reaching reforms. There has been a surge of support for the Commission's approach. I am hopeful that the main elements of the reform will be agreed by the end of this year.

In our inter-dependent world no single country can determine the state of world markets. The Uruguay Round, therefore, plays a key role in underpinning reform throughout the world. The Community has stressed on numerous occasions its determination to play an active role in bringing the Round to a successful conclusion, hopefully by the end of this year.

I am sure that the FAO will continue to assist the developing countries participating in the negotiations in ensuring that their well-recognized needs are reflected in the final outcome.

The Community has from the start of the negotiations recognized the need for special and differential treatment for the developing countries. We are very much aware, for example, of the specific concerns of the net food importing countries, which could face difficulties when world market prices increase as a result of a successful conclusion of the Uruguay Round. The Community has recognized the need for continuing food aid.

Obviously agriculture is only one of a number of key sectors in the Uruguay Round. Others include textiles, services, and intellectual property.

I am now more optimistic about a successful, balanced outcome before the end of the year, in which all participants will find advantages.

The Community's concern for the developing countries extends, of course, well beyond the Uruguay Round.

The Community notes with concern that productivity in Africa and Latin America has recently declined, reversing a previously encouraging trend.

The Community will continue to assist structural development in the developing countries, and will continue to provide food aid to alleviate major hardship in the short term.

We have heard fears expressed that our important efforts in assisting Central and Eastern Europe as well as the Soviet Union could lead to a reduction in our assistance to developing countries but this is clearly not the case. Not only have we kept up earlier assistance levels but in the case of food aid we have this year even increased the level of emergency assistance to Africa.

Furthermore, I believe that the recent emergence of democracy and more market-oriented economies in Eastern and Central Europe, combined with the recent developments in the Soviet Union, are in the interests of global peace and stability, which will be of benefit to all.

In this difficult period of transition there have been real humanitarian needs, including food aid, to which the Community has responded with vigour.

The recently negotiated agreement with the EFTA countries setting up a European economic area, as well as the negotiations underway on association agreements with Czechoslovakia, Hungary and Poland, show that the European Community is responding in a constructive manner to new challenges and new responsibilities.

It is in this spirit that on 6 June 1991 the Commission of the European Communities and FAO have signed a framework agreement in order to step up their cooperation in the food and agricultural sectors, including fisheries and forestry. The agreement establishes expanded cooperation in both the area of policy review and field activities. Mechanisms are provided which ensure not only regular consultations between both institutions and their services but also between their representatives in the field.

This expanded cooperation will maximize the skills and efforts of the two organizations to the benefit of developing countries with whom the FAO and the Community are working together. This cooperation is not only a commitment for the future but a reality. In fact, already during 1991 quite a number of actions have been successfully undertaken with important contributions from the EC Commission under this framework agreement.

The Community wishes to further deepen this dialogue by becoming a member of FAO during the present Conference, as you all know.

This would allow us to play a more active part in the life of FAO, an irreplaceable institution, the aims of which the Community fully supports. At the same time, the Community's accession would strengthen FAO and I am convinced that all of you share this objective with us. I am, therefore, looking forward to the work of this Conference as it proceeds on this important issue. I would like to say again that it is a great honour and privilege for me to share my thoughts with you and I wish, as it always has had, this Conference every success.

Mouldi ZOUAOUI (Tunisie) (Langue originale arabe): En mon nom propre et au nom de la délégation tunisienne, je voudrais exprimer mes félicitations sincères à M. Malik Abdul Majid à l'occasion de son élection pour présider aux travaux de cette vingt-sixième session de la Conférence générale, je suis persuadé que ses qualités personnelles de sagesse et de compétence lui permettront de mener à bon port les travaux de cette Conférence.

Le Président Zine El Abidine Ben Ali m'a chargé de vous exprimer la grande estime et la profonde considération que la Tunisie témoigne à l'égard de ce forum international devant lequel il a prononcé une allocution il y a quelques semaines à peine. C'est une estimation et une considération des efforts insignes que la FAO n'a cessé de consentir pour étendre son action bienfaitrice et sécurisante dans les régions les plus démunies du monde.

Je me prévaux de cette occasion pour saluer tous les fonctionnaires de la FAO et à leur tête M. Edouard Saouma, son Directeur général, en exprimant la haute considération dans laquelle nous tenons leurs efforts fructueux en vue de développer le secteur agricole dans toutes les régions du monde. Ces efforts vont au-delà de l'unique aspect alimentaire pour en assurer les sources d'approvisionnement dans le monde et ce par le biais du soutien aux projets de conservation des sols, face aux périls de l'érosion et de la dégradation, parallèlement au soutien apporté aux Etats Membres dans leurs efforts pour encadrer les agriculteurs et jeter les bases d'un développement durable.

L'humanité, ayant déjà entamé la dernière décennie du vingtième siècle, se doit de saisir cette occasion pour instaurer un dialogue sincère afin de consacrer toute sa disponibilité et tout son esprit de solidarité dont elle peut faire montre afin de préserver l'ensemble des nations du monde des dangers de famine et d'extinction.

N'est-il pas honteux pour une civilisation humaine qui a atteint son apogée en cette époque, que des millions d'enfants des zones démunies meurent de sous-alimentation et du poids de l'oubli?

Toutefois, ce qui met du baume au coeur dans le feu de ces contradictions, c'est que l'humanité dispose d'un trésor de consciences vives telles que celles que réunit aujourd'hui cette vénérable instance qui s'inspire de hautes valeurs civilisationnelles dont la traduction dans les faits constitue le gage de la pérennité de tout être humain, sans discrimination ni exclusion.

La FAO a apporté son soutien à la grande marche du développement agricole d'un grand nombre de pays; elle y a participé par l'expérience qu'elle mettait au service de ces derniers dans le transfert technologique, dans la conception des stratégies de développement et dans la mise des ressources phytogénétiques nationales à la disposition de l'ensemble de la communauté internationale.

Elle a également participé activement aux campagnes de lutte contre les divers fléaux tels que le criquet pèlerin ou encore la lucilie bouchère qui a menacé les ressources animales de la région d'Afrique du nord, du continent africain et même du sud de l'Europe. Il s'agit là d'un acte de solidarité qui mérite l'estime de l'ensemble de la communauté internationale.

De même, nous saluons le rôle de pionnier que joue la FAO dans le développement des politiques agricoles dans les pays en développement ainsi que son assistance pour que l'agriculture extensive ne se fasse pas au detriment de l'équilibre de l'environnement. La meilleure preuve en est que la Journée mondiale de l'alimentation cette année a eu pour thème: l'Arbre, source de vie, étant donné le rôle essentiel de l'arbre dans la conservation de l'équilibre écologique et par voie de conséquence la nécessité d'un développement agricole durable.

Nous voudrions souligner ici l'importance des projets pilotes que l'Organisation contribue à mettre à exécution dans nos pays et qui allient la dimension emploi à celle de l'utilisation des technologies modernes appropriées.

Nous souhaitons également souligner l'importance du soutien aux programmes axés sur des politiques de développement et l'adhésion au concept d'un développement agricole durable qui sauvegarde à la fois les richesses naturelles et l'environnement.

La Tunisie a trouvé auprès de la FAO et de ses organes directeurs un écho favorable à ses aspirations et nous avons la plus grande estime pour les efforts de l'Organisation dans le soutien apporté aux divers projets dont le PNUD a participé au financement. Ces projets ont tous consacré la priorité absolue que la Tunisie ne cesse d'accorder à l'agriculture depuis le 7 décembre 1987 avec pour ambition, comme l'a affirmé le Président Ben Ali que la Tunisie recouvre ses mérites historiques qui l'ont fait surnommer la verte Tunisie sans parler bien entendu de l'objectif de sécurité alimentaire pour tous les Tunisiens.

Pour ce faire, nous avons mis en place une politique agricole qui se fonde sur l'utilisation de nos ressources en eaux pour accroître la production, dans le cadre d'une stratégie décennale de mobilisation des ressources en eau, à la fois souterraines et de surface. Cette mobilisation permettra la bonification de nouvelles zones irriguées qui ne manqueront pas de consolider et d'accroître la production agricole dans une dépendance moins aiguë vis-à-vis des changements climatiques.

Parallèlement à cela, un plan a été élaboré pour la conservation des eaux et du sol sur une superficie de près d'un million d'hectares, ce qui ne manquera pas de permettre une meilleure exploitation des terres agricoles.

Nous avons développé une politique volontaire de reboisement qui a permis au cours des trente dernières années de doubler la couverture forestière et ainsi le pourcentage des forêts est passé de 4 à 7 pour cent de l'ensemble des terres non désertiques du pays. Nous avons pour objectif de doubler de nouveau ce taux au cours de la prochaine décennie pour atteindre l'objectif de 15 pour cent, ce qui démontre le degré de priorité accordé par la Tunisie à la sauvegarde de l'équilibre écologique et à la protection de l'environnement.

A cet égard, un ministère de l'environnement et de l'aménagement du territoire vient d'être institué. Nous avons également oeuvré pour organiser les structures du secteur agricole et en particulier les services techniques, les unions d'agriculteurs telles que les coopératives de service, les associations coopératives, l'investissement et le crédit agricole afin de lever tous les obstacles qui entravent le développement agricole tels que le régime foncier et la complexité des démarches administratives.

Conjointement, nous avons oeuvré pour améliorer la qualité de vie des agriculteurs dans les zones rurales grâce à l'adduction d'eau potable, à l'électrification des campagnes et à la construction de routes. Ceci va contribuer certainement à maintenir les agriculteurs sur leurs terres et à réduire d'autant l'acuité de l'exode rural.

Nous fondant sur la conviction de l'importance d'une politique adéquate des prix comme stimulant de la production agricole, nous avons adopté une politique de prix d'encouragement pour les produits de base tels que les céréales, l'huile d'olive et le lait tout en maintenant la politique de l'offre et de la demande pour les produits non stratégiques.

La FAO est aujourd'hui appelée à jouer son rôle primordial dans la construction d'un réseau efficace de solidarité mondiale pour adapter la technologie agricole afin d'assurer une alimentation suffisante pour l'ensemble de l'humanité aux fins de la sécurité dans le monde.

Alors que nous reconnaissons l'importance de l'aide alimentaire dans la réalisation des objectifs de la sécurité alimentaire, nous y voyons également une source importante de développement et nous mettons l'accent sur la nécessité d'améliorer la performance des opérations d'aide alimentaire de manière coordonnée, tout en oeuvrant à en réduire les incidences négatives sur la production nationale.

Les pays développés se doivent de prendre en considération les besoins urgents des pays en développement en matière d'aide alimentaire tout en accordant l'intérêt requis par nos pays d'Afrique soumis aux méfaits de la sécheresse, de la désertification et de la malnutrition. Il est également nécessaire d'examiner les effets négatifs sur les balances de paiements de pays en développement des polítiques protectionnistes qui \?\ont on train d'être examinées dans l'enceinte du GATT.

A l'occasion de la célébration de la Journée mondiale de l'alimentation cette année, le Président Ben Ali avait appelé du haut de cette tribune à la mise au point d'un Pacte de solidarité internationale pour l'éradication définitive de la faim dans des délais raisonnables et à l'instauration d'un ordre économique solidaire permettarit de faciliter et d'adapter la technologie et de fournir les investissements nécessaires á l'accroissement de la production agricole dans tous les pays du monde car la réalisation des objectifs de la sécurité alimentaire pour les peuples des pays en développement et la création d'emplois suffisants pour leurs jeunes constituent les meilleurs remparts contre les dangers de l'extrêmisme et du désespoir.

La proposition du Président Ben Ali visant à réinvestir les dettes des pays en développement dans des projets productifs dans ces mêmes pays trouvera peut-être un écho favorable dans les programmes de la FAO étant donné le rôle essentiel de ces programmes dans la réalisation d'un développement agricole durable, garantissant des revenus adéquats au monde rural et sauvegardant l'environnement.

