Conscious of the continuing need to enhance the efficiency of the Organization and its governance in a time of financial challenge, to eliminate Statutory Bodies that are obsolete, to ensure more flexible task-oriented and time-bound working arrangements for those that remain and to limit the creation of new Bodies to those that are strictly necessary,

Recognising the importance of moving towards increased self-financing for Statutory Bodies that have regional focus, and of enhancing the responsiveness of those bodies to the needs of their Members:

1. Decides to abolish the Bodies listed in Annex A to this Resolution;

2. Recommends to the parent Bodies concerned that their Subsidiary Bodies listed in Annex B be abolished and calls on those parent Bodies to take the necessary action unless they consider, taking into account the financial and programme implications, that there are overriding reasons for retaining any such Bodies in existence and to report to the Council through the Programme and Finance Committees on the actions taken and, where appropriate, on the reasons for retaining any of the Subsidiary Bodies recommended for abolition;

3. Requests the Director-General to consult with the organizations listed in Annex C with a view to securing alternative arrangements for, or the abolition of, the joint Bodies listed in that Annex as deemed appropriate and authorises their abolition, as appropriate;

4. Recommends to the Codex Alimentarius Commission that it continue its review of the usefulness of its Subsidiary Bodies set out in Annex D;

5. Encourages regional commissions established under Article VI of the Constitution to seek more extra-budgetary resources to supplement the resources made available to them under the FAO Regular Programme Budget, taking into account the economic capacity of the regions concerned and of their Members;

6. Calls on the Contracting Parties to Conventions and Agreements establishing regional bodies under Article XIV of the Constitution to seek where appropriate, increasingly to provide such Bodies with their own financial resources, whether through cooperative programmes or other voluntary contributions, or through the establishment of autonomous budgets financed from mandatory contributions;

7. Decides that in future, Statutory Bodies should be established only where strictly necessary and where the work to be undertaken cannot be carried out by ad hoc groups, and that the Terms of Reference of all new Bodies created should provide for a periodic review of their usefulness;

8. Further decides that, to this end, the following factors should be taken into account in establishing new technical Bodies and in the establishment of new Subsidiary Bodies:

(a) Centrality to the FAO mandate and the Organization's current priorities as expressed by FAO Members and reflected in planning documents;

(b) Clarity of the definition of the task, which should normally be of limited duration;

(c) Positive impact of the Body's work at the level of FAO Members;

(d) FAO's comparative advantage, thereby avoiding overlap and creating synergy with the work of other Bodies;

(e) Proportion of the FAO Membership to which the work of the proposed body is of importance with due regard to the economic capacity of less-advantaged members, including least developed countries and small-island developing states;

(f) Willingness of their Members to contribute financially and through non-monetary inputs to the work of the Body, especially where the Body will serve a more limited number of countries, with due regard to the economic capacity of their less advantaged members and the availability of other financial support.

9. Requests all Statutory Bodies to examine how their Rules of Procedure and working methods could be streamlined to facilitate positive inter-action among participants at meetings, to promote a task-orientation and to strengthen the involvement of civil-society partners;

10.Further requests the Secretariat to prepare information notes to facilitate review by the Council, following discussion in the Programme and Finance Committees, of (a) possibilities for streamlining procedures and avoiding repetitious discussion in Bodies at various levels, taking full account of the experience of other international organizations; and (b) modalities for greater civil society involvement;

11.Decides that, in general, Executive Committees should cease to be listed as formal Statutory Bodies in the Directory of FAO Statutory Bodies, except for the Executive Committee of the Codex Alimentarius Commission.

(Adopted on 18 November 1997)

• Commission on Fertilizers (FERT)
• FAO Olive Production Committee (OP)
• FAO Fertilizer Industry Advisory Committee of Experts (FIAC)
• Panel of Experts on Improved Weed Management
• Panel of Experts on Agricultural Engineering
• FAO Statistics Advisory Committee of Experts (SAC)
• Consultative Group on Tropical Forests Action Programme
• FAO Advisory Committee on Forestry Education (ACFE)

• Committee on Forest Development in the Tropics (FDT)
• Commission on African Animal Trypanosomiasis
• Regional Commission on Farm Management for Asia and Far East
• Regional Commission on Food Security for Asia and Pacific
• Regional Fisheries Advisory Commission for South-West Atlantic (CARPAS)
• Near East Regional Economic & Social Policy Commission (ESPC/NE)

• Panel of Experts on Development Aspects of African Trypanosomiasis Control Programme
• Panel of Experts on Ecological/Technical Aspects of Programme for Control of African Animal Trypanosomiasis and Related Development

• Working Group of FAO Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (CGFRA)
  
• Sub-Group on Rice Grading and Standardization of the Committee on Commodity Problems (CCP:R)
  
• Sub-Group on Statistics of Inter-governmental Group on Oilseeds, Oils and Fats of the Committee on Commodity Problems (CCP:OF)
  
• Inter-governmental Group on Cocoa of the Committee on Commodity Problems (CCP:CC)
  
• Sub-Group on Cocoa Grading of the Committee on Commodity Problems (CCP:CC)
  
