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THE CONFERENCE,
Recalling that Rule XXXIII of the General Rules of the Organization establishing the Committee on World Food Security (CFS) and its Terms of Reference was adopted by the Conference at its Eighteenth Session in November 1975 (Resolution 21/75),
Recalling further that Commitment Seven of the Plan of Action adopted by the World Food Summit in November 1996 accorded a substantial role to the CFS in the monitoring of the implementation of the Plan of Action,
Considering that the above-mentioned role should be reflected in the mandate of the CFS as set out in Rule XXXIII of the General Rules of the Organization (GRO),
Considering that further changes to the wording of Rule XXXIII GRO are required in order to reflect the new responsibilities falling upon FAO as a result of the abolition of the World Food Council by the UN General Assembly,
Considering also that further amendments are required in order to reflect changes in institutional organization in the UN system, such as the replacement of the Committee on Food Aid Policies and Programmes by the Executive Board of the World Food Programme, and to rationalize and modernize the Terms of Reference of the CFS in line with recent practice:
Decides to amend Rule XXXIII of the General Rules of the Organization, Committee on World Food Security, as follows:
Rule XXXIII
Committee on World Food Security
1. The Committee on World Food Security provided for in paragraph 6 of Article V of the Constitution shall be open to all Member Nations of the Organization and all Member States of the United Nations. It shall be composed of those States which notify the Director-General in writing of their desire to become Members of the Committee and of their intention to participate in the work of the Committee.
2. The notifications referred to in paragraph 1 may be made at any time, and membership acquired on the basis thereof shall be for a biennium. The Director-General shall circulate, at the beginning of each session of the Committee, a document listing the Members of the Committee.
3. The Committee shall normally hold two sessions during each biennium. Sessions shall be convened by the Director-General, in consultation with the Chairman of the Committee, taking into account any proposals made by the Committee.
4. If required, the Committee may hold additional sessions on the call of the Director-General in consultation with its Chairman, or on request submitted in writing to the Director-General by the majority of Members of the Committee.
5. The Committee shall contribute to promoting the objective of world food security with the aim of ensuring that all people, at all times, have physical and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food to meet their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life.
6. The Committee shall serve as a forum in the United Nations system for review and follow-up of policies concerning world food security, including food production, sustainable use of the natural resource base for food security, nutrition, physical and economic access to food and other food security related aspects of poverty eradication, the implications of food trade for world food security and other related matters and shall in particular:
a) examine major problems and issues affecting the world food situation and the steps being proposed or taken to resolve them by Governments and relevant international organizations, bearing in mind the need for the adoption of an integrated approach towards their solution;
b) examine the implications for world food security of other relevant factors, including the situation relating to the supply and demand of basic food stuffs and food aid requirements and trends, the state of stocks in exporting and importing countries and issues relating to physical and economic access to food and other food security related aspects of poverty eradication; and
c) recommend such action as may be appropriate to promote the goal of world food security.
7. The Committee shall serve as the forum in the UN system for the monitoring of the implementation of the Plan of Action adopted by the World Food Summit in accordance with the relevant commitment of the Summit.
8. The Committee shall report to the Council of the Organization and tender advice to the Director-General, and relevant international organizations as appropriate, on any matter considered by the Committee, it being understood that copies of its reports, including any conclusions, will be transmitted without delay to interested governments and international organizations.
9. The Committee shall provide regular reports to the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations (ECOSOC), through the Council of the Organization.
10. Any recommendation adopted by the Committee affecting the programme or finance of the Organization or concerning legal or constitutional matters shall be reported to the Council with the comments of the appropriate subsidiary committees of the Council. The reports of the Committee, or relevant extracts therefrom, shall also be placed before the Conference.
11. The Committee shall draw on the advice, as necessary, of the Committee on Commodity Problems and its subsidiary bodies, the Committee on Agriculture and other technical committees of the Council as appropriate, and the Executive Board of the World Food Programme. In particular, it shall take full account of the responsibilities and activities of these and other intergovernmental bodies responsible for aspects of food security, in order to avoid overlapping and unnecessary duplication of work.
12. The Committee shall invite relevant international organizations to participate in the work of the Committee and the preparation of meeting documents on matters within their respective mandates in collaboration with the secretariat of the Committee.
13. In order to ensure the effective discharge of its functions, the Committee may request the Members to furnish all information required for its work, it being understood that where so requested by the governments concerned, the information supplied shall be kept on a restricted basis.
14. The Director-General or his representative shall participate in all meetings of the Committee and may be accompanied by such officers of the staff of the Organization as he may designate.
15. The Committee shall elect, from among its Members, its Chairman and the other officers. It may adopt and amend its rules of procedure, which shall be consistent with the Constitution and the General Rules of the Organization.
16. The Committee may decide to establish subsidiary or ad hoc bodies where it considers that such action would expedite its own work, without duplicating the work of existing bodies. A decision to this effect may be taken only after the Committee has examined a report by the Director-General on the administrative and financial implications.
17. When establishing subsidiary or ad hoc bodies, the Committee shall define their terms of reference, composition, and, as far as possible, the duration of their mandate. Subsidiary bodies may adopt their own rules of procedure, which shall be consistent with those of the Committee.
(Adopted on 17 November 1997)
118. The Conference endorsed the recommendation of the Council, at its Hundred and Thirteenth Session (Rome, 4-6 November 1997), that the outline Programme of Work and Budget and the joint meeting of the Programme and Finance Committees early in the second year of the biennium be abolished. In this connection, the Conference took note that further amendments to the Basic Texts of the Organization would be required at a subsequent stage, in the light of the outcome of the phased introduction and implementation of a new medium-term planning process on an experimental basis. Meanwhile, the Conference authorized the phased implementation of the new process on a trial basis as approved by the Committees and the Council in due course.
119. The Conference adopted the following Resolution:
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