Nous affirmons notre soutien au programme de travail et de budget de l'Organisation pour l'exercice biennal 1992-93 tel qu'il est présenté par M. Edouard Saouma, Directeur général de la FAO. Nous espérons que tous les Etats Membres lui apporteront le même soutien car il est nécessaire que les moyens dont dispose l'Organisation soient accrus afin que celle-ci puisse satisfaire les besoins toujours croissants des pays en développement.

Nous sommes convaincus que l'adhésion des organisations d'intégration économique régionale et de la CEE à la FAO contribuera à en accroître les capacités. Nous réitérons l'appel que nous avons adressé à l'Organisation pour qu'elle poursuive son Programme de coopération technique dans sa forme actuelle qui se caractérise par la souplesse et nous prions le Directeur

général de tenir compte des directives de la Résolution 9/89 de la Conférence générale dans l'élaboration de ses propositions pour l'exercice 1994-95.

Nous réaffirmons notre appui au PAFT et, à cette occasion, nous appelons la FAO à préparer un plan similaire pour le développement du secteur forestier dans les pays méditerranéens, afin d'aider à rétablir le couvert forestier de ces pays et de mettre un terme à l'avancée du désert qui menace non seulement les pays d'Afrique mais également les pays du sud de l'Europe, car la désertification ne connaît pas de frontière.

En conclusion, nous ne pouvons que réitérer notre estime pour la FAO et à l'endroit de ses fonctionnaires, et nous réaffirmons notre soutien sans faille à leur noble mission humanitaire, souhaitant parvenir ensemble, dans les meilleurs délais, aux objectifs que nous nous sommes assignés, à savoir assurer la nutrition de tous les êtres humains sans exception.

Mauro BERTERO GUTIERREZ (Bolivia): Señor Presidente de la Conferencia, señores miembros de la Mesa directiva, señores colegas Ministros de Agricultura, excelentísimos Embajadores acreditados ante la FAO, señores Miembros de las distintas Delegaciones, señoras y señores:

Ante todo, vayan mis felicitaciones a usted, Sr. Presidente, en ocasión de su acertado nombramiento. Asimismo, en esta oportunidad deseamos expresar nuestra cordial bienvenida, muy cordial, a los nuevos países miembros, augurando el mejor de los éxitos en este renovado esfuerzo de concertación de ideas.

Deseo, asimismo, felicitar expresamente al Director General de la FAO, nuestro buen amigo Dr. Edouard Saouma, por las excelentes labores de preparación de esta Conferencia, las mismas que se reflejan en el profesionalismo y la calidad técnica de los documentos que se presentan en esta oportunidad.

Estimados colegas Ministros, creo que todos, absolutamente todos, podemos coincidir en que este encuentro bienal se brinda para meditar en torno a múltiples observaciones sobre nuestras respectivas realidades nacionales. Observaciones éstas que, hoy más que nunca, se deben realizar en el cada vez más interdependiente contexto internacional. Prueba de ello han sido las palabras de nuestros colegas del mundo industrializado, el día de ayer; prueba de ello son las continuas conversaciones en los pasillos de este foro mundial sobre la percepción del mundo más solidario que hace algunos años, del mundo difícil del encuentro entre el alejamiento de aquello que es el conflicto conceptual y la práctica del conflicto real que tenemos la tristeza de vivir en algunas latitudes del mundo de hoy, prueba de ello es que nos embarga una profunda preocupación sobre el futuro de la revolución de la democracia del contexto que nos toca vivir.

Hemos venido a participar en esta Conferencia con el deseo de apoyar moralmente a la FAO en sus tareas de desarrollo y de reiterar nuestra convocatoria a nuestros hermanos de países industrializados, miembros de esta Organización, para que mantengan y, en la medida de sus posibilidades y limitaciones, amplíen sus contribuciones y los flujos de programas de cooperación hacia los países menos desarrollados.

La agenda de esta Conferencia nos induce a pensar que las preocupaciones de la comunidad internacional se han intensificado, efectivamente, en los últimos años, en lo relativo a temáticas tan importantes como el medio ambiente, el comercio internacional, los ajustes estructurales de nuestras economías y los flujos de cooperación para el desarrollo que comenzábamos a comentar. Sin embargo, señor Presidente y queridos colegas, es solamente honesto reconocer hoy y aquí que estas preocupaciones mayormente se han reflejado en el tenor de los discursos oficiales y no tanto así en la práctica diaria del accionar gubernamental, si tomamos en cuenta la creciente magnitud de las necesidades de los pobres del mundo. Esta realidad se hace más evidente si consideramos que la mayoría de los países del Tercer Mundo aún encuentran una larga serie de dificultades para estructurar programas que permitan una eficaz acción para desterrar el fantasma del hambre y la desnutrición. La magnitud alarmante del hambre y la pobreza en el mundo hacen urgentes las formulaciones de estrategias que aseguren los alimentos necesarios, permitan un crecimiento económico y orienten el desarrollo sustentable hacia el logro de una mayor equidad social.

En el contexto internacional y en lo referido al comercio de productos agropecuarios, los sectores agrarios de nuestros países, los países en desarrollo, encuentran serios obstáculos en sus posibilidades de exportación a los mercados que tienen un gran poder de adquisición. El proteccionismo, que subsiste en los países industrializados, crea una incertidumbre en el orden económico y comercial que limita de manera dramática nuestras posibilidades de inserción en el comercio agroalimentario mundial. La liberación del comercio agrícola ha sido un tema central de discusión en la reciente Conferencia Internacional de Ministros de Agricultura, en la capital de España - y quiero aquí saludar la presencia de nuestro buen amigo y colega, Don Pedro Solbes, de España, y agradecerle por las gentilezas que dispensó a sus colegas de América, hace menos de un mes, en la capital bellísima de Madrid. Como resultado de este cónclave, aprobamos una Declaración de Madrid, que aboga por acuerdos para eliminar las políticas que obstaculizan el comercio de los productos agrícolas y ocasionan graves, tremendos perjuicios económicos y sociales a los países en desarrollo.

En tal sentido, queremos reiterar ante ustedes, estimados colegas, y dejar establecido que nuestro país, Bolivia, continuará participando activamente en los distintos foros internacionales, como la Ronda Uruguay, a fin de contribuir, en la medida de su capacidad, al gradual y tan necesario desmantelamiento de las políticas que hoy por hoy distorsionan al comercio agrícola internacional.

Pese a estos aspectos negativos, cabe, sin embargo, aquí y ahora, relevar los avances que se están efectuando para disminuir barreras al comercio internacional, como la iniciativa para las Américas del Presidente Bush y el libre acceso a los mercados de la Comunidad Económica Europea, recientemente otorgado para productos de varios países latinoamericanos.

Vemos asimismo con sumo beneplácito el reconocimiento que hoy por hoy se hace a las estructuras de decisión de la Comunidad Económica Europea y de los Estados Unidos de América, en la medida del reconocimiento expresado en las palabras del Presidente de la Comunidad Económica Europea, cuando dice que tanto el comercio agrícola como el comercio, en su integridad, en materia internacional, son dos partes de una misma realidad. Esto hace que confiemos, que tengamos fe y convicción de que en los próximos meses

podremos llegar a arreglos no solamente formales, sino a arreglos reales, que permitan una liberación efectiva de un comercio internacional demasiado postergado.

En otro orden de cosas, el tema de la protección del medio ambiente para muchos paises en desarrollo se convierte en un serio dilema, muy serio dilema, puesto que, por un lado, se deben satisfacer las necesidades básicas mediante el uso de los recursos naturales; recursos que, por otro lado, se deben conservar en base al reconocido principio de solidaridad generacional para con los que vendrán después.

En base a esta disyuntiva y conscientes de lo difícil que es explicarle a un pobre que no debe arrasar la foresta; lo difícil que es explicarle de ética con las futuras generaciones a uno que tiene problemas de pensar qué va a comer mañana; en base a esta disyuntiva, en Bolivia y en aras a llevar iniciativas al Grupo Andino y, de allí, a llevarlas a la Cumbre de Guadalajara, como lo hiciera el Presidente de mi país, Jaime Paz Zamora, mediante un decreto, hemos aplicado una pausa ecológica histórica; medida que tuve a bien anunciar aquí, ante este foro mundial, en nuestra última intervención, en noviembre de 1989.

Esta pausa ecológica determina que por un período de cinco años no se otorgarán nuevas concesiones forestales. En su Reglamento se ha buscado compatibilizar el interés de la preservación de los recursos de la flora y la fauna con los derechos en favor de los pueblos indígenas originarios asentados en la región amazónica y los intereses empresariales.

Así también, hemos aprobado una nueva Ley General del Medio Ambiente. Esta ley marco, que fue preparada con participación de diferentes sectores de la sociedad civil, define las normas generales de política medioambiental y servirá, esperamos así sea, de sólida base para la incorporación de la temática del manejo de recursos naturales en la legislación y las políticas macroeconómicas y sectoriales.

Estas iniciativas han obtenido ya el reconocimiento de la comunidad internacional y esperamos acrecentar el apoyo externo para desarrollar temas relativos al fortalecimiento de las ventajas comparativas en campos productivos orientados al comercio exterior con criterios y principios de explotación racional de los recursos naturales.

Dentro de este marco de acciones (y en ello vaya nuestro agradecimiento), hemos diseñado, con apoyo de la FAO, el programa de acción para el desarrollo forestal de mi país, como una estrategia integral, un mecanismo de planificación que permita incorporar desde una base técnica el sector forestal a la economía nacional.

En definitiva - y en esto quisiera yo relevar también la labor que lleva adelante un país colega en el esfuerzo de protección de la Amazonia -, nuestro país se está preparando intensamente para lo que se ha venido a denominar como la Cumbre para la Tierra - Ecobrasil 1992.

Nos asiste, queridos colegas, una gran esperanza: que esta Conferencia mundial pueda abrir el camino para establecer las bases de una auténtica, una sólida alianza mundial entre todos los países del planeta, en nuestra búsqueda por un destino común ecológicamente mejor.

Como otro tema de urgencia en el análisis de la realidad que nos toca vivir en América, está la cuestión de los pueblos indígenas originarios. Podemos afirmar que en mi país y también en toda América se viene dando un cambio cualitativo e importante en la percepción que se tiene del indigenismo y sus relaciones con el Estado. Este cambio significa un paso importante de la forma asistencialista y unilateral de acción pública en favor de los pueblos indígenas del pasado hacia un indigenismo de activa participación.

De esta forma, hacemos propicia esta oportunidad para destacar las iniciativas y planteamientos en torno a la recuperación de las formas de vida de los indígenas, el respeto por sus prácticas culturales, la valorización de la utilidad de sus conocimientos y, en suma, la defensa de sus intereses específicos en el contexto de los procesos democráticos que estamos viviendo.

Como ya expresé el inicio de esta intervención, otro problema central que nos preocupa sigue siendo la desnutrición y el hambre que aquejan a los países del Tercer Mundo. En Bolivia, el crecimiento demográfico en los últimos años sigue siendo, muy a pesar nuestro, mayor que el crecimiento de la producción de alimentos. Si bien podemos haber conseguido significativos incrementos en nuestros niveles de producción y productividad en el último año, aún no hemos conseguido la tan ansiada seguridad alimentaria. Seguimos siendo un país dependiente de las donaciones de alimentos y con una producción insuficiente como para satisfacer los requerimientos nutricionales de nuestra población.

En este orden de cosas, nos asiste la convicción de que uno de los principales cuellos de botella para mejorar las condiciones de vida de los campesinos y lograr la seguridad alimentaria, son y siguen siendo las obsoletas estructuras agrarias que aún prevalecen en muchos de nuestros países.

Quisiera destacar en esta ocasión que Bolivia tuvo el honor de ser anfitrión de la Sexta Consulta gubernamental sobre el seguimiento de la Conferencia Mundial de Reforma Agraria y Desarrollo Rural en América Latina y el Caribe, y como conclusión y recomendación de esta consulta, se hizo hincapié en la importancia de la reforma agraria para lograr una distribución más equitativa de los recursos productivos con que cuentan nuestras naciones.