• Advisory Working Party on Hard Fibre Research of the Committee on Commodity Problems (CCP:HF)
  
• Sub-Group on Statistics of Inter-governmental Group on Bananas of the Committee on Commodity Problems (CCP:BA)
  
• Sub-Group of Exporters of Inter-governmental Group on Bananas of the Committee on Commodity Problems (CCP:BA)
  
• Steering Sub-Group of Inter-governmental Group on Citrus Fruit of the Committee on Commodity Problems (CCP:CI)
  
• Inter-governmental Group on Wine and Vine Products of the Committee on Commodity Problems (CCP:WI)
  
• Sub-Group of Exporters of Inter-governmental Group on Tea of the Committee on Commodity Problems (CCP:TE)
  
• Sub-Group on Promotion of Inter-governmental Group on Tea of the Committee on Commodity Problems (CCP:TE)
  
• Sub-Group on Statistics of Inter-governmental Group on Tea of the Committee on Commodity Problems (CCP:TE)
  
• Sub-Committee on Programmes to Assist Developing Coastal States in Managing and Developing Fisheries in their Economic Zones (COFI:EEZ)
  
• COFI Sub-Committee on Fishery Education and Training (FET)
  

• Ad Hoc Working Party on Fertilizer Statistics of the FAO/Fertilizer Industry Advisory Committee of Experts (FIAC)
  
• Sub-Committee of Ad Hoc Working Party on Fertilizer Statistics of the FAO/Fertilizer Industry Advisory Committee of Experts (FIAC)
  
• Ad Hoc Working Party on Fertilizer Marketing and Credit of the FAO/Fertilizer Industry Advisory Committee of Experts (FIAC)
  
• Technical Sub-Committee of of the FAO/Fertilizer Industry Advisory Committee of Experts
  
• Ad Hoc Working Party on Economics of Fertilizer Use of the FAO/Fertilizer Industry Advisory Committee of Experts (FIAC)
  
• Panel of Experts: Group on Registration Requirements of the Joint FAO/UNEP Panel of Experts on Pesticide Specifications, Registration Requirements, Application Standards and Prior Informed Consent (PIC)
  
• Panel of Experts: Group on Pesticides Specifications of the Joint FAO/UNEP Panel of Experts on Pesticide Specifications, Registration Requirements, Application Standards and Prior Informed Consent (PIC)
  
• Panel of Experts: Application Standards of the Joint FAO/UNEP Panel of Experts on Pesticide Specifications, Registration Requirements, Application Standards and Prior Informed Consent (PIC)
  

• Working Party on Aquaculture of Committee for Inland Fisheries of Africa (CIFA)
  
• Working Party on Stock Assessment of Committee for Inland Fisheries of Africa (CIFA)
  
• Working Party on Floodplain Fisheries of Committee for Inland Fisheries of Africa (CIFA)
  
• Sub-Committee for the Development and Management of Fisheries of Lake Victoria (CIFA)
  
• Working Party on Pollution and Fisheries of Committee for Inland Fisheries of Africa (CIFA)
  
• Sub-Committee for Protection and Development of Fisheries in the Sahelian Zone (CIFA)
  
• Working Party on Wildlife Management and National Parks of the African Forestry and Wildlife Commission (AFWC)
  
• Joint Working Party on Fish Technology and Marketing of the Asia-Pacific Fishery Commission (APFIC)
  
• Working Party on Aquaculture and Inland Fisheries of the Asia-Pacific Fishery Commission (APFIC)
  
• Working Party on Marine Fisheries of the Asia-Pacific Fishery Commission (APFIC)
  
• Joint Working Party Fishery Statistics and Economics of the Asia-Pacific Fishery Commission (APFIC)
  
• Working Party on Fishery Resources of the Commission for Inland Fisheries of Latin America (COPESCAL)
  
• Working Party on Fishery Technology of the Commission for Inland Fisheries for Latin America (COPESCAL)
  
• Working Party on Aquaculture of the Commission for Inland Fisheries for Latin America (COPESCAL)
  
• Committee on Forestry Research of the Latin American and Caribbean Forestry Commission (LACFC)
  
• Sub-Com I: Working Party on Introduction of Exotic Species into Europe of the European Inland Fisheries Advisory Commission (EIFAC)
  
• Sub-Com I: Working Party on Fishing Gear Selectivity of the European Inland Fisheries Advisory Commission (EIFAC)
  
• Sub-Com I: Working Party on Crayfish of the European Inland Fisheries Advisory Commission (EIFAC)
  
• Sub-Com I: Working Party on Eel of the European Inland Fisheries Advisory Commission (EIFAC)
  
• Sub-Com I: Working Party on Aging of Coarse Fish of the European Inland Fisheries Advisory Commission (EIFAC)
  
• Sub-Com I: Working Party on Stocking of the European Inland Fisheries Advisory Commission (EIFAC)
  
• Sub-Com I: Working Party on Fishery Resources of the European Inland Fisheries Advisory Commission (EIFAC)
  
• Sub-Com I: Working Party on Brackish Water Fisheries & Aquaculture of the European Inland Fisheries Advisory Commission (EIFAC)
  
