IX. Resolution 797

THE CONFERENCE

A. Having considered the Director-General's Programme of Work and Budget:

1. Endorses the Programme of Work;

2. Approves a total net appropriation of US$ 650 000 000 for the financial period 1998-99;

(a) Appropriations are voted for the following purposes:

	US$
Chapter I - General Policy and Direction	50 359 000
Chapter II - Technical and Economic Programmes	292 906 000
Chapter III - Development Services to Member Nations	118 029 000
Chapter IV - Technical Cooperation Programme	89 447 000
Chapter V - Support Services	57 496 000
Chapter VI - Common Services	41 163 000
Chapter VII - Contingencies	600 000
Total Appropriation (Net)	650 000 000
Chapter VIII - Transfer to Tax Equalization Fund	91 780 000
Total Appropriations (Gross)	741 780 000

(b) The appropriations (gross) voted in paragraph (a) above, shall be financed by assessments on Member Nations, after deduction of Miscellaneous Income in the amount of US$ 11 700 000, thus resulting in assessments against Member Nations of US$ 730 080 000.

(c) In establishing the actual amounts of contributions to be paid by individual Member Nations, the assessment of each Member Nation shall be reduced by any amount standing to its credit in the Tax Equalization Fund provided that the credit of a Member Nation that levies taxes on the salaries, emoluments and indemnities received from FAO by staff members shall be reduced by the estimated amounts of such taxes to be reimbursed to the staff member by FAO. An estimate of US$ 2 500 000 has been withheld for this purpose.

(d) The contributions due from Member Nations in 1998 and 1999 shall be paid in accordance with the scale adopted by the Conference at its Twenty-ninth Session, which contributions, after the deduction of amounts standing to the credit of Member Nations in the Tax Equalization Fund, result in net amounts payable totalling US$ 640 800 000 as set out in Appendix E to this Report.

B. Noting that the Programme of Work and Budget has been approved with zero nominal growth;

Noting further that this budget implies the redeployment or separation of staff members:

1. Authorizes the Director-General to spend up to US$ 12 million for the purposes of meeting redeployment and separation costs over and above the net budgetary appropriations approved above notwithstanding the provisions of Financial Regulation 4.1(a);

2. Invites Members to also contribute voluntarily additional funds for this purpose;

3. Urges all Member Nations to pay their contributions promptly so as to reduce the burden on the accumulated deficit.

(Adopted on 14 November 1997)

B. Constitutional and administrative matters

Amendments to the basic texts of the organization

a) Amendments to Rule XXXIII GRO (committee on World Food security)

116. The Conference endorsed the recommendation of the Council, at its Hundred and Twelfth Session, (Rome, 2-7 June, 1997), that the mandate of the Committee on World Food Security (CFS) be amended. In this regard, the Conference noted 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 Action Plan, and that this should be reflected in the mandate of the CFS, as set out in Rule XXXIII of the General Rules of the Organization. The Conference further noted that amendments to the mandate of the CFS were required to reflect new responsibilities falling upon FAO as a result of the abolition of the World Food Council by the UN General Assembly, to reflect changes in institutional organizations 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.

117. Consequently, the Conference adopted the following Resolution:

Contents -