Para Bolivia, como para muchos otros países del mundo en desarrollo, la reforma agraria se constituye en una condición sine qua non para impulsar el desarrollo y la reactividad del sector agropecuario. Así también, la dimensión y gravedad de la problemática agropecuaria en general y la necesidad de acciones coherentes y efectivas para abordarla requieren de un aparato público eficiente, capaz de formular y hacer cumplir las políticas de desarrollo sectorial.

En mi país - y es bueno decirlo acá, en la casa de la FAO - tenemos una experiencia muy exitosa con la asistencia de este Organismo. Desde agosto de 1989, por ejemplo, el Ministerio a mi cargo viene recibiendo asesoramiento permanente y continuo dentro del marco de una redefinición del rol del sector público en Bolivia, dentro del proceso de desarrollo agropecuario, en base a metodologías que han sido intercambiadas gracias a experiencias de países amigos, pero principalmente a ese bagaje de memoria institucional que caracteriza la gestión del Dr. Saouma.

Por ello creemos que es importante que la FAO continúe asesorando a nuestro pais en materia de política sectorial a nuestros países y aumente la asistencia técnica que proporciona ya, como base necesaria para un desarrollo integral del sector. En este punto, queremos hacer énfasis en la importancia de la coordinación interinstitucional entre organismos como el Programa Mundial de Alimentos, el Fondo Internacional de Desarrollo Agrícola, la FAO, entidades que, coordinadamente y evitando la duplicación de esfuerzos, podrán ayudarnos a los países en desarrollo a poder estructurar programas de desarrollo agropecuario que nos permitan superar las limitaciones que hoy nos acosan.

Creo, Sr. Presidente, que éste es un momento muy oportuno también para dar la bienvenida al acuerdo marco de cooperación que la FAO acaba de firmar con la Comisión de las Comunidades Europeas. Esperamos que este acuerdo, sobre todo a través de la participación activa de la Comunidad Económica Europea en el Programa de Fondos Fiduciarios de la FAO, también rinda fruto para nuestros países en un futuro próximo.

Por otra parte, considero de importancia que avancen las deliberaciones sobre la admisión de la Comunidad Económica Europea como un miembro activo y preponderante dentro de la Organización. Asimismo, consideramos de suma importancia que se resuelvan a la brevedad los siempre presentes problemas financieros para el próximo futuro y, por supuesto, permitiendo un crecimiento real del Presupuesto y, consecuentemente, de las actividades dirigidas a la promoción del desarrollo agropecuario y rural.

En particular, quisiera enfatizar la necesidad de mantener y, en la medida de lo posible, aumentar los niveles de fondos propios de la FAO en su Programa de Cooperación Técnica. Consideramos que es un programa útil; demasiado útil y positivo como para ignorar esta realidad para la identificación y el arranque de proyectos de mayor alcance, así como para poder operar de forma rápida en situaciones de emergencia; situaciones de emergencia que todos conocemos demasiado bien.

Quisiera destacar una vez más la importancia de estas conferencias bienales como oportunidad de reflexión sobre nuestros problemas y desafíos comunes, en un mundo que necesita cada día más de reflexión, en un mundo que necesita cada día más de solidaridad.

Para finalizar, estimados colegas y Sr. Presidente, deseo reiterar mi condición de fe, profunda fe, de que, en la medida en que nuestra amistad se fortalezca, más fuertes se tornarán los lazos que unen a nuestros países en la perspectiva de la democracia y la coexistencia global en el planeta. Hago sinceros votos para que este nuevo encuentro entre representantes de todo el mundo se constituya en un renovado esfuerzo, que nuestros pueblos y las futuras generaciones esperan, y lo esperan de veras, para la consolidación de nuestras relaciones políticas, socioeconómicas y culturales, en nuestra continua búsqueda por un futuro mejor.

Pedro SOLBES MIRA (España): Sr. Presidente, muchas gracias por su invitación para hablar en esta tribuna y constituye para mí un gran honor y una satisfacción personal, hacer uso de la palabra por primera vez en este foro en el que se van a estudiar temas y adoptar resoluciones de relevante importancia para el futuro del mundo rural y de la agricultura, que tanta influencia ejercen en la práctica totalidad de la población mundial.

Quiero felicitarle por su elección y también quiero felicitar a los nuevos Estados Miembros de Estonia, Letonia y Lituania, así como al Estado Asociado de Puerto Rico.

Se celebra esta Conferencia en los comienzos de una década que podemos considerar como crucial para nuestro futuro. Los cambios en el panorama mundial a los que estamos asistiendo, impensables hace un lustro, nos exigen una profunda reflexión sobre nuestras próximas actuaciones en el campo agroalimentario, teniendo presente no sólo los intereses nacionales, sino el rico entramado que constituyen las nuevas relaciones internacionales y su equilibrio.

Como resultado de esta reflexión deberían surgir iniciativas que permitieran disfrutar de una década de prosperidad para todos. Las pautas de actuación de los años ochenta, no han favorecido la puesta a disposición de las poblaciones necesitadas de los recursos en alimentación y otros bienes, para asegurar una mejora en la calidad de vida de los agricultores y de los consumidores, manteniendo siempre un respeto hacia el medio ambiente capaz de propiciar el bienestar de las generaciones presentes y el de las que nos suceden.

En estos momentos en que tantos pueblos se afanan por conseguir mayor libertad en sus relaciones sociales y económicas, mayor estabilidad en sus sistemas políticos, para lo cual solicitan el apoyo y la comprensión de la comunidad internacional, si no logramos impulsar la mejora de un sector tan importante como es el de la agricultura, si no conseguimos paliar en una primera etapa y erradicar a medio plazo el hambre y la malnutrición que afectan a amplias capas de la población mundial, nos encontraremos con que todos los esfuerzos pueden ser vanos.

El desarrollo de la Ronda Uruguay en el marco del GATT, para establecer pautas de comercio internacional justas y equitativas, debe ser apoyado desde todas las instancias, porque el comercio es un factor fundamental para el desarrollo de los países y en este sentido, debemos potenciar la progresiva participación de los productores en las relaciones comerciales.

En este complejo panorama, la FAO mantiene su posición de instrumento de primordial importancia y debe continuar ejerciendo una eficaz labor en el beneficio del mundo en desarrollo.

Somos conscientes de las dificultades que para llevar a cabo su labor imponen un presupuesto limitado, debilitado por los atrasos en el pago de cuotas por una parte de sus miembros, así como reconocemos los problemas que aquejan algunos de los mismos, cuyas economías atraviesan etapas de crisis tales que dificultan este pago de sus cuotas, y que llegan sin embargo a constituir esta situación, un verdadero sacrificio en atención a las mismas.

Por ello, estimamos de gran importancia que aquellos países que puedan realizar sus pagos, extremen su esfuerzo para aportar las cantidades que son necesarias, y atender tanto el normal funcionamiento de la Organización como a sus diferentes actividades, programas y proyectos.

Por resolución de esta Conferencia, en su vigésimocuarto período de sesiones, se ha llevado a cabo durante los últimos años un examen profundo sobre los objetivos y actividades de la FAO, para afrontar en mejores

condiciones los problemas que se presentan en esta década y comienzos de la siguiente.

Los resultados del examen se han tenido en cuenta en la preparación del presupuesto para el bienio 1992-93, cuya aprobación será objeto de debate durante esta Conferencia. El mismo, presenta un crecimiento prácticamente nulo y obligará a una cuidadosa elección de prioridades entre las múltiples opciones que se ofrecen a la Organización.

Esperamos que estas limitaciones no redunden en una disminución de la cantidad y de la calidad de las prestaciones que se vienen proporcionando a los países en desarrollo. Por nuestra parte, como Estado Miembro, estamos dispuestos a brindar nuestra colaboración en todos los foros y órganos en los que nos sea dado participar, para paliar en la medida de lo posible los efectos negativos de esta situación.

La FAO, afrontará el próximo bienio con un elenco de miembros ampliados. Hacemos votos porque estos nuevos miembros contribuyan a potenciar la Organización y ayuden a mantener los equilibrios en los que se basan la paz y el bienestar del mundo.

Muy en especial formulamos nuestros votos para que la Comunidad Europea, Organización Regional de Integración Económica de la que España es Miembro, vea satisfactoriamente concluido el proceso para ser admitida como miembro de esta Organización.

Deseamos que esta circunstancia sirva también como precedente para otros procesos de integración de carácter regional y subregional que comienzan a manifestarse en otras partes del mundo.

Así tuvimos ocasión de comunicárselo a los Ministros de los Gobiernos de una región que nos es especialmente próxima por razones históricas y culturales y por otros muchos vínculos que nos unen a ella: me refiero a la América Latina y el Caribe con ocasión de la Décima Conferencia de Ministros de Agricultura que tuvimos el honor de albergar en España durante los últimos días del pasado mes de septiembre.

En el curso de la misma, los Ministros asistentes mantuvieron encuentros con los Ministros de Agricultura de la Comunidad Económica Europea y con el Comisario responsable de Agricultura de la Comisión, e intercambiaron puntos de vista y opiniones sobre asuntos de tanta trascendencia como el futuro del comercio agroalimentario y la cooperación entre la Comunidad Europea y América Latina y el Caribe.

Si me he extendido en estas consideraciones, Sr. Presidente, se debe a la importancia que atribuimos a este numeroso grupo de naciones, con las que mantenemos cordiales relaciones y frecuentes intercambios de todo tipo.

Otro tanto puede decirse de los países del Magreb, con los cuales la proximidad física potencia los tradicionales lazos de amistad y de cooperación entre diferentes campos de actividad.

Por otra parte, no ha sido éste el único acontecimiento que se ha celebrado durante el presente año en nuestro país con carácter internacional y dedicado a temas agrarios, pesqueros y alimentarios.

Tuvimos, también, la satisfacción de albergar la segunda Conferencia Mundial de Ministros de Pesca a principios del mes de septiembre y más recientemente, en la pasada semana, el Seminario Perspectivas de la Agricultura y el Mundo Rural en América Latina y el Caribe hacia el año 2000 que, con la inestimable colaboración de la FAO reunió a los Rectores de las principales universidades de aquella región con expertos en varias disciplinas para tratar sobre el desarrollo agrícola y rural en aquel Continente.

No podemos dejar de señalar que estos acontecimientos preparan el marco de actividades futuras que tendrán lugar el próximo año, conmemoración del Quinto Centenario del encuentro que permitió ensanchar la faz del mundo y cambió su historia. Por medio de ellas, y en el ámbito específico de la agricultura y de la alimentación que hoy nos reúne en esta Conferencia, esperamos llevar a cabo conjuntamente una profunda reflexión que colabore a consolidar las estructuras nacionales, mejorar las relaciones internacionales de mercado y, en la parte que nos corresponda, mantener nuestros esfuerzos para elevar la cooperación agroalimentaria al nivel más alto posible dentro de nuestros recursos.

La agenda de esta Conferencia tiene temas relevantes a los que, de forma breve, deseo dedicar algún comentario.

Consideramos de suma importancia la conservación del patrimonio genético que la Humanidad ha recibido. Los países industrializados deben reconocer lo que ha supuesto para la alimentación de sus poblaciones el aporte de los nuevos productos que proceden de regiones en las que hoy se asientan la mayor parte de los países en desarrollo.

En diferentes ocasiones hemos manifestado nuestra preocupación por la erosión a que están sometidos los recursos fitogenéticos. Por esta razón hemos colaborado en la construcción del sistema global de recursos fitogenéticos de FAO desde su inicio, y deseamos que la Conferencia actúe como impulso para hacerle cada día más efectivo y más adaptado a las nuevas tecnologías, de modo que sirva para un auténtico desarrollo sostenible.

Reconocemos la eficaz labor que ha realizado la Comisión de Recursos Fitogenéticos y su grupo de trabajo, y consideramos que es el foro intergubernamental idóneo para asegurar la eficiencia del sistema global de forma equitativa a nivel internacional.

