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IV. Procedure of the session and review of the state of food and agriculture

A. Election of the Chairman and Vice-Chairmen of the conference
B. Appointment of the general committee and the credentials committee
C. Adoption of the agenda
D. Arrangements for the session and allocation of agenda items
E. Admission of observers
F. Review of the state of food and agriculture

A. Election of the Chairman and Vice-Chairmen of the conference

18. The Council nominated and the Conference elected Costas Petrides (Cyprus) as Chairman of the Twenty-eighth Session of the Conference.

19. The Conference approved the appointment of the three Vice-Chairmen of the Conference recommended by the Nominations Committee, as follows:

B. Appointment of the general committee and the credentials committee

20. The Nominations Committee recommended and the Conference approved the following appointments:

Seven Members of the General Committee

Nine Members of the Credentials Committee

C. Adoption of the agenda

21. The Conference adopted its Agenda as amended by the General Committee, and as given in Appendix A to this report.

D. Arrangements for the session and allocation of agenda items

Establishment of commissions and appointment of their Chairmen, Vice-Chairmen, rapporteur and drafting committees
Resolutions committee of the conference
Right of reply
Verbatim records
Verification of credentials
Voting rights

22. The Conference adopted the arrangements and timetable proposed by the Hundred and Eighth Session of the Council, as amended by the General Committee.

Establishment of commissions and appointment of their Chairmen, Vice-Chairmen, rapporteur and drafting committees

23. The Conference concurred with the Council's recommendations to establish three Commissions to consider and report upon Parts I, II and III of the Agenda.

24. In accordance with Rule VII-1 and Rule XXIV-5 (b) of the General Rules of the Organization (GRO), the Hundred and Ninth Session of the Council had nominated the following Chairmen of the Commissions which the Conference approved:

25. C.B. Houtman (Netherlands) was elected as Chairperson of the Drafting Committee for Commission I with the following membership: Algeria, Canada, Ethiopia, France, Haiti, Iran, Japan, Malaysia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Panama, Sri Lanka and Syria.

26. A. M. Aboul-Naga (Egypt) was elected as Chairman of the Drafting Committee for Commission II with the following membership: Australia, Brazil, Egypt, Germany, Japan, Kenya, Korea (Republic of), Libya, Philippines, Spain, United States of America and Venezuela.

27. Moussa Bocar Ly (Senegal) was elected as Rapporteur of Commission III.

28. The Conference appointed the foregoing officers and, taking into consideration the proposals of the General Committee, in accordance with Rule XIII-2 GRO, also appointed the following Vice-Chairmen:

Resolutions committee of the conference

29. The Conference endorsed the recommendation of the Hundred and Eighth Session of the Council to establish a Resolutions Committee of seven members, one from each region, and appointed the following:

30. The Conference agreed to the recommendation of the General Committee that the Resolutions Committee be chaired by the Representative of the Europe Region, F. Montanaro Mifsud (Malta).

31. The Conference approved the functions of the Resolutions Committee and the criteria for the formulation of resolutions, as given in Appendix C of document C 95/12.

Right of reply

32. The Conference confirmed the decision taken at its 14 previous sessions to the effect that, when a member wished to reply to criticisms of his government's policy, he should preferably do so on the afternoon of the day on which such criticism had been voiced after all those wishing to participate in the discussion had had an opportunity to speak.

Verbatim records

33. As provided for in Rule XVIII-1 GRO, Verbatim Records were kept of all Conference Plenary and Commission meetings. The Conference endorsed the recommendation of the General Committee that statements could be inserted in the verbatim records when time did not permit them to be delivered, taking into consideration, however, the conditions laid down by the General Committee.

Verification of credentials

34. The credentials of delegations of 152 Members were found valid. Twenty-three Member Nations did not submit any credentials (Antigua and Barbuda, Azerbaijan, Bahamas, Belize, Bhutan, Cambodia, Comoros, Equatorial Guinea, Kyrgyz Republic, Latvia, Mali, Papua New Guinea, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, Sao Tome and Principe, Seychelles, Solomon Islands, Somalia, Tajikstan, Turmenistan, Vanuatu, Yugoslavia).

