Tuesday, 12 December

JOINT MEETING OF THE THIRTY-FIRST SESSION OF THE INTERGOVERNMENTAL GROUP ON HARD FIBRES AND THE THIRTY-THIRD SESSION OF THE INTERGOVERNMENTAL GROUP ON JUTE, KENAF AND ALLIED FIBRES

CONSULTATION ON NATURAL FIBRES

JOINT MEETING OF THE THIRTY-FIRST SESSION OF THE INTERGOVERNMENTAL GROUP ON HARD FIBRES AND THE THIRTY-THIRD SESSION OF THE INTERGOVERNMENTAL GROUP ON JUTE, KENAF AND ALLIED FIBRES

AGENDA NOTES

The Joint Meeting of the Intergovernmental Group on Hard Fibres (Thirty-first Session) and of the Intergovernmental Group on Jute, Kenaf And Allied Fibres (Thirty-third Session) will be held at FAO Headquarters in Rome on Tuesday, 12 December 2000, opening at 14.00 hours.

The Committee on Commodity Problems (CCP), at its Sixty-second Session in January 1999, endorsed the convening of joint meetings of related IGGs, and a joint meeting of these two Groups was subsequently provided for in the Director-General's Programme of Work and Budget for 2000/2001. The CCP also requested that efforts be made to organize on a trial basis one or more ad hoc conferences dealing with related commodities. This will be the second occasion on which these two Intergovernmental Groups meet on a joint basis, but will be the first time that a Consultation on Natural Fibres will be held in conjunction with the formal IGG Sessions. This will allow additional time to be spent on issues facing individual fibres, as well as addressing issues common to more than one fibre, such as the development of new uses for fibres, inter fibre competition and the food security implications of production and trade of some natural fibres.

I. ORGANIZATIONAL MATTERS

A. ELECTION OF CHAIRPERSON AND VICE-CHAIRPERSONS

The Meeting will elect a Chairperson and two Vice-Chairpersons. The Joint Meeting of the Thirtieth Session of the IGG on Hard Fibres and the Thirty-second Session of the IGG on Jute, Kenaf and Allied Fibres in 1998 elected Mr J. Schraven (Germany) as Chairperson, Mr K.S. Mukuna (Kenya) as First Vice-Chairperson and Mr B. Dutt (India) as Second Vice-Chairperson.

B. ADOPTION OF PROVISIONAL AGENDA

C. REPORTING PROCEDURES

The CCP, at its 62nd Session, decided that, "on a trial basis and for selected IGGs to be determined in consultation with their Chairpersons, the final report of the session recording recommendations and major conclusions will be prepared by the Secretariat or a Rapporteur and despatched to participants within two weeks. The Secretariat should report on the results of this trial to the 63rd Session of the CCP."

Following consultations with the Bureau, it is proposed that this procedure be adopted for the Joint Meeting. The Secretariat would draft a record of the major conclusions of the Meeting on the basis of the Chairperson's concluding comments for each item discussed. The draft report would be considered by the Chairperson and the two vice-Chairpersons prior to despatch to participants.

D. SUSPENSION OF FORMAL PROCEEDINGS

A suspension of formal proceedings will permit the Consultation on Natural Fibres to take place. Formal proceedings will subsequently be resumed for the continuation of the Joint Meeting.

II. ECONOMIC AND POLICY ISSUES AND INTERGOVERNMENTAL ACTIONS ON HARD FIBRES AND JUTE

A. INFORMAL PRICE ARRANGEMENTS FOR SISAL, ABACA, JUTE AND KENAF

In the light of the consideration of market prospects which will have been broadly covered in the course of the preceeding conference, the Meeting may wish to recommend appropriate indicative prices for East African and Brazilian sisal, sisal baler twine, abaca fibre, Bangladesh jute and Thai kenaf. The afternoon of 12 December has been kept free for informal discussions on issues of concern by the jute, kenaf, coir and abaca producing countries.