Merece también nuestra atención el ámbito de los recursos zoogenéticos, en el que FAO puede desempeñar un importante papel, teniendo en cuenta las características peculiares que la diferencian de los fitogenéticos. Preparamos en nuestro país varios acontecimientos que tendrán como finalidad la recuperación y el fomento de aquellas razas ganaderas, que tanto en el continente americano como en el nuestro, supusieron la supervivencia y el sostén de muchas comunidades y hoy se encuentran en peligro.

El mantenimiento y la mejora del material genético constituyen la base de numerosos productos y suponen una garantía para la seguridad alimentaria, tanto de los países que encuentran graves dificultades para atender a las necesidades de sus poblaciones, como para la de aquellos que hoy se consideran libres del fantasma del hambre o de la malnutrición.

Respecto a esta última lacra, extendida por todo el globo, tanto en el mundo rural como en el urbano, debemos manifestar una gran preocupación. Es necesario estudiar este grave problema con profunda atención, no sólo en el ámbito internacional, sino en el de nuestros propios países, pues la malnutrición se produce tanto por la escasez de alimentos como por una utilización inadecuada de aquellos que se encuentran disponibles.

Por estas razones acogemos con satisfacción la convocatoria de la Conferencia Internacional sobre Nutrición de 1992 y colaboraremos con nuestra experiencia y nuestros trabajos para su mejor éxito.

Hemos reiterado en diferentes foros la preocupación que siente nuestro país por el deterioro y la desaparición de los bosques. Asistimos con profundo interés a la celebración del Décimo Congreso Forestal Mundial en París y esperamos que suponga un nuevo incentivo en la preocupación mundial por los bosques, que permita alcanzar un consenso para su conservación, capaz de hacerse realidad durante la Conferencia de las Naciones Unidas para el Medio Ambiente y el Desarrollo que se celebrará el próximo año en Brasil.

Otro hito importante para el mundo forestal será la convocatoria en España, el próximo año, de la Conferencia Internacional sobre el Alamo. Es para mí un alto honor que por la Dirección General de FAO haya sido aceptado el ofrecimiento de España como país huésped de la XIX reunión de la Comisión Internacional del Alamo y la 36^a reunión de su Comité Ejecutivo que se celebrarán en Zaragoza en septiembre del año próximo.

El tema de esta reunión de la Comisión es Los álamos como complemento de la agricultura, y expresa claramente la importancia de la misma, cuyos resultados esperamos sean altamente beneficiosos para la populicultura y la agricultura en general.

El territorio de nuestro país forma parte de una región, el Mediterráneo, que al igual que otros similares en el mundo, sufren de problemas peculiares en cuanto a la conservación de la cubierta vegetal y se ven afectados por la incidencia de la desertización en amplias zonas. Nos congratulamos de que esta peculiaridad esté contemplada en el anuncio de la posibilidad de desarrollar un plan de acción forestal en el Mediterráneo y aportaremos al mismo nuestra experiencia en esta materia.

Por todas las consideraciones expuestas nos ha parecido muy pertinente la idea que ha presidido la reciente celebración del Día Mundial de la Alimentación, asociando elementos primarios como son los bosques, a la seguridad alimentaria y a la protección del medio ambiente.

Desgraciadamente los problemas medioambientales relacionados con la desaparición de los bosques siguen presentes y en numerosos países se relacionan también con la existencia de poblaciones hambrientas. Por ello, la ayuda alimentaria que algunos países pueden proporcionar a las mismas sigue siendo necesaria.

Reconocemos la inestimable labor en este sentido desarrollada por el Programa Mundial de Alimentos y podemos asegurar que continuaremos, dentro del límite de nuestros recursos, cooperando en la ayuda alimentaria dirigida a las situaciones de emergencia, así como el programa estable en el marco del Comité de Ayuda Alimentaria.

Esperamos que la estrategia mundial para hacer más eficaz la realización de esta ayuda pueda encontrar las vías que dentro de las Naciones Unidas se establezcan, para mejorar la coordinación en la distribución y los efectos sobre las poblaciones a las que se aplica.

Otro importante aspecto de atención preferente por parte de FAO es el del papel que la mujer campesina desempeña en el mundo rural. Mejorar su situación es una finalidad que compartimos. Animamos a la Organización a proseguir sus esfuerzos para lograr un mayor grado de participación de la mujer en el proceso de desarrollo.

Deseamos que el Plan de Integración encuentre las fórmulas adecuadas para superar los obstáculos que se oponen al acceso de la mujer a las actividades generadoras de ingresos y al control de los mismos, al crédito, a las relaciones comerciales, captación a la tecnología y a los servicios sociales básicos.

En esta somera visión de las grandes líneas de acción de FAO no podía estar ausente nuestro interés por el sector de la pesca, ya que este sector en España tiene gran importancia económica y social, superior a la de los países de nuestro entorno.

A escala mundial, el sector de la pesca es de gran trascendencia por las aportaciones que en calidad y cantidad hace a la dieta humana. Dos problemas están siempre presentes en el mismo: los desequilibrios entre recursos y demanda y los excesos en el esfuerzo pesquero que ponen en peligro la propia existencia del recurso. Apoyamos, por tanto, todas las iniciativas de cooperación internacional que propicien una mejor gestión de recursos de la pesca teniendo en cuenta los elementos de la estrategia de la Conferencia de Roma, que tan útiles han resultado para los gobiernos a la hora de planificar sus políticas.

Finalmente, deseamos manifestar nuestro apoyo a la iniciativa de celebrar una Conferencia mundial sobre conservación de recursos marinos y el medio ambiente y consideramos que FAO es la Organización idónea para encauzar las inquietudes de todos los países, prestándonos su experiencia y conocimientos ampliamente demostrados.

Quiero terminar esta intervención deseando a la FAO y a todos los presentes, los mejores resultados en el desarrollo de nuestros debates y ofrecer nuestra colaboración para conseguirlos.

G. Bula Hoyos, Vice-Chairman of the Conference, took the chair

G. Bula Hoyos, Vice-Président de la Conférence, assume la présidence Ocupa la presidencia G. Bula Hoyos, Vicepresidente de la Conferencia

John FALLOON (New Zealand): Mr Chairman, Distinguished Delegates, Ladies and Gentlemen. I stand here with some sense of history in that on the wall outside is my predecessor in Parliament, Sir Keith Holyoake, who was Chairman of this august body in the 1950s for a period, and I remember very well his contribution internationally to making certain that multi-national organizations such as the FAO were playing their role in bringing together the world's political leaders, and in particular, endeavouring to make certain the great problem of hunger and food for those people who are unfortunate was met in a firm and solid fashion.

I think it would probably sadden him, as it does me, to see that in spite of considerable efforts made worldwide, we have not made sufficient progress to meet the very real problem of many millions of people, and that in fact we have the developed world awash with food and we have the undeveloped world where there are very great shortages. If ever there was a misallocation of resources it is in the food area. So in the context of my remarks to you today I come as a politician of some experience, but also as a fourth-generation farmer who has endeavoured with the land that we have, to use it as well as we can so that we can help the world food supply as well as to obviously help ourselves and our country.

We are seen by many as a very fortunate nation. We have but 3.4 million people and we have some 60 million sheep. We harvest each year 7 million tons of forestry, and will be harvesting from our own plantation trees, which were planted largely in the 1930s in response to the Great Depression, something like 15 million tons by the year 2020. We have about a million tons of meat that we produce a year, 300 000 tons of wool and 8 million tons of dairy products, and we sell those to nearly every country in the world. We are not great at giving massive amounts of food aid because we simply cannot afford it as a nation, but we are playing our part and doing our best to make sure that with the resources we have we use them as wisely as possible.

We have been through the great debate of moving from subsidies, interventions, and protection to the situation today where our farmers are virtually not supported at all, as are not almost any other section of the community except those who are unemployed, elderly, sick or need of education. In that sense I can say this to the politicians who are here and I am talking to them, not particularly to officials. It is not such a difficult process to change. In fact, those of you who are looking at politics may well find that the farmers in your nations, the producers, do not actually want to be dependent on the state. They do not want to be turned into wards of political whim. They do not want to be stultified by subsidy reducing their innovation, reducing their dynamism and turning them effectively into monuments that you can go and see when you visit the countryside.

To those of you from the world's poor nations, you have a vested interest in fighting to make certain that the GATT Round comes to some effect - not tomorrow necessarily although the window of opportunity is there on Monday for EEC ministers to take another step forward in their discussions, but within the next few months. We have never had a better opportunity to bring together some rationality into the world trading scene. The FAO is uniquely situated in the timing of the event to take another step forward.

We can make grand designs here and talk about wonderful schemes for transferring technology, and all these are important, but nations must be able actually to compete with the products they produce, whether they come from Estonia or Lithuania, our newly emerged members, who to my mind on Monday at the G34 meeting showed great courage in saying they would not have the interventionalist system. They do not want to make the same mistakes that their neighbours are making in Europe but have open trading opportunities. So the opportunities and momentum are there for us actually to take a step forward that would make my predecessor, now dead, very proud of the world scene. It was taken in those days in industrial goods and the

beneficiaries have largely been the developed countries. It has not been taken sufficiently strongly in agricultural goods and the beneficiaries have been the developed countries.

I simply want to read from the international farmers' magazine a point that some of you will have seen. OECD figures show producer assistance rising. In the year 1990 there was an increase of 12 percent over the 1989 figures. The total sum of money is mind-boggling. The total subsidy equivalent is US$299 billion, up 12 percent. If we look at those who are awarding their farmers the most we find the European Economic Community at US$81 billion; we find Japan at US$30 billion; we find the United States at 35 US$billion.

The developing countries are not immune to that but one has to understand, of course, that it is essential in the early phase of agricultural restructuring and development to give some technology transfer, to develop the opportunities to help people with irrigation, with the means to find new crops. Nobody can object to that in a developing country where you have come from an extremely difficult position. But in our wealthy nations there is no real excuse, except political expediency.

In giving a message to those politicians today, I want to say that it is time you turned your back on your own political destiny and looked at the destiny of the world as we see it and took some action in the interests of your consumers, in the interests of developing countries and the way in which you know has to be taken because if it is not taken then we will inevitably see trade wars. We will inevitably see the world go into greater trading blocks. We will inevitably see poorer countries left out in the process towards that. We will inevitably see greater starvation, anguish and concern. Inevitably there will be greater instability and insecurity as those countries which are poorer seek to take more resources to help themselves in the future.

So the message is very strong. It is intentionally strong. It is not meant to be one which draws any punches because I firmly believe it from my experience, both as a politician and as a farmer and as one who has travelled a large part of the world on many occasions. I know it is not easy. I know it is not simple but the steps have to be taken before it is too late for too many people. I am sick and tired of hearing politicians say to me that the reason why they cannot move is because it is difficult politically. What about the people who are starving? What about the nations where they cannot trade to their comparative advantage? What about the particular example of sugar where the EEC and the United States used both to be net importers? Now particularly the EEC is exporting some five million tonnes of sugar and countries in South America, Central America and the Caribbean are unable to export that sugar effectively around the world. The subsidy equivalent is US$200 per tonne.

What we see is a situation where quite clearly whatever the sum of money involved it is too much. We must give those people who are producing the products that are not competitive internationally the opportunity to shift their direction into other products. They will find them, given the opportunity, but the Third World cannot expand its competitive and comparative advantage unless it is given access to the markets that are the best in the world as well. That is my simple message on that note.

I want now to come to the FAO and to talk in some detail about it and say that quite clearly as a new Minister of Agriculture one can only be amazed at the sort of developments that the FAO is involved in. I had the privilege to be in Oman for a few days on the way here. I saw an excellent project which has been developed to map Oman and to look at the irrigation potential to try and utilize the water to provide an opportunity to give technical assistance extensions. It is but one of many excellent projects in which the FAO is involved. It is the sort of assistance which I see as being essential to help countries to develop and to utilize their resources better. If that is where the bulk of the money is going, then, as far as I am concerned, long live the FAO. I suspect though that some of the money, of course, has to go on maintaining buildings and offices and meetings like this. I simply make a plea to the Conference and to those in control to try to spread the resources around the world and not to put them into having excellent conferences which we as politicians enjoy very much but which, at the end of the day, could take place a little more speedily than they do. On the other hand, I suppose one would not have to listen to so many speeches if we shortened the Agenda.

