C 99/16 |
Thirtieth Session |
Rome, 12-23 November 1999 |
ARRANGEMENTS FOR THE THIRTIETH SESSION OF THE CONFERENCE |
APPENDIX A: TENTATIVE TIMETABLE OF THE CONFERENCE -
DETAILED SCHEDULE
APPENDIX B: EXTRACT FROM ARTICLE III OF THE CONSTITUTION OF FAO
1. At its Twenty-ninth session (November 1997) the Conference decided that the Thirtieth session should be held in Rome from 12 to 23 November 19991.
2. Subsequently the 115th Council Session (November 1998) reviewed the procedures and methods of work of Conference sessions in the light of proposals from the Joint Meeting of the Programme and Finance Committees and the comments of the CCLM. The Council further agreed for the 1999 Conference Session that Commission III be abolished, the number of Commissions being reduced to two, and that the Resolutions Committee be maintained with its present Terms of Reference. Plenary should continue to deal with the State of Food and Agriculture and Heads of Delegation should be invited to focus on this item. These arrangements do not require amendments to the Basic Texts and are, therefore, reflected in the present document.
3. The Council further requested that CCLM continue its examination of the Basic Texts and submit to the Council a Draft Resolution on amendments to the General Rules of the Organization for onward transmission to the Conference which would permit:
4. Arrangements under paragraph 3 above require formal action by Conference to amend the Basic Texts. Adoption of the relevant Resolution has been scheduled for the second day of the Conference so that its provisions may be implemented, to the extent possible, during the present session, at least in so far as the second and third bullets above are concerned.
5. As regards the statements by Heads of Delegation, the Council had requested that a paper on the financial and scheduling implications of arranging for separate but simultaneous meetings at which Ministers could address selected topics be submitted to the Joint Meeting of the Programme and Finance Committees at its Spring 1999 Session. The results of the Joint Meeting discussion on this topic were examined by the Council which referred the issue back to the Joint Meeting and recognized that it would not be possible to implement at the Thirtieth Conference Session..
6. A provisional agenda for the Conference session containing only matters for which action by the Conference is required is found in document C 99/1 which also lists subjects for which information documents will be tabled during the session.
7. Two Commissions would be established: Commission I (substantive and policy matters in food and agriculture) and Commission II (programme and budgetary matters). Subjects formerly dealt with by Commission III will now be considered by the Plenary.
8. A tentative timetable of the Conference session is given in Appendix A. The timetable provides that the work of each Commission would take up no more than four days. Meetings would normally last from 09.30 to 12.30 hours and from 14.30 to 17.30 hours.
9. All foreseen votes are scheduled during the first week of the Conference, for the benefit of Members that may find it difficult to maintain full delegations in Rome throughout the entire Conference period.
10. Delegations are normally headed by Ministers. In deciding on the composition of their delegations, Members will wish to bear in mind the need for effective participation in the work of the Commissions as well as in Plenary.
11. In accordance with Article III of the Constitution, each Member may be represented by one delegate, who may be accompanied by alternates, associates and advisers (see Appendix B).
12. In addition to adopting amendments to the Constitution, Rules and Regulations of the Organization, approving conventions and agreements, etc., the Conference has the following specific constitutional duties.
13. The Conference, as the supreme authority of the Organization, admits new Members to the Organization and deals generally with all matters relating to membership. At the date of preparing this document, one application for membership (Niue) had been received. Under Rule XIX-2 of the General Rules of the Organization (GRO) applications are receivable up to 30 days before the opening of the Conference Session, i.e. 12 October 1999. The admission of new Members is carried out by secret ballot and requires a two-thirds majority of the votes cast, provided that the total number of affirmative and negative votes cast shall be more than one half of the Member Nations of the Organization. Membership becomes effective on the date on which the Conference approves the application. This item of the Agenda is scheduled for Friday 12 November 1999.
14. In accordance with Article VII of the Constitution and Rule XXXVI GRO, the Conference appoints the Director-General. In accordance with Rule XXXVI-l(a) GRO the Hundred and Fifteenth Council Session (November 1998) had established 8 April 1999 as the closing date for receipt of nominations for the Office of Director-General. The nominations received by that date are given in document C 99/18.