• Sub-Com. II: Working Party on the Influence of Fisheries Management Practices on Environment of the European Fishery Advisory Commission (EIFAC)
  
• Sub-Com II: Working Party on Aquatic Resources Management in Aquaculture of the European Fishery Advisory Commission (EIFAC)
  
• Sub-Com II: Working Party on Fish Diseases & Withdrawal Period for Drugs of the European Fishery Advisory Commission (EIFAC)
  
• Sub-Com III: Working Party on the Prevention & Control of Bird Predation of the European Fishery Advisory Commission (EIFAC)
  
• Sub-Com III: Working Party on Fish-Farm Effluents of the European Fishery Advisory Commission (EIFAC)
  
• Sub-Com III: Working Party on Effects of Physical Modifications of Aquatic Habitat on Fish Population of the European Fishery Advisory Commission (EIFAC)
  
• Working Party on Management of Mountain Watersheds of the European Forestry Commission (EFC)
  
• Working Party on Fisheries Economics & Statistics of the General Fisheries Council for the Mediterranean (GFCM)
  
• Working Party on Artificial Reefs & Mariculture of the General Fisheries Council for the Mediterranean (GFCM)
  
• Working Party on Fisheries Statistics of the Regional Fisheries Advisory Commission for the Southwest Atlantic (CARPAS)
  
• Ad Hoc Working Party on Fishery Economic Development in South-West Atlantic of the Regional Fisheries Advisory Commission for the Southwest Atlantic (CARPAS)
  
• Working Party on Biological Research & Evaluation of Fisheries Resources of the Regional Fisheries Advisory Commission for the Southwest Atlantic (CARPAS)
  
• ACMRR/CARPAS Joint Working Party on Scientific Evaluation of State of Stocks in Southwest Atlantic
  
• Commission for Management of Indian Ocean Tuna of the Indian Ocean Fishery Commission (IOFC)
  
• Working Party on Assessment of Marine Fishery Resources of the Western Central Atlantic Fishery Commission (WECAF)
  
• Working Party on Fishery Economics & Planning of the Western Central Atlantic Fishery Commission (WECAF)
  
• Sub-Committee on Management of Resources within Limits of National Jurisdiction of the Fishery Committee for Eastern Central Atlantic (CECAF)
  
• Sub-Committee on Fishery Development of the Fishery Committee for Eastern Central Atlantic (CECAF)
  
• Working Party on Resources Evaluation of the Fishery Committee for Eastern Central Atlantic (CECAF)
  
• Working Party on Fishery Statistics of the Fishery Committee for Eastern Central Atlantic (CECAF)
  
• Research Group on the Standing Technical Committee of the European Commission for the Control of Foot-and-Mouth Disease (EUFMD)
  

• Joint ECE(UN)/Codex Alimentarius Group of Experts on Standardization of Quick Frozen Food
  
• Joint ECE(UN)/Codex Alimentarius Group of Experts on Standardization of Fruit Juices

• FAO/UNEP Panel of Experts on Integrated Pest Control
  
• Joint FAO/UNEP Panel of Experts on Animal Genetic Resources Conservation and Management
  
• FAO/IAEA Panel of Experts on Nuclear Techniques in Soil Fertility, Irrigation and Crop Production Studies
  
• FAO/IAEA Panel of Experts on the Radiation Preservation of Food
  
• FAO/IAEA Panel of Experts on the Use of Isotope and Irradiation in Entomology and Related Fields
  
• FAO/IAEA Panel of Experts on Application of Mutations and Tracers in Modern Genetics for Plant Breeding
  
• FAO/IAEA Panel of Experts on the Application of Nuclear Techniques in Animal Science
  
• FAO/IAEA Panel of Experts on Isotope-aided Studies of Agrochemicals and Residues
  
• FAO/Unesco/ILO Joint Advisory Committee on Agricultural Education, Science and Training
  
• Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Nutrition (FAO/WHO/NU)
  
• IMO/FAO/Unesco - IOC/WMO/WHO/UN/UNEP Joint Group of Experts on Scientific Aspects of Marine Environment Protection (GESAMP) - (Note: as this is an inter-agency consultative body it is to be delisted as a statutory entity not discontinued.)
  
• Working Group on Impacts of Coastal Aquaculture (GESAMP)
  
• Task Force on Integrated Coastal Area Development (GESAMP)
  

• Joint FAO/WHO/OAU Regional Food and Nutrition Commission for Africa (FAO/WHO/FNAC)
  
• FAO/ECE Working Party on Economics of the Agri-Food Sector & Farm Management (ECA)
  
• FAO/ECE Working Party on Relations Between Agriculture & Environment (ECA)
  
• FAO/ECE/CES Study Group on Food and Agricultural Statistics in Europe

• Codex Committee on Cocoa Products and Chocolate
• Codex Committee on Sugars
• Codex Committee on Processed Fruit and Vegetables
• Codex Committee on Meat Hygiene
• Codex Committee on Processed Meat and Poultry Products
• Codex Committee on Edible Ices
• Codex Committee on Soups and Broths
• Codex Committee on Cereals, Pulses and Legumes
• Codex Committee on Vegetables Proteins