Nevertheless, what we must do is make sure that where it is difficult for smaller countries to come to meetings like this and spend money in coming to this wonderful city of Rome, which we all enjoy very much, it is possible for them to do so. We have a particular interest in some of the countries in the South Pacific. We help them with their development. They are not able to be here because they simply cannot afford it. Let us make sure that in the administration and the operation of this very important international organization we cut our cloth and the money goes where it should go and into the sorts of project to which I have referred.

In the same process we have, of course, to make certain that representation is fair and reasonable. We are pleased to support EEC membership because we recognize that the EEC has assumed responsibilities in negotiation, in agricultural trade and in matters of agriculture and that therefore it makes sense for them to be members. We welcome that opportunity. We would like them to be a little more solid on agricultural reform. I think that probably goes for everybody here, except perhaps for some of the members of the EEC. Nevertheless, I am quite certain that even they can see the necessity for change. I welcome the renewed determination to see development of better international rules for trade and agriculture.

We as a country have taken some notice of sustainable development. We, like many countries, went into our land resources. We took over our forests and we replaced them with sheep and cattle. Of course, 140 years later we are paying the price for that in erosion and in some desertification in parts of the South Island. That has to be turned around. Fortunately, we are able to do that by forestry.

I simply want to emphasize that the FAO has a very vital role in the development of more afforestation in the world, not necessarily to stand on ceremony and say that certain people are doing things that are wrong for them. We in the so-called West who have stripped our forests have no right to say to others that they should not have some opportunity to use that resource. We can do much to help nations to develop plantation forestry such as ours and those in Chile which are being developed in many parts of the world simply to make certain that there is a future for the world as we

know it. There is no question that the greenhouse effect will have a major impact if we do not substitute some of the land we have taken for agriculture and put it back into trees.

In the fishing area I would like to endorse the comments made by my predecessor, the Minister for Spain, and say that there is a great need for international rules to be developed.

Each country within the economic zone situation is in a position where they can manage their resources better but the driftnet fishing phenomenon and the disgraceful use of these by many countries is simply not acceptable to the world. We must take firm action. The FAO is a body which, in my view, must have the strongest possible line against driftnet fishing. I welcome those colleagues of mine who are prepared to pass laws in their own countries to take action against those nations who use driftnets. It really does come down to our being prepared as world nations - and one looks at the unfortunate events in Yugoslavia - to use our collective will and our individual action to enforce rules which provide for the sustainable use of man's most important resource, the sea.

I would like to come back to two organizations for which the FAO is responsible in particular, the Codex Alimentarius Committee and the International Plant Protection Committee. They have both been accorded very prominent positions by GATT as two of the three leading international standards bodies in the sanitary/phytosanitary area.

During October New Zealand had the honour of chairing yet another successful session of the Codex Committee on Meat Hygiene. This Committee (which New Zealand has hosted since it was established 20 years ago), commenced revision of its four meat hygiene codes to ensure that they are scientifically up-to-date and reflect modern developments in meat hygiene. I am happy to tell you that excellent progress was made at last month's session and, with a further session early in 1993, these codes will hopefully be finalized by the middle of 1993.

Whilst on this topic, I would like to pay tribute to the valuable work undertaken over nearly 30 years by the Joint FAO/WHO Food Standards Programme. Through the Codex Secretariat, with a comparatively small staff and small budget, hundreds of international standards and residue limits have been established to facilitate world trade in food. Unlike Codex, the IPPC operates on an ad hoc administrative basis.

Mr Chairman, it is the view of New Zealand that priority should be given in the allocation of your scarce resources to the establishment of a small, permanent secretariat to support the expanded responsibility of the IPPC in the area of international trade.

I cannot emphasize those two points strongly enough, Mr Chairman, because in the development of international trade for many countries the standards of those exports are absolutely vital. International rules which are strongly enforced can give those countries access to markets they would not otherwise have because of the sanitary rules. In the transfer of technical assistance we in New Zealand pay particular attention to training people so they can be involved. So we welcome a further initiative by the FAO.

I really have nothing more to say except perhaps to reinforce where I came in at the beginning. It is a window of opportunity for the ministers of agriculture worldwide. We must grasp it. We must not withdraw from this challenge, from this opportunity to move agricultural trade into a mode that allows our farmers and, therefore, many of the nations of the world to limit their dependency on bulk commodity production for their survival and on occasional dribs and drabs of food aid to help them because they have not been able to expand their trade and, therefore, their economies in those areas where they are good, is because of the limitations in the international rules.

If we take that opportunity now and over the next few months, we have a chance to come back here next biennium and from then on and say, we have done well. We have not only been prepared to transfer some of our resources, we are also prepared to provide better market access and better opportunity for those people who deserve a better deal in the world we have today.

EL PRESIDENTE: Gracias al Sr. Ministro de Agricultura y Bosques de Nueva Zelandia. Tengo ahora el honor de conceder la palabra a Su Excelencia Marcelo Regunaga, Secretario de Agricultura, Ganadería y Pesca de la República Argentina.

Marcelo REGUNAGA (Argentina): Sr. Presidente en ejercicio, autoridades: en primer lugar, permítanme felicitarlos y, por su intermedio, al Sr. Presidente, por su elección a la Presidencia de esta Conferencia y asegurarles que contarán con la plena colaboración de la delegación de mi país para el logro de resultados satisfactorios en sus trabajos.

El 26º período de sesiones de la Conferencia de la FAO nos congrega, una vez más, para reflexionar acerca de un tema crucial para todos y cada uno de nuestros países: El estado de la agricultura y la alimentación en el mundo.

Bien se ha señalado que la agricultura es una de las actividades más estratégicas y nobles, dado que no sólo es la principal fuente de alimentos para el género humano, sino que además brinda oportunidades de empleo para una parte sustancial de la población mundial y constituye una de las alternativas básicas para el crecimiento de las naciones, especialmente en el caso de los países en desarrollo. Todos estos aspectos son esenciales para construir un mundo más equitativo y en paz, y por ello nuestro país asigna gran significación a estas deliberaciones.

A pesar de que existe un alto grado de consenso acerca de los conceptos señalados precedentemente, constatamos con preocupación que no hemos tenido éxito para resolver, hasta la fecha, los desequilibrios existentes entre la producción y el consumo mundial de alimentos. Hoy coexisten situaciones de excedentes de producción en muchos países, con escaseces y emergencias alimentarias en otros. Asimismo, se están deteriorando los recursos naturales y el medio ambiente, tanto en los países industrializados (por un uso excesivamente intenso del suelo, los agroquímicos, etc.) como en los países en desarrollo, por la carencia de prácticas conservacionistas y porque las condiciones económicas han llevado al monocultivo y a otras

formas de explotación irracional de los recursos. Paradójicamente, el proteccionismo agrícola tiene dos caras y cada una de ellas se refleja en un deterioro de los recursos naturales.

La evolución reciente de la producción agropecuaria en los países en desarrollo ha resultado insuficiente para atender sus necesidades básicas de alimentación y crecimiento, frustrando de esta manera las expectativas de sus pueblos, que, en la mayor parte de los mismos, dependen esencialmente de la agricultura.

Los motivos que explican este magro desempeño están ligados tanto a las políticas nacionales que discriminaron contra la agricultura como a un contexto internacional caracterizado por prácticas desleales en el comercio mundial, que limitaron el acceso a los mercados y deprimieron los precios internacionales, desincentivando de esta manera el crecimiento de la agricultura.

Nuestro país es uno de los muchos que han enfrentado tal situación, por lo que el enorme potencial productivo existente no ha podido expresarse y, de este modo, contribuir en la medida de sus posibilidades a la alimentación del mundo y al desarrollo de su economía.

Luego de varias décadas caracterizadas por políticas agrícolas que desprotegieron al sector y aislaron su economía del contexto internacional, Argentina hoy está instrumentando una estrategia de apertura económica y de integración al resto del mundo, en la que tiene depositadas grandes expectativas. Sin embargo, aún constatamos que las condiciones del comercio internacional de productos agrícolas siguen caracterizadas por las distorsiones y las prácticas desleales. Por ello asignamos una alta prioridad a las negociaciones que se vienen desarrollando en el marco de la Ronda Uruguay del GATT, en el que la agricultura debe jugar un papel relevante.

Sin una sustancial liberalizáción del comercio de productos primarios, seguirá seriamente cuestionada la posibilidad de que Argentina, así como otros países de la región y del mundo en desarrollo, puedan alcanzar un crecimiento sostenido y contribuir a resolver los problemas de la alimentación.

Argentina, así como otros países del Grupo Cairns, ha venido desarrollando una activa y constructiva participación en las negociaciones comerciales multilaterales en todas las áreas de la Ronda Uruguay, pero reitera una vez más en este foro que sin un acuerdo sustancial en materia agrícola no se alcanzará un resultado exitoso en toda la Ronda. Dicho acuerdo debe contemplar adecuadamente los aspectos vinculados al sostén interno, el acceso a los mercados, los subsidios a las exportaciones y los temas fito y zoosanitarios, tal como fuera detallado en el día de ayer por mi colega de Australia.

El crecimiento de los países ha estado estrechamente ligado al comercio internacional y es por ello que el mundo en desarrollo reclama un marco más equitativo y favorable para las exportaciones de los productos agrícolas, por lo que esta Conferencia debería incluir entre sus recomendaciones un llamamiento a los líderes de las naciones industrializadas para que se asuman los compromisos necesarios para llevar a un feliz término, en un breve plazo, a la Ronda Uruguay del GATT.

El mundo ha estado caracterizado por constantes cambios durante la historia de la humanidad, pero no puede haber dudas de que las transformaciones políticas y económicas de los últimos años son cualitativamente de gran significación. Estamos asistiendo y construyendo un mundo de creciente interdepencia entre las naciones, donde la paz, la democracia y el desarrollo equitativo aparacen como valores comunes para todas ellas.

Este nuevo contexto internacional requiere del fortalecimiento y la revitalización de todo el sistema multilateral, por lo que las Naciones Unidas en general, y la FAO en particular, adquieren una creciente importancia en la construcción de un mundo en paz y desarrollo.

Los desafíos que enfrentamos son de gran magnitud y sólo podremos estar a la altura de las circunstancias si todos nosotros y nuestros países, tanto desarrollados como en desarrollo, trabajamos en armonía y con generosidad en los grandes problemas que definen la agenda común de la presente década. Entre ellos debemos destacar que la liberalizáción del comercio internacional requerirá de la asistencia técnica multilateral - y, como tal, imparcial -, necesaria para garantizar normas sanitarias y de calidad que den transparencia y aseguren la equidad en las relaciones comerciales. En este sentido, las contribuciones de la FAO, por medio del Codex Alimentarius, y la Convención Internacional de Protección Fitosanitaria resultarán de fundamental importancia.

La FAO ha sido durante los últimos casi cincuenta años una muy buena fuente de información analítica sobre la agricultura y la alimentación, ha servido de foro de discusión y progresivamente deberá ser el lugar privilegiado en el cual nuestros países puedan acordar y establecer los instrumentos necesarios, en los campos de su especialidad, para buscar soluciones que contemplen adecuadamente los problemas de la alimentación, el crecimiento y la sostenibilidad de los recursos.

En los últimos años, hemos comprendido que si no se modifican las formas en que se utiliza la naturaleza, el mundo se deteriorará irremediablemente. La agricultura es uno de los actores fundamentales en dicho escenario. La FAO puede y debe cumplir un papel de relevancia en la búsqueda de un equilibrio, entre las necesidades del desarrollo, del proteccionismo y de la conservación de los recursos. Dentro de éstos, debemos destacar las acciones positivas que están siendo llevadas a cabo en los últimos años en el sector forestal, que deberán recibir una alta prioridad en el futuro, en virtud del liderazgo natural que la Organización ejerce en este campo.