15. The last sentence of Rule XXXVI-l(a) GRO specifies that "As soon as possible after the opening of the Conference Session, the General Committee shall determine and announce the date of the election, it being understood that the appointment of the Director-General at a regular session shall begin and be effected within three working days following the opening date of such session". It is proposed that balloting begins on the morning of Saturday 13 November.
16. In accordance with Article V-2 of the Constitution and Rule XXIII-I GRO, the Conference appoints the Independent Chairman of the Council.
17. Rule XXIII-l(b) GRO lays down that the Council shall determine the closing date for submission, by Member Nations to the Secretary-General of the Conference, of nominations for the Office of Independent Chairman of the Council. Likewise, the Council also sets the date by which the Secretary General shall circulate these nominations to all Members of the Organization. Taking into consideration past practice the Council established 12.00 hours on Friday 20 August as the closing date for submission of nominations, and 27 August as the date by which such nominations are circulated by the Secretary General.
18. The election of the Independent Chairman of the Council is scheduled for Friday 19 November.
19. In accordance with Article V-l of the Constitution, the Conference elects the Members of the Council. A separate paper on the election of Council Members, including Nomination Forms, has been circulated as Conference document C 99/11. In accordance with Rule XXII-10(a) GRO, the Conference decides the date of the election and the date by which nominations for election to the Council must be submitted. The attached Timetable (Appendix A) proposes that the election be held on Friday 19 November. As laid down in Rule XXII-10(c) GRO, nominations must be supported in writing by the delegates of two Member Nations to the Conference, other than the delegate of the Member Nation nominated, and must be accompanied by a formal written acceptance of the nomination by the delegate of the Member Nation nominated. Rule XXII-10(d) further specifies that the General Committee shall communicate the valid nominations received to the Conference at least three working days before the date selected for the election. In the light of those requirements the Council recommended that the deadline for the receipt of nominations be set at 12.00 hours on Saturday 13 November.
20. In accordance with Rule XXIV-5(b) GRO, the Council, at its Hundred and Sixteenth Session (June 1999) proposed candidates for the Offices of Chairman of the Conference and Chairmen of the Commissions of the Conference. At its Hundred and Seventeenth Session, immediately preceding the Conference, the Council will confirm these nominations and, in addition, will elect the Nominations Committee of the Conference, consisting of eleven Member Nations.
21. In accordance with Rule VII-2 GRO, the Nominations Committee, which reports directly to the Conference, proposes to the Conference nominations for the offices of the three Vice-Chairmen of the Conference, for the members of the Credentials Committee consisting of nine Member Nations, and for the seven elected Members of the General Committee.
22. The first two Plenary meetings on Friday 12 November 1999 should dispose of the opening procedures.
23. At the first Plenary meeting in the morning, the Conference will elect its Chairman and three Vice-Chairmen, appoint the General Committee and the Credentials Committee (Rule VII GRO) and hear the Twenty-First McDougall Memorial Lecture. The Plenary will then adjourn to permit the General Committee and the Credentials Committee to hold their first meetings.
24. At the second Plenary meeting in the afternoon, the Conference, acting on the first report of the General Committee, will adopt the Agenda, establish the Commissions, appoint a Resolutions Committee (see paragraphs 29 and 30 below) and deal with the admission of observers and other procedural matters. The vote on the admission of new Members is scheduled for the same afternoon, to be followed by the ceremony of admission of these new Members. While the votes are being counted, the presentation of the B.R. Sen Awards for 1998 and 1999, the A.H. Boerma Award, the Edouard Saouma Award and the Margarita Lizarraga Medal will take place.
25. The third Plenary meeting on the morning of Saturday 13 November, will start with the adoption of the report of the Credentials Committee, followed by the vote for election of the Director-General. The morning would conclude with the Director-Generals Statement to the Conference on the work of the Organization and the Statement of the Independent Chairman of the Council.
26. The fourth Plenary meeting in the afternoon will start with three legal and constitutional items, including the draft Resolution for amending the Basic Texts with a view to streamlining the working procedures of the Conference. Should there be time available in the afternoon, the first speakers listed for the general debate on Monday will have the opportunity to deliver their statements at this meeting.
27. The general debate by Heads of Delegation on the State of Food and Agriculture in the world will commence on Monday 15 November and will continue until Thursday 18 November. The Council suggested that statements focus on the world food situation or on a thematic issue related to that subject. However, as only four days are available for statements, and as the great majority of Heads of Delegation present at the Conference will no doubt want to make statements, the Council recommended that statements be limited to a maximum of 5 minutes each.