The Joint Meeting of the Thirtieth Session of the Intergovernmental Group on Hard Fibres and the Thirty-second Session of the Intergovernmental Group on Jute, Kenaf and Allied Fibres in December 1998 made the following recommendations:

1. The indicative price for Brazilian No. 3 fibre should remain at US$630 per tonne c.i.f. European ports;
   
   
2. The indicative price for East African UG fibre should remain at US$860 per tonne, c.i.f. European ports;
   
   
3. The indicative price for sisal and henequen baler twine should remain at US$20 per 18 kg bale of regular runnage c.i.f. United States and western Europe duty paid, where applicable, if terms were cash against documents.
   
   
4. The indicative range of the indicator price of abaca, namely the average of S2, G and JK hand cleaned non Davao grades, should remain at US$128 to US$185 per bale of 125 kg fob Manila port;
   
   
5. The indicative price for Bangladesh jute should remain at US$450 + US$30 per metric tonne sight, for BWD grade fibre fob Chittagong/Chalna;
   
   
6. No indicative price should be set for Thai kenaf.

B. FUTURE INTERNATIONAL CO-OPERATION ON JUTE

The International Jute Organisation (IJO) went into liquidation on 12 April 2000. A meeting of a Working Group, comprising past members of the IJO, was held in June 2000 to discuss possible future international co-operation. The decisions of the Working Group are produced in the document, CCP: HF00/2-JU00/2. Under this agenda item, the Meeting may wish to make its own recommendations regarding future international co-operation on jute.

C. COMMODITY DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITIES: COMMON FUND FOR COMMODITIES (CFC) PROJECTS ON HARD FIBRES

The IGG on Hard Fibres is a designated International Commodity Body (ICB) under the rules of the Common Fund for Commodities, and in this role, it has promoted projects on sisal, abaca and coir. The IGG on Jute, Kenaf and Allied Fibres does not have a similar responsibility. The Secretariat will present a document (CCP: HF 00/3-JU 00/3) which details recent progress on hard fibres projects, and on the status of projects proposed for financing. Further action on these projects may be considered as well as the formulation and promotion of potential new projects.

The Meeting may wish to review any additional project profiles on hard fibres submitted for its consideration. Such proposals should reach the Secretariat before the end of October 2000.

D. REPORTS ON SUBSIDIARY ACTIVITIES

1. Report of the Informal Consultation on Fibres, Poznan, Poland, 15-16 December 1999

Following the recommendation of the Twenty-ninth Session of the IGG on Hard Fibres and the success of the First and Second Informal Consultations on Hard Fibres, a consultation on fibres, covering jute, hard fibres and other natural fibres was held in Poznan, Poland (15 - 16 November 1999). The report of the Consultation will be provided as document CCP: HF 00/4-JU 00/4. The Meeting may wish to assess the value of informal intersessional meetings and to make recommendations on future activities.

2. Report of the Twelfth Session of the Sub-Group of Sisal and Henequen Producing Countries.

The Sub-Group is scheduled to meet on 12 December, and its report will be presented to the Joint Meeting as CCP: HF 00/5-JU 00/5.

III. WORK PROGRAMME, MANDATE AND OPERATIONAL PROCEDURES

A. REVIEW BY THE CCP OF THE MANDATE AND OPERATIONAL PROCEDURES OF THE IGGS

The Sixty-second Session of the Committee on Commodity Problems, in January 1999, made a number of recommendations aimed at further improving the performance and relevance of the IGGs, and document CCP: HF 00/6-JU 00/6 contains an extract of the relevant paragraphs of the report of the CCP. The Meeting may wish to have its views on its mandate and procedures communicated to the CCP which is to consider further the mandate and operations of the IGGs when it meets again in January 2001.

Delegates may recall that the Intergovernmental Group on Hard Fibres, at its 29^th Session in 1996, recommended that amendments be made to its Rules of Procedure to facilitate decision making in the period between its formal Sessions. These amendments were subsequently endorsed by the 61^st Session of the CCP, and the revised Rules of Procedure, together with the Terms of Reference of the Group, will be distributed as information document CCP: HF 00/7-JU 00/7.