COMMITTEE ON WORLD FOOD SECURITY |
INTERGOVERNMENTAL GROUP ON MEAT |
Seventeenth Session |
Cape Town, South Africa, 12 - 14 November 1998 |
PROVISIONAL AGENDA |
1. The Seventeenth Session of the Intergovernmental Group on Meat will be hosted by the Government of the Republic of South Africa. It will be opened in Cape Town, at the Holiday Inn Hotel on Thursday, 12th November 1998 at 10:00 hours. The Session is expected to conclude its work on Saturday, 14th November 1998. The Sub-Group on Hides and Skins will have met immediately prior to the Group’s Session, commencing on Monday 9th November 1998. Both Sessions, that of the Sub-Group on Hides and Skins and that of the Intergovernmental Group on Meat will coincide with "Meet in Africa", an international leather industry conference and fair organized by the International Trade Centre (ITC), UNCTAD/WTO. In addition to the formal agenda for the Session, the Secretariat will arrange for an informal discussion with a representative from the CFC who will brief participants on the new CFC policies, including loan and investment criteria for CFC projects.
2. At each session, the Group elects a Chairperson and two Vice-Chairpersons who hold office until the subsequent session. The present Chairperson and Vice-Chairpersons are, respectively, Mr Franco Ginocchio, from Italy, Mr Mukti Narayan Shrestha, from Nepal, and Mr Fernando José Marroni de Abreu, from Brazil. Mr.Yoahnnes Tensue, from Eritrea, was appointed as Rapporteur.
3. Member countries have been requested to send to the Secretariat comprehensive data on national developments in production, trade, consumption and prices of meat. This information will be used by the Secretariat, together with other information at its disposal, to prepare a report on the world meat situation and short-term outlook which will be tabled at the Group’s session (CCP:ME 98/2).
4. Delegates are asked to hand over to the Secretariat during the Session any new or revised statistical data and copies of their statements on major factors affecting their national livestock and meat situation.
5. Commodity projections covering production, consumption and trade of agricultural commodities are normally undertaken by the Commodities and Trade Division in five-year intervals using the FAO World Food Model, which links the meat and dairy products to grains and oilseeds. A paper summarizing the projection results for the meat sector will be circulated to delegates in advance of the session, for their review and comments (CCP:ME 98/6).
6. At its 61st Session, in February 1997, the Committee on Commodity Problems, the parent body of the intergovernmental commodity groups, recommended to extend to livestock and livestock products the work on biotechnology and trade and to take into account environmental implications. In response, the Secretariat will circulate a document assessing the nature of biotechnology developments in the livestock sector and providing a first tentative assessment of their possible impact on trade in livestock and meat products (CCP: ME 98/8).
7. The Group had agreed at earlier sessions to make regular assessments of follow-up action to the Guidelines adopted in October 1976. Member Governments have been requested to provide information on recent policy changes of relevance to the livestock and meat sectors to enable the Secretariat to prepare the latest review which will be circulated. The Group is expected to examine the progress made in achieving the objectives of the Guidelines (CCP:ME 98/3).
8. The Secretariat circulated in April 1998 a draft text of the Guidelines, requesting Governments to indicate their preference for the maintenance, revision or deletion of individual Guidelines. On the basis of their replies, contained in document CCP:ME 98/4, the Group is invited to discuss and eventually decide on the status of these Guidelines.
9. The Secretariat will inform the Group on progress made regarding the implementation by FAO of the project "Development and Promotion of Value-Added Meat Products in sub-Saharan Africa" and on the status of the project on "Improving Livestock Marketing and Regional Trade in West Africa" approved by the CFC in 1997 (CCP:ME 98/5). The Group will also be requested to consider various new project proposals for submission to the Fund and to decide whether they wish to sponsor them. Representatives from the originating organizations have been invited to the meeting to explain the rationale of the projects and to reply to questions raised from the floor.
10. The Group will also have the opportunity to consider setting up a mechanism to deal, during the two-year intervals between sessions, with project supervision and project sponsorship, the two main responsibilities of the IGG with respect to Common Fund projects.
11. Representatives of other international organizations will be invited to inform the Group about their recent and planned activities related to livestock, meat and meat products.
12. The Group will consider the report of the Sixth Session of the Sub-Group on Hides and Skins, which is to be held immediately prior to the Seventeenth Session of the Group.