35. The credentials of the representatives of the United Nations, its Specialized Agencies and related organizations were duly deposited as prescribed under Rule III-2 GRO.

Voting rights

36. The Conference noted that, in accordance with Article III-4 of the Constitution, at the beginning of the session 34 Member Nations had no right to vote in the Conference, since the amount of their arrears of contributions to the Organization exceeded the amount of the contribution due from them for the two preceding years. Nevertheless the Conference decided that all Member Nations in attendance be authorized to vote on Friday 20 October 1995 on Item 23 of the Agenda (Applications for Membership in the Organization).

37. Subsequently, five of these Member Nations (Cook Islands, Gabon, Guinea, Peru and Qatar) made payments sufficient to regain their voting rights.

38. The Conference also agreed that voting rights should be restored to 13 Member Nations (Afghanistan, Bolivia, Cambodia, Dominican Republic, Gambia, Grenada, Jamaica, Liberia, Niger, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Suriname and Yemen) that had proposed instalment plans.

39. The Conference also agreed that voting rights be restored to six Member Nations (Burundi, Chad, Guatemala, Guinea-Bissau, Iraq and Togo) which had advised the Organization that payments were being processed.

40. The following ten Member Nations (Antigua and Barbuda, Comoros, Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, Mali, Sao Tome and Principe, Seychelles, Solomon Islands, Somalia and Yugoslavia) had no right to vote in the Conference because of arrears in contributions.

E. Admission of observers

Observers from applicants for membership
Admission of observers from Belarus, the Russian federation and Ukraine

Observers from applicants for membership

41. The Director-General had provisionally invited the applicants for membership: Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan to be represented by observers until their admission to the Organization had been decided upon. The Conference approved the Director-General's action in regard to these countries.

Admission of observers from Belarus, the Russian federation and Ukraine

42. The Conference confirmed the invitations issued by the Director-General to the Governments of Belarus, Russian Federation and Ukraine to attend the session in an observer capacity.

F. Review of the state of food and agriculture

Statements by heads of delegations

43. The General Discussion was opened by the Director-General. The text of his statement is given in Appendix E. Following this 130 persons participated in the discussion; the Independent Chairman of the Council; Heads of Delegations, of which 94 were Ministers or Vice-Ministers; the Permanent Observer of the Holy See to FAO; and observers from three international non-governmental organizations which had consultative status with FAO. The written statements of seven Member Nations were inserted in the records. Many delegates reported on progress and experiences in their respective countries on economic restructuring and policy reforms. Delegates supported the Director-General's initiatives in reorganization, decentralization and the FAO Programme of Work in general, and specifically endorsed the initiative of the Director-General in organizing the World Food Summit.

44. Delegates expressed concern over the plight of the 800 million undernourished people worldwide and the fact that many countries, particularly in Africa, were facing worsening food security situations. They also expressed concern over the negative consequences for Low-Income Food-Deficit Countries (LIFDCs) of the tightening world cereal situation and rising cereal prices and appreciated the role FAO was playing in monitoring the situation.

45. Delegates placed the need to increase the level of food security at highest priority. They expressed concern about the declining assistance budgets and levels of food aid at a time when it was particularly needed, deplored the incidence of disasters, man-made and natural, pointed to the need for increased investment for food security, identified poverty as a root cause of food insecurity and emphasized the point that the solution to food insecurity must start at the national level.

46. In the context of food security, delegates focused on the means of achieving sustainable development through full integration of environmental concerns in Member Nations' and FAO's traditional activities, called for greater attention to responsible forest management and commended FAO on elaborating the Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries.

47. Many delegates alluded to progress in satisfying their obligations under the World Trade Organization (WTO) Agreements and indicated their desire for assistance from FAO to achieve their full and successful implementation.

48. Delegates expressed their sympathy and extended their condolences to the Government and people of Iraq and to the family of Minister for Agriculture Kahlid Abdul Monim Rashid, Head of the Iraqi Delegation, who had died on Friday evening, 20 October 1995.

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