Asimismo, la FAO ha sido y es un instrumento importante de cooperación y movilización de recursos técnicos y financieros, destinados a la agricultura. A través de la cooperación y complementación con otras agencias de las Naciones Unidas, instituciones financieras y organismos regionales y subregionales, en este nuevo marco de gran interdependencia, la FAO debe ser un centro vital de movilización de ideas, desarrollo de propuestas y ejecución descentralizada de acciones a nivel de campo.

Una clara definición de prioridades en la asignación de recursos, la descentralización operativa, la coordinación inter-agenciai, la flexibilidad y sensibilidad para percibir las necesidades específicas de cada una de nuestras agriculturas. El desarrollo de un ambiente que promueva la capacidad creadora del hombre y asegure la alimentación para el mundo, son parte de la gran tarea a la que todos debemos comprometernos y la Organización debe asegurar. No tengo dudas de que así será.

Karl-Erik OLSSON (Sweden): Mr Chairman, Your Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen. Let me first very briefly express our great satisfaction about the enlargement of the FAO membership with the Republics of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania and with Puerto Rico as associate member.

The agricultural sector plays a vital role for human wellbeing. In developing countries, where the majority of the labour force is still engaged in the agricultural sector, we have witnessed remarkable increases in production which - with very few exceptions - have outpaced by a wide margin an unprecedented population growth. This development has been connected with an increase in employment in the agricultural sector - as well as in the input and processing sectors. It has also contributed to the rather impressive record of progress in terms of gross national product, literacy rates, educational standards and life expectancy. Last, but certainly not least, it has affected hunger and malnutrition, the extent of which has decreased markedly as a percentage of population in all regions except Africa.

Also in industrialized countries the agricultural sector has changed significantly. Structural developments and technical progress have led to both a rapid production increase and a flow of labour from agriculture to other sectors. Negative effects of this development is less employment in the rural areas and difficulties to maintain an open cultural landscape.

In spite of this progress and the bright prospects in many regards, there is no reason for complacency. First and foremost, the threats to sustainable agricultural development are justified causes of concern all over the world. Land degradation, loss of biological diversity and genetic resources, pollution of water, health hazards from intensive chemical use are just a few examples of harmful and undesirable environmental effects of agriculture, although the sector itself is also affected by these factors. But there are equally harmful and undesirable environmental effects on agriculture; for example, effects of climatic change and acid rain or at least the uncertainty created by those factors. We also know that in developing countries a large number of poor people lack access to food, and the agricultural sector will play an important role in the efforts to provide those people with employment, higher wages, and social security. In developed countries, there are serious concerns about costly agricultural policies, trade conflicts, high food prices, as well as food safety and quality.

Many of these problems have been encountered also in Sweden. Last year, Parliament passed a Bill which is a first step towards agricultural reform in Sweden. The main aims are to deregulate the internal market and to reduce the surplus production of food which has been exported at high costs. The farmers, like other producers, should be paid only for the goods and services demanded by the market or specific nonmarket activities such as environment protection. Deregulation is to be achieved over a five-year period starting 1 July 1991. During this time regional support to disadvantaged areas in northern Sweden will be maintained. Due to low profitability and farmers' expectation of lower prices, animal production is already today almost equal to domestic consumption. The main way of reducing crop production is to transform the use of arable land from food to non-food production, especially of energy and industrial crops.

Specific environmental programmes have been introduced for the preservation of landscape and areas of major natural or cultural interest. Farmers negatively affected by the changes will be compensated during the transitional period and be given incentives to facilitate the necessary adjustments to alternative land uses.

Further steps are anticipated. We hope that one such step will be achieved in the current GATT negotiating Round, viz, the lowering of border protection. Another step concerns increased competition in the processing and distribution sectors, as well as improved food quality and consumer influence.

FAO has been useful in the preparations for our agricultural reform by providing information on the international context and by its analytical work. And we expect its usefulness to continue - not primarily for our own problems but for the global problems mentioned earlier which makes it abundantly clear that the need for a strong and forceful FAO has not diminished.

There are clear indications that FAO is moving towards a position where its ability to fulfil this role is greatly improved. The reform process has advanced; the Medium-Term Plan is a good first attempt which should be developed further and given increasing importance; and the budget proposal is such that a consensus should be possible to reach which we hope will bring about a more sound and stable financial situation and also allow a greater share of our time and resources to be devoted to matters of substance.

We appreciate the efforts made by the Director-General and take note of this preparedness to continue the reform process. At the same time, we find that there is a long and difficult road ahead before we reach a point where all the various hopes and expectations are met. The conclusions of the Nordic/UN project on reform issues in the economic and social fields are relevant in this context. One of them it that the specialized agencies; among them FAO, ought to strengthen their role as centre of excellence in order to become more qualified and relevant within their mandates. This would enable them better to meet the needs of all Member States for advice and analysis in matters of global concern. This is particularly important since doubts about the Organization's truly universal character may well be one underlying reason for the financial and other difficulties that have fallen upon it in recent years.

Finally, it is imperative that members honour their financial obligations.

But not even FAO with enhanced efficiency and effectiveness could or should pay equal attention to all the problems referred to above. We appreciate that priorities expressed by Sweden and others at earlier occasions have been taken into account. The proposed Programme of Work for 1992-93 as well as the Medium-Term Plan for 1992-95 imply some shift in resources according to these priorities. This concerns first of all the area of environment and the need to carefully manage the limited resources available globally for production of food, fuel and fibre. Increased attention is urgent for several reasons. Some relate to negative environmental impacts on agriculture such as effects of climatic change and acid rain. Others relate to undesirable effects of agriculture on the environment, for example land degradation which is reaching alarming proportion in some areas of the world where food security is already at a precarious level, pollution of

waters, loss of biological diversity and health hazards from intensive chemicals use. We should also keep in mind that environmental concerns may provide incentives for production of energy crops and other non/food items, and that rules for international trade may have to be revised in order to take into account environmental aspects. In regard to this, our primary priority of sustainable agricultural development, it is particularly interesting to note that the substantial FAO contributions to the 1992 UN Conference on Environment and Development took place without any specific budget allocations. This shows a very encouraging degree of flexibility in the use of secretariat resources. We take it that the follow-up of the UNCED will receive at least as much attention by FAO as the preparations.

We are also pleased to see the attention given to another international event, viz. The Uruguay Round of the GATT. FAO has an important role to play in the implementation of the expected results - in general regarding the global effects on trade, production, consumption, etc., and in particular regarding sanitary and phytosanitary matters. We would like to underline that the importance of a successful outcome can hardly be overestimated since the future global trading system is at stake. The agricultural negotiation is a crucial part of the Round and is of course also of great significance in its own right - not only for consumers and producers in developed countries but also for developing countries where distorted prices and limited market access are affecting agricultural development, employment and thus poor people's ability to buy food.

We notice that the Forestry Department has also received an increase in resources, which is certainly welcomed although its share of total resources is still far from satisfactory.

But even if we are fully aware of the fact that each and every part of the Work Programme has at least one supporter among the 150 or so Members, and that no sudden or dramatic shift of resources should be expected, it would be an exaggeration to say that we are impressed in all respects by the reallocation that has taken place so far. Food and agricultural policy has for some time been given a very small share of total resources, and we regret that our expectation for a significant increase has not been met.

Exactly the same holds true for activities relating to the European region. Of particular importance is Central and Eastern Europe and the Baltic region where recent events have shown a great need for urgent and thorough policy analysis for the food and agricultural sector. This is naturally of greatest relevance to the people in those areas and to the whole economy of these countries and therefore clearly important also for the rest of the world.

Plant genetic resources is another example of an area where we see great need for additional resources and fail to understand the reason for the proposed reduction. A growing recognition of and concern for the impoverishment of plant genetic resources in the world calls for effective action, and we support the FAO Council's proposal regarding the undertaking on plant genetic resources but see an urgent need to go further.

Mr Chairman, we all hope that we are on the track to abandon most of hunger and malnutrition. However, we can foresee a growing population with an increasing demand for food. Due to the environmental situation, polluting fossil raw materials have to be replaced by biological ones. This means a

larger demand on agriculture for production of food, fuel and fibres. A limited overproduction of food today in some countries does therefore not contradict the need for efficient production.

A new environmental task for agriculture can also bring carbon dioxide from the aid and place it in the soil to prevent greenhouse effect.

The surface of Earth is the place for life - the only place for life itself. Our most important obligation for the future is to provide good conditions for life on Earth - for a sustainable development. Therefore, the global society has to economize and maintain the areal resources such as farmland, forests and fishing waters, in order to give a richer and longer life for mankind on the surface of Earth.

Thank you for your attention.

Sakue MATSUMOTO (Japan): Mr Chairman, Distinguished Delegates, Ladies and Gentlemen. I am greatly honoured to have this opportunity of representing the Japanese Government at this Twenty-sixth Session of the FAO Conference and of exchanging views with the distinguished delegates of other member countries.

I would like, first of all, to offer you, Your Excellency

Malik Abdul Majid, my warmest congratulations on your election as Chairman. I am convinced that, with the benefit of your outstanding knowledge and guidance, this session will yield fruitful results for all member countries.

I would also like to express my sincere gratitude and respect for the FAO Secretariat under the leadership of the Director-General, Mr Edouard Saouma, particularly for its efforts to solve world food and agricultural problems. I hope that the secretariat will continue this difficult but important task.

Firstly, allow me to discuss the recent world food and agricultural situation. The level of cereal stocks has remained low, despite a good harvest in the last year. In the longer and medium terms, I dare to say that we seem to have some destabilizing factors, such as the effect of climatic changes including global warming of agricultural production. Therefore, I feel we should not be too optimistic about the future world food security.

My country currently heavily relies on the food supply from abroad. As a nation which experienced serious food shortages and hunger not so long ago, Japan maintains a strong interest in the stable supply of world food on a long-term basis. We believe that in order to maintain our food security, it is important to produce at least the basic foodstuffs within own territory.

We highly appreciate FAO's initiative to resolve the world food and agricultural problems and fully support FAO's activities in this field. My country has been making every possible effort to implement FAO's resolutions and decisions agreed upon by consensus in order to fulfil its responsibility as the second largest contributor to the Organization.

Our Government has intentionally expanded Japan's Official Development Assistance. In this context, priority is given to international cooperation in the agricultural sector which would mitigate food shortages and improve the living standard of farmers, in an effort to respond to basic human needs.

Mr Chairman, enhancement of food and agricultural production should be attained through the sustainable development process taking into consideration global environmental issues.

Recently, global environmental issues have become a common threat to the life of human beings and all fauna and flora in the world and is especially a threat to the activities of the agriculture, forestry and fisheries sectors which depend on the natural environment.

It is necessary that each country make an effort to establish sustainable agriculture through utilization of nature's various functions under preservation of its own natural environment.

We consider it important to preserve the global environment in the future, and that this measure should be taken as a basic agricultural policy, not distorted by trade issues.

Furthermore, Japan intends to cope with global environmental problems more positively, on both a multilateral and bilateral basis, by fully utilizing our own scientific techniques, experiences and knowledge. In this connection, we will actively participate in the UN Conference on Environmental and Development in 1992.

It is indispensable for the international agricultural market to fulfil its normal function in order to ensure proper development of the global agricultural economy.

Therefore, in the GATT Uruguay Round Agricultural Negotiations, not only border protection and export subsidies, but also internal support which have been one of the causes of surplus of agricultural products, have been discussed. We believe that export subsidies, which are the most trade-distortive measures, should be the first one to be resolved among these three issues.

Japan has faced problems of surplus of agricultural products, as many other Member Countries do. In order to cope with the problem of over-production, Japan has been implementing production control on agricultural products rather than exporting surplus products with subsidies, and, as a result, has avoided disturbance of international agricultural market. These efforts by Japan should be fully appreciated in the Uruguay Round.

Japan has implemented various market-opening measures in spite of many domestic difficulties, in order to contribute to the development of the world's agricultural market and agricultural economy as the world largest net importer of agricultural products. On the other hand, Japan has become a country with the lowest self-sufficiency rate in foodstuffs among developed countries. This fact has raised Japanese people's concern about food security.