28. The Council also recommended that Friday 19 November be set aside for the election of the Chairman and Members of the Council (by secret ballot), and for the vote on the budget level (by roll call vote).
29. The last Plenary meetings on Monday 22 and Tuesday 23 November would be used to conclude the remaining items on the Agenda, including those formerly dealt with by Commission III, and to adopt the report of the Conference. As was the case with the report of Commission III, the Council recommended that the Conference designate a Rapporteur to prepare the draft report of Plenary items for adoption on the final day of the Conference.
30. The Council recommended the establishment of a Resolutions Committee of the Conference composed of seven members, one from each FAO region.
31. The Council also reiterated the view, expressed on previous occasions, that resolutions should be kept to a minimum, and be confined to matters requiring a formal decision by Conference. Appendix C sets out the criteria for Conference resolutions and the functions and operating procedures of the Resolutions Committee, as adopted since 1975 by the Eighteenth and subsequent sessions of the Conference.
32. The United Nations and the other organizations in the UN system are entitled to be represented at sessions of the Conference, without the right to vote. Other intergovernmental organizations having agreements with FAO that contain specific provisions to this effect have a right to attend as observers. Those non-governmental organizations which have consultative status are also entitled to send observers to Conference sessions.
33. Other intergovernmental organizations as well as non-governmental organizations having specialized consultative status or liaison status, may be invited on a provisional basis by the Director-General, subject to Conference approval. Accordingly, the Provisional Agenda of the Session contains an item "Admission of Observers".
34. The above provisions are set out in Rule XVII GRO and also in the "FAO Policy Concerning Relations with International Non-Governmental Organizations"(FAO Basic Texts, Volume II, Section P).
35. Observers from non-governmental organizations will be invited to attend informal meetings to be held on Saturday 13 November in order that their views and suggestions on the activities and programmes of the Organization may be reported to the Conference.
36. The Council noted the Director-Generals suggestion to invite the Palestine Liberation Organization to attend the Thirtieth Session of the Conference in an observer capacity.
TENTATIVE TIMETABLE OF THE CONFERENCE DETAILED SCHEDULE
Friday 12 November
Plenary |
Credentials Committee |
am 1st Meeting: Opening by the Director-General Item 1: Election of Chairman and
Vice-Chairmen |
1st Meeting: (Immediately after appointment of Committee by Plenary) |
pm 2nd Meeting Item 3: Adoption of the Agenda and Arrangements for
the Session 28:2: Presentation of B.R. Sen Awards Item 23: Applications for Membership in the Organization (contd) (Admission Ceremony) |
2nd Meeting: |
Saturday 13 November
Plenary |
|
am 3rd Meeting Item 24: Appointment of the Director-General - Statement by the Director-General - Statement by the Independent Chairman of the Council |
[Informal Meeting of observers from Non-Governmental Organizations] |
pm 4th Meeting Item 16: Amendments to the Basic Texts of the Organization 16.1 General Rules of the Organization 16.2 Financial Regulations Item 17: Amendments to the General Regulations and Rules of WFP Item 18: Other Constitutional and Legal Matters |
[Informal Meeting of observers from Non-Governmental Organizations] |
Monday 15 November
Plenary |
Commission I |
Commission II |
am 5th Meeting Item 5: Review of the State of Food and Agriculture |
1st Meeting Item 6: Progress on Follow-up to the World Food Summit |
1st Meeting Item 12: Programme Implementation Report 1996-97 |
pm 6th Meeting Item 5: Review of the State of Food and Agriculture (contd) |
2nd Meeting Item 7: Gender Mainstreaming in FAO |
2nd Meeting Item 13: Programme Evaluation Report 1998-99 |
Tuesday 16 November
Plenary |
Commission I |
Commission II |
am 7th Meeting Item 5: Review of the State of Food and Agriculture (contd) |
3rd Meeting Item 8: International Undertaking on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture |
3rd Meeting Item 14: Programme of Work and Budget 2000-2001 |
pm 8th Meeting Item 5: Review of the State of Food and Agriculture (contd) |
4th Meeting Item 9: United Nations/FAO World Food Programme |
4th Meeting Item 14: Programme of Work and Budget 2000-2001 (contd) |
Wednesday 17 November
Plenary |
Commission I |
Commission II |
am 9th Meeting Item 5: Review of the State of Food and Agriculture (contd) |
5th Meeting Item 10: Outcome of the FAO/Netherlands Conference on the Multi-Functional Character of Agriculture and Land (Maastricht, Netherlands, September 1999) |
5th Meeting Item 14: Programme of Work and Budget 2000-2001 (contd) |
am 10th Meeting Item 5: Review of the State of Food and Agriculture (contd) |
6th Meeting Item 11: Outcome of the Conference of Plenipotentiaries on the Rotterdam Convention on Prior Informed Consent (PIC) |
6th Meeting Item 15: Strategic Framework 2000-2015 |
Thursday 18 November
Plenary |
Commission I |
Commission II |
am 11th Meeting Item 5: Review of the State of Food and Agriculture (contd) |
7th Meeting Adoption of Report |
7th Meeting Adoption of Report |
pm 12th Meeting Item 5: Review of the State of Food and Agriculture (contd) |
8th Meeting Adoption of Report (contd) |
8th Meeting Adoption of Report (contd) |
Friday 19 November
Plenary |
am 13th Meeting Item 25: Election of Council Members and Independent Chairman |
pm 14th Meeting Item 25: Election of Council Members and Independent Chairman (contd)
Adoption of Commission II Report on Item 14 |
Monday 22 November
Plenary |
am 15th Meeting Item 19: FAO Audited Accounts 1996-97 Item 20: Scale of Contributions 2000-2001 Item 21: Payment by the European Community to cover expenses arising out of its membership in the Organization Item 22: Other Administrative and Financial Matters |
pm 16th Meeting Item 26: Appointment of Representatives of the FAO Conference to the Staff Pension Committee Item 27: Date and Place of the Thirty-first Conference Session Item 28: Any Other Matters |
Tuesday 23 November
Plenary |
am 17th Meeting Adoption of Report of Commission I Adoption of Report of Commission II |
pm 18th Meeting Adoption of Report of Plenary |
SUMMARY TIMETABLE
Plenary |
Commission I |
Commission II |
TOTAL |
|
Friday 12 November | 1 2 |
1 1 |
||
Saturday 13 November | 3 4 |
1 1 |
||
Monday 15 November | 5 6 |
1 2 |
1 2 |
3 3 |
Tuesday 16 November | 7 8 |
3 4 |
3 4 |
3 3 |
Wednesday 17 Nov. | 9 10 |
5 6 |
5 6 |
3 3 |
Thursday 18 Nov. | 11 12 |
7 8 |
7 8 |
3 3 |
Friday 19 November | 13 14 |
1 1 |
||
Monday 22 November | 15 16 |
1 1 |
||
Tuesday 23 November | 17 18 |
1 1 |
EXTRACT FROM ARTICLE III OF THE CONSTITUTION OF FAO
THE CONFERENCE
(provisions regulating composition of delegations)
1. There shall be a Conference of the Organization in which each Member Nation and Associate Member shall be represented by one delegate. Associate Members shall have the right to participate in the deliberations of the Conference but shall not hold office nor have the right to vote.
2. Each Member Nation and Associate Member may appoint alternates, associates and advisers to its delegate. The Conference may determine the conditions for the participation of alternates, associates and advisers in its proceedings, but any such participation shall be without the right to vote, except in the case of an alternate, associate, or adviser participating in the place of a delegate.
3. No delegate may represent more than one Member Nation or Associate Member.
4. Each Member Nation shall have one vote. A Member Nation which is in arrears in the payment of its financial contributions to the Organization shall have no vote in the Conference if the amount of its arrears equals or exceeds the amount of the Contributions due from it for the two preceding calendar years. The Conference may, nevertheless, permit such a Member Nation to vote if it is satisfied that the failure to pay is due to conditions beyond the control of the Member Nation.
CRITERIA FOR CONFERENCE RESOLUTIONS AND FUNCTIONS AND OPERATING PROCEDURES OF THE RESOLUTIONS COMMITTEE
1. Criteria for the Formulation of Resolutions
Resolutions should be confined essentially to the following normal matters:
2. Functions of the Resolutions Committee
3. Operating Procedures of the Resolutions Committee
_________________________
1 C 97/REP para 173.