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IV. Procedure of the session

A. Election of the chairman and vice-chairmen of the conferences
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

A. Election of the chairman and vice-chairmen of the conferences

10. The Council nominated and the Conference elected Malik Abdul Majid (Pakistan) as Chairman of the Twenty-sixth Session of the Conference.

11. 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

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

C. Adoption of the agenda

13. 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 and vice-chairmen
Resolutions committee of the conference
Right of reply
Verbatim records
Verification of credentials
Voting rights

14. The Conference adopted the arrangements and timetable proposed by the Hundredth Session of the Council, as amended by the General Committee.

Establishment of commissions and appointment of their chairmen and vice-chairmen

15. 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.

16. In accordance with Rule VII-1 and Rule XXIV-5(b) of the General Rules of the Organization (GRO), the Hundredth Session of the Council had nominated the following Chairmen of the Commissions:

17. 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:

Resolutions committee of the conference

18. The Conference endorsed the recommendations of the Hundredth Session of the Council to establish a Resolutions Committee of seven members, one from each FAO region, and appointed the following:

19. The Conference agreed to the recommendation of the General Committee that the Resolutions Committee be chaired by the Representative of the Africa Region, Mr G. Lamptey (Ghana).

20. The Conference approved the functions of the Resolutions Committee and the criteria for the formulation of resolutions, as given in document C 91/12, Appendix D.

Right of reply

21. The Conference confirmed the decision taken at its twelve 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

22. 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

23. The credentials of delegations of 148 Member Nations were found valid. Twelve Member Nations did not send a delegation to the Conference.

24. The credentials of the new Associate Member of the Organization, Puerto Rico, were found in order.

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

Voting rights

26. The Conference noted that, in accordance with Article III-4 of the Constitution, at the beginning of the session 23 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 contributions due from them for the two preceding calendar years. Subsequently, nine of these Member Nations regularized their position. Eight other Member Nations provided information indicating that failure to pay was due to conditions beyond their control, and the Conference agreed that voting rights should be restored to these eight Member Nations (Chad, Dominican Republic, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Guatemala, Peru, Somalia and Uganda) for the duration of the Twenty-sixth Session of the Conference. For the remaining six Member Nations (Antigua and Barbuda, Belize, Cambodia, Sao Tome and Principe, Seychelles and Suriname), the Conference had no basis on which to restore their right to vote. The Conference also urged all Member Nations to pay their contributions and any arrears as soon as possible.

E. Admission of observers

Observers from applicants for membership
Observer from the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR)
Liberation movements
Intergovernmental and international non-governmental organizations

Observers from applicants for membership

27. The Director-General had provisionally invited the applicants for membership: Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, South Africa, and the applicant for Associate Membership: Puerto Rico, to be represented by observers until their admission to the Organization had been decided upon. The Conference noted that the question of according observer statue to South Africa no longer arose. The Conference approved the Director-General B action in regard to the other countries.

Observer from the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR)

28. The Conference confirmed the invitation sent by the Director-General to the Government of the USSR to attend the session in an observer capacity.

Liberation movements

29. The Conference approved the invitations, in conformity with the suggestion made by the Council at its Ninety-ninth Session, to the Palestine Liberation Organization and those African Liberation Movements (African National Congress of South Africa and Pan Africanist Congress of Azania) recognized by the OAU (Organization of African Unity) to attend the session as observers.

Intergovernmental and international non-governmental organizations

30. The Conference reviewed the list of Intergovernmental Organizations with which FAO did not have a formal agreement and International Non-Governmental Organizations which did not have consultative status with FAO, to which the Director-General had extended a provisional invitation to the Conference session, and confirmed the said provisional invitations.

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