Therefore, Japan has proposed that specific provisions be included in the GATT rules that will enable contracting parties to take necessary border measures concerning basic foodstuffs such as rice in order to ensure national food security.

We would like to stress also that giving policy priority on the domestic production of staple foodstuffs is very important for developing countries.

Japan expects that the importance of national food security, especially staple food self-sufficiency is recognized by all nations.

We expect the agreement of the negotiations will be made with sufficient consideration of above-mentioned issues, and will harmonize situation between export countries and import countries, and as a result, contribute to solve food problems and to develop agriculture in the world.

I would like to touch upon forestry and fisheries, particularly from the viewpoint of sustainable development.

The forests - vital components of the global ecosystem - have contributed to the welfare of mankind through their various functions.

In many international fora, particularly the UNCED preparatory committees, participants have commonly recognized that effective steps should be taken by the international community as well as by those countries concerned with conservation and reforestation. Our Government has engaged in activities, such as participation in the meetings for strengthening TFAP promoted by FAO and the World Forestry Congress, arrangement of the Senior Forester Congress with ITTO in Japan. Furthermore, our Government has implemented some afforestation projects in Indonesia, Thailand, Kenya, etc., as a display of bilateral cooperation. We would like to continue these activities.

Fishery is also important in securing sustainable fisheries development based on conservation and the rational utilization of fisheries resources, and maintaining harmony with the environment.

However, recently fishery has faced a number of adverse criticisms which are not based on scientific evidence. We fear that these situations have placed obstacles in the way of achieving sustainable fisheries development. Driftnet fishing on the high seas is a typical example of this. Japan has been executing the Resolution of the United Nations and is participating in a scientific study. My country recognizes that the United Nations should draw up effective conservation and management measures, which do not adversely affect species taken incidentally. If one kind of fishing method is banned according to the present proposal of one country, whose proposal is not based on scientific basis but is a political one, other fishing methods should be automatically banned.

We strongly anticipate FAO's initiative to approach these problems in a calm and rational manner, based on scientific evidence. Japan will also assume its responsibility for tackling these tasks.

The agricultural sector, including forestry and fisheries, is the most fundamental industry among countries, which actually has a large labour population.

Each country has developed its own agricultural, forestry and fisheries systems based on their own histories and natural conditions. Our Government recognizes that each country must have a mutual respect for each others' agricultural systems. At present, each country should develop its own characteristic agricultural system harmonizing the global environment in order to secure basic foodstuffs. We consider that this is a basic issue of agriculture, forestry and fisheries, and is not distorted by any trade negotiations. My country strongly anticipates FAO's initiative to address and resolve the problems on food and agriculture, taking into account the very important role of agriculture.

Finally, we expect that the activities of FAO will be effective and efficient through such discussions as the Review of the Regular Programme, FAO's Goals and Operations and the Medium-Term Plan.

I would like to close this statement by stating that the Government of Japan will continue to participate positively in FAO's activities and will work together with other member countries.

EL PRESIDENTE: El Sr. Ministro de Agricultura de Lituania ha entregado a la Secretaria el texto que debería pronunciar. De acuerdo con las disposiciones vigentes, entiendo que la Conferencia no tiene inconveniente en que este texto se incluya en las actas.

Tengo el honor de conceder la palabra al representante de Filipinas.

Senen C. BACANI (Philippines): Honourable Chairman, Excellencies, Distinguished Delegates, Ladies and Gentlemen I have the honour of bringing to you the warmest greetings of the President of the Republic of the Philippines, Her Excellency Corazon C. Aquino. On her behalf and on behalf of the Filipino people, I thank FAO for its steadfast support of agricultural and rural development in addressing the important food and agriculture issues of our time.

Excellencies, recent events tend to confirm that a new world order is emerging, a new order where economic concerns take precedence over political and ideological ones. More and more nations now spend a greater part of their energies on the challenge of growth and development - a challenge which, as most of us have discovered, is better met in an atmosphere of peace and freedom.

As national priorities become predominantly economic, the role of food and agriculture in development becomes more notable. We have a shared future in agriculture. There is a scope for continued cooperation in research, technology transfer and development efforts with the end in view of achieving sustainable agricultural development to feed the ever growing population particularly of developing countries.

The deteriorating food and agriculture situation this year, particularly for developing countries, is a cause of deep concern. Overall food and agricultural production in 1991, according to initial indications, will fall below last year's growth rate of 2 percent to 0.3 percent. This will be the first global decline since 1983.

Production in developing countries would fall alarmingly from 3.2 percent in 1990 to 1 percent in 1991. This would mean negative per capita food production for developing countries in general.

We are likewise aware, Mr Chairman, of the urgent need to further liberalize world agricultural trade. According to the documentation before this Conference, the value of agricultural trade has generally remained depressed in developing countries. Likewise, the share in agricultural exports of developing countries has continued to erode.

The gospel that has been preached to us starting in the decade of the 1980s that salvation lies in the greater exposure of economies to market forces.

In developing countries, agricultural policy reforms as part of the structural adjustment, emphasize a reduced role of government in production, pricing and marketing of commodities.

In certain developed countries, however, the level of protection has not diminished and in fact has reached record levels. While there have been instances of significant improvements in market access conditions for some developing countries, export subsidies have caused even greater distortions in world agricultural trade.

In connection with the structural adjustments in developing countries, I would venture to suggest that the impartial policy advice of a neutral body like FAO could be most valuable particularly to introduce social and food security considerations.

Like the delegations of Argentina and Australia, New Zealand and many others, we wish to reiterate once more the importance of achieving an early successful conclusion of the Uruguay Round negotiations. Failure of the Round can only worsen the present situation.

Today in the Philippines, we continue to evolve a policy environment which encourages productivity in small farmers and fisherfolk, promotes agro-industry and the export of agricultural products, and reduces the anti-agriculture biases that have resulted from years of import substitution and protection of industry.

We have accelerated the pace of the comprehensive agrarian reform and integrated social forestry programmes to facilitate access to land for the poor and landless, and to improve the flow of credit, agricultural inputs and technical support to the countryside. We are working to strengthen the delivery of such social services as education, health care and nutrition to rural people, so we may enrich and sustain this rich human resource.

We continue to implement programmes and projects that are market oriented, conducive to private sector participation, and aimed at transforming small farmers and fishers into rural entrepreneurs, engaged in communal value-added processing of their agricultural products. We have keyed the provision of infrastructure, research and technology and market information, towards the goal of community-level agro-industrialization.

Turkey, Germany, Myanmar, European Economic Community (EEC), Tunisie, Bolivia, España, New Zealand, Argentina, Sweden, Japan, Philippines, Zimbabwe, Lithuania

We have strictly enforced policies that protect the country's land, water and marine resources in order to ensure the long-term sustainability of the resource base. We continue to implement, with the help of FAO, such ecologically sound programmes as integrated pest management, which makes

use of methods other than chemicals to control pests, and we are helping rural people organize themselves into cooperatives and groups, so that they may develop the economic and political will to preserve and pursue their gains.

For the past six years, our activities in the rural sector have been rooted in the principles of free enterprise and market orientation, community-based agro-industrialization, empowerment, equity and poverty alleviation, and sustainable development - all of which demonstrate the great faith of the Aquino Government on people and people power as a genuine instrument of nation-building. Moreover, they underscore this Government's commitment to build on people in order to unleash the potential of the countryside.

These principles have allowed us not only to strengthen Philippine agriculture but also to boost the confidence of rural people in Government and in themselves. This is best borne out by the performance of agriculture from late 1989 to the present - an ongoing period of economic crisis for my country, brought about by a succession of natural and man-made disasters that started with the attempted coup in December 1989; then a major earthquake, the Gulf Crisis and a super typhoon in 1990; then the Mt. Pinatubo eruption in June of this year, and yet another super typhoon barely a week ago. We also had widespread droughts in 1990 and 1991.

Through all these disasters, the agriculture sector showed remarkable resilience, and even grew 4.2 percent in the first semester of this year. Production in rice and corn, our staples, grew 16 percent and 23 percent respectively over the first semester of 1990, making the country self-sufficient in rice this year and allowing us to export corn for the first time in our history.

Moreover, agriculture has outgrown the rest of the economy since 1990, and has indeed served as a safety net through much of the crisis period - which is again a remarkable achievement considering that the billions of pesos in cumulative damage were largely concentrated on agricultural production and infrastructure.

There is no doubt that the remarkable performance of Philippine agriculture during this difficult time is due to the admirable fortitude of rural families. It is therefore sad, but quite necessary, that much of the resources that should go to the development of their communities will continue to be diverted to the rehabilitation of areas directly affected by the disasters.

This is not to say that we will stop pursuing agricultural and rural development. Many communities will get development assistance and resource and infrastructure flows to the countryside will continue. In fact, we have already drafted the plan for the country's 13 regions; 11 commodity plans and 6 support service plans - and are unique for the extensive participation of farmers and fishers and peasant groups in the plan's drafting, validation and iteration. The Philippine Agriculture Development Plan is a people's plan - of, by and for the people - and through it, we hope to have started the development dynamics that responds to the needs of the grassroots.

In the meantime, much of the Government's energies is being channeled to rehabilitation work.

Apart from its toll in human life and well being, which is always the costliest of all, the Pinatubo eruption alone has to date caused losses in agriculture estimated at over US$400 million. OPLAN Save the Farms, the Department of Agriculture's programme to rehabilitate farmlands affected by mud, ashfall and volcanic debris, has targetted over 100 000 hectares for rehabilitation, which is proceeding rapidly even as I speak.

The cost of rehabilitation, for the Pinatubo area and for all other areas devasted by the other calamities, has been and will continue to be burdensome for the Philippine economy. Although many governments and international agencies have responded generously to our calls for assistance, we need to generate more foreign exchange by increasing our exports of, among others, agricultural products.

Unfortunately, many of our commodity exports, such as carrageenan, copra, coconut oil, sugar and prawns, continue to meet artificial trade barriers in developed country markets. This is a common experience among developing countries, which tends to contradict the spirit of FAO Conference Resolution 2/79.

Technology sharing among developing countries has always been an inspiring manifestation of the solidarity and self-reliance of the Third World. Last September, the Philippines was privileged to host a TCDC programming exercise, in which there was discussion of over 180 TCDC projects and technical exchanges. In a similar forum, sponsored by the FAO, the nations of Asia-Pacific were able to lay the foundation for information exchange in the critical subject of pesticides. This was in the regional workshop on prior informed consent, which we hosted in Manila last July.

I wish to reiterate how helpful these international gatherings are in making us aware of the inter-dependence of nations. Gatherings, like the ones I have mentioned, truly increase our understanding of global concerns on agriculture and food and enhance our appreciation of the pains the FAO has taken to bring us all together for that purpose.

Witness P.M. MANGWENDE (Zimbabwe): Mr Chairman, Distinguished Delegates, it is a great pleasure and honour for me to speak for the first time as Minister of Lands, Agriculture and Rural Settlement at this session on behalf of the cause of the Government and people of Zimbabwe.

Let me at the outset thank my friend and colleague, Mr Falloon, the Minister from New Zealand, for his finely crafted and articulate statement. He spoke on our behalf with that statement.

This Conference is taking place at a time when many countries in southern Africa, including Zimbabwe are preparing for their new summer cropping season. The harvest in 1990/91 has unfortunately been affected by the poor rains, illustrating the vulnerability of our sub-region to adverse weather conditions.

These poor rains have seriously affected the production of maize, which is the staple foodstuff not just of my country but also of many other countries in our region. Consequently the large maize stocks which we held at the beginning of the 1990/91 season have fallen by almost 50 percent.

The situation for the other major agricultural products has been similar to that for maize, with the exception of wheat (which is grown under irrigation), soybeans, cotton and tobacco.

Maize is the basis of our national diet and our policy objective is to sustain self-sufficiency and to provide for regional export requirements. The level of maize production fluctuates sharply with variations in annual rainfall, making it difficult to design and administer agricultural policies that ensure minimum levels of stocks and supplies to meet local consumption requirements and viable export opportunities.

However, even in the light of such constraints, Government policy is designed to achieve food security through sustained production of enough nutritionally balanced foodstuffs to meet our domestic requirements. The achievement of a higher standard of living for both rural and urban communities and the elimination of malnutrition and food shortages are at the forefront of our national objectives. Our policy is also aimed at improving the net balance of payments through increased foreign exchange earnings from agricultural exports, in order to ensure availability of inputs. We also need to ensure a regular supply of raw materials for our domestic manufacturing industry - 60 percent of which is agriculturally related and to contribute to the food security requirements of ours as a whole, through exports of basic foodstuffs.

To this end, Zimbabwe recognizes the need to encourage more intensive and diversified production activities, especially in the small scale farming sector. The contribution of small scale farmers to total marketed production has increased substantially over recent years.

Since 1980 this sector's contribution to marketed maize and cotton has increased from less than 10 percent to more than 50 percent of the total volume sold on the market.

The Government of Zimbabwe has therefore given priority to improved support services for agriculture from the research, training and extension services departments, with special regard to the small scale sector. It has also put in place measures to improve irrigation facilities, in order to help counteract the effect of the recurrent droughts in a region in which droughts are endemic. Increased availability of imported inputs, including improved access to farm equipment is also given greater priority as part of the drive to increase our domestic supplies of farm products.

In order to create an environment that is more conducive to the achievement of these objectives, the Government has adopted economic policy reforms designed to raise the rate of growth of the economy and reduce poverty.

At the macro-economic level, initial steps on economic policy reform already taken include trade liberalization and the adoption of a relatively aggressive exchange rate management system, with a view to achieving a market exchange rate which would favour the export sectors including agriculture and would encourage exports and imports' substitution. Foreign currency retention schemes, new investment guidelines and a reduction in the fiscal deficit are among the measures included in Zimbabwe's structural adjustment programme.

Specific adjustments with respect to the agricultural sector focus on policies towards agricultural parastatals, particularly the marketing boards. These are being given greater autonomy in their operations which will be more commercially oriented, thus dispensing with the need for subsidies. Conditions for a more active role for private marketing channels are also being investigated and, in some case, created. To this end some of our loss-making boards are now residual buyers of a number of commodities, including yellow maize. In addition, the Government is studying the modification of pricing and marketing arrangements for cotton, dairy products, meat and coffee. At the same time the Government is concerned with the need to ensure that small farmers and other vulnerable groups of society, who often find themselves in difficult economic positions during structural adjustments, are helped to overcome such difficulties.

A major feature of our agricultural policy is the resettlement of small-scale farmers on more productive lands. The Government is currently drafting legislation to facilitate the acquisition of land and redistribute it to the trained rural people without of course jeopardizing agricultural productivity that has been so far attained.

I would like to mention here the plight of landlocked countries in our region such as Zimbabwe, who frequently achieve agricultural surpluses for export but suffer from expensive transport routes which reduce their ability to compete on the international markets.

However in the context of regional trade, I would like to acknowledge the positive role that the World Food Programme and other donor organizations are playing through triangular transactions.

Zimbabwe is heavily involved in regional economic co-operation; in particular the Southern African Development Co-ordination Conference (SADCC) and the Preferential Trade Area for Eastern and Southern African States (PTA).

My country is co-ordinating, on behalf of other member states, the SADCC food security programme, whose objective is to increase agricultural production in order to achieve food self-sufficiency in the region as a whole.

Many of our projects receive technical and financial assistance from international agencies. The Food and Agriculture Organization has funded a number of these projects. The Government of Zimbabwe greatly appreciates the assistance that we have received which has been of real benefit in the development of our agriculture.

Finally, Mr Chairman, with regard to aid, I would like to emphasise the need for increased aid provisions from developed countries, accompanied by an inflow of private investment to strengthen the development of the overall economic situation.

We in Zimbabwe remain committed to adopting agricultural policies and strategies that work towards achieving and sustaining self reliance in agriculture. I have no doubt we shall achieve all that we have set out to do.

Your support, therefore, is crucial for us to achieve our aims. We certainly hope that FAO will continue to prosper and in its prospering will continue to extend assistance to its members. We also hope that the international community will continue to extend expertise and assistance to us.

We live on this planet together. Your success in our view should be our success also for in the modern international environment in which we live no man is an island entirely on his own; we are all part of the whole. For whom the bell tolls it tolls for thee. For one man's death diminishes me.

Rimvydas Raimondas SURVILA (Lithuania): Ladies and Gentlemen, on behalf of the Government of the Republic of Lithuania I thank you for the possibility to speak in this honourable forum. It is one of evidences that nations of the world recognized Lithuania as an independent country which after half a century of Soviet occupation started its second life and seeked to be your partner in all possible fields of cooperation. Close contacts with European and all countries of the world would give us strength and confidence creating economy of our independent state.

Lithuania is an amber country situated near the Baltic Sea. It occupies 65 thousand square kilometres with population of almost 4 million. Lithuanians make four-fifths of the total population. One fifth are Poles, Russians, Byelorussians, Jews and other nationalities. Over 1 million of Lithuanians live in other states, many of them have emigrated to the United States, Argentina, Australia, Brazil, European countries in the middle of this century.

Lithuania is an agricultural country. Over half of the national income is produced in this sector. We can say that our agriculture is intensive. The per capita production averages 1 ton of cereals, 150 kilogrammes of meat, 850 kilogrammes of milk. Such results could be achieved due to the fact that agriculture engaged big part of the population, as we lacked modern machinery and progressive technologies. Lithuanian agriculture provided food for our population and 30-40 percent of the production was supplied to the USSR. We import for livestock needs 1.2 million tons of grain, 300 000 tons of soya, sunflower and cotton cakes per year. Our Republic is one of major pedigree animal suppliers to former and present Soviet Union Republics. We shall work in this direction in future as well.

Such supplies are not fully reliable, therefore we look for alternative ways to receive grain and protein feeds. We want to keep up the present level of livestock production, introduce new farming forms, change technologies and rely more on domestic feedstuff resources, buying in the West proteins and other inputs necessary for development of combined feeds industry.

Crop growing in our country is orientated towards feed production therefore, farming land under feed crops amounts to 60 percent. Cereals yield per hectare is 3 tons. However, as I have mentioned, this is not enough. After transition to private property of land, when our farmers will be more strong and our former collective farms will be transformed to real cooperatives, this situation should change. For this period we shall need qualified assistance of specialists since it is necessary to orientate our economy not only to the traditional East market but also to the world market.

In addition to traditionally grown potatoes and sugar beets, other crops such as rape, various grass seeds, specific vegetables could be more widely introduced.

Flax fields occupy 20 000 hectares. This is a traditional Lithuanian crop and has great demand in the market. Flaxes are processed in 10 factories. However, growing and processing technologies are not modern.

We cultivate about 30 000 hectares of sugar beets. Our 4 sugar factories are capable to process 800 000 tons of sugar beets. There were years when the yields amounted to 1 million tons. From our domestic raw materials we are able to produce only half of the consumed amount of sugar, the rest is produced from cane raw sugar in March-August. At present, with the change of political and economic situation, supply of sugar to consumers and our industry is a major problem. I have mentioned only some main trends of our food industry which determine structure of food production and processing industry. Meat and dairy industries are prevalent in Lithuania. About 700 000 animals and fowls are being bought up and 330 000 tons of meat produced. We have nine meat factories equipment and technologies of which don't meet requirements nowadays. For the time being some western countries assist us in establishing smaller meat processing enterprises, renovating the old ones. We hope that at least a small part of our products could meet high quality requirements. Notwithstanding this, essential technological progress is needed in this field.

In the Republic of Lithuania we don't have dangerous animal and poultry diseases included in A list of International Epizootic Bureau and vaccination against them is not carried out. Veterinary service is capable to implement state control on veterinary rules in animal husbandry and processing industry. Veterinary Law of the Republic of Lithuania has been adopted. It consolidates status of the state veterinary service and meets requirements of corresponding EEC services.

The Republic of Lithuania is determined to keep to international rules of trade of livestock products and raw materials concerning their quality. We have necessary laboratories, skilled specialists, however, we lack methodologies, reagents and modern laboratory equipment.

Lithuanian dairy enterprises buy and process nearly 3 million tons of milk per year. The largest part of it is used for butter production. We have also quite a big number of cheese plants, produce canned milk. About 60 percent of milk resources are used in our Republic and the rest supplied to different parts of the Soviet Union. We supply small amounts of cheese, skimmed dry milk, casein, lactose to foreign markets as well. Soviet Union market is actually unlimited therefore, we would like to develop this industry branch. Entrepreneurs of all countries are welcome to cooperate in this field. The best form of cooperation from our point of view is joint ventures supplying their production to the East and West markets.

Such forms of cooperation are acceptable in bread industry as well since many bread products have good demand in other republics. However, we still have to import hard wheat for our needs since it is difficult to grow in our local conditions. Due to such problems powder confectionary capacities are not used to full extent. Sugar confectionary industry which uses about 80 percent of imported raw materials can work only with half capacity. With the help of reliable partners Lithuania confectionary specialists could satisfy even fastidious taste.

Beer and beverages are being produced in seven breweries. We produce about 1.6 mill.gk of beer of 20 different sorts. Again due to shortage of hops and malt, the capacities are used only by 80 percent. We produce good quality mineral water and 40 sorts of brandy and liqueur. We have good frothy wine factory, however, production is limited by shortage of raw materials and bottles.

In Lithuania we produce apple and berry wines. We hope to recover lost ground in the world in this field.

We have big vegetable oil filling capacities, however we are greatly dependent on oil import.

The fishery and aquaculture is an important branch of the Lithuanian economy. Total catches of the Lithuanian fishing fleet in the seas and open Atlantic and Pacific Oceans make up 326 000 tons of fish and other fish products. In the Baltic Sea fishing areas the Lithuanian total catches in 1990 were near 18 000 tons; 20 Lithuanian fish farms catch in inland waters about 9 000 tons of valuable fish per year such as: carp, rainbow trout, pike, pike-perch, eel, whitefish. Lithuanian large-scale fish industry is concentrated in Klaipeda, the only ice-free fishing and commercial port of Lithuania. Our fishing, transport and auxiliary fleet consists of 200 vessels. Fifty-five percent of total catches is caught in the economic zones of foreign countries. Since January 1, 1992 the Lithuanian fishing fleet will lose its right to work in the economic zones of foreign countries if the Republic of Lithuania does not make direct agreements. In such a case we shall face big problems in supplying fish to our consumers and according traditional relations to the Soviet Union and Western countries.

I think this short review of food industry will help you to imagine the picture of our country. I want to stress once more that we are actually starting everything anew and we are ready to carry out any necessary activities joining the more developed system. We set our hopes on privatization of agriculture, establishment of private farms, creation of new cooperation forms. Considerable changes will take part this winter. Community of nations of the world recognized the right of Lithuania to live in freedom and independently arrange its fate. Lithuania has returned to the Union of Nations, to international organizations. Today we apply to FAO. We hope to receive qualified assistance in arranging our food industry. We badly need consultations of specialists in determination of perspectives of traditional agricultural branches and their possibilities in the European market. Assistance is needed in the field of arrangement of state standards, methodologies and equipment for quality determination. We also need assistance in introduction of new crop growing technologies, because narrow relations with separate firms of different countries are not effective. It is very important to solve problems of technical supply. In many fields Lithuania is planning to have joint production with Latvia and Estonia, but this will take time. Therefore, wider support could make the transition period easier. Short-term supplies can help to solve problems only temporarily, therefore we would seek implementation or long-term programmes in this field.

At present businessmen and entrepreneurs of different countries come to Lithuania. However, they also have not wide and detailed programmes, sometimes their proposals are not properly evaluated by specialists. I am

aware that FAO is the organization which, having in mind its great experience, could unselfishly help our small country to return to the road of technical progress and support its further development.

I would like to assure this honourable audience that Lithuania will take a road of democracy and free market development, will be a reliable partner, good neighbour, loyal member of the world community.

Thank you once more for the right to participate and speak in this honourable forum.¹