Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
03ROME3111
2003-07-09 05:18:00
UNCLASSIFIED
Embassy Rome
Cable title:  

REPORT OF 124TH FAO COUNCIL

Tags:  AORC EAGR KUNR FAO 
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UNCLAS ROME 003111 

SIPDIS


USDA FOR FAS/LYNN REICH AND DICK HUGHES
USDA/APHIS FOR JOHN GREIFER
USDA/FSIS FOR ED SCARBROUGH
STATE FOR IO/EDA SETH WINNICK AND IO/S GEORGE ABRAHAMS
USAID FOR RALPH CUMMINGS
PARIS FOR UNESCO
MONTREAL FOR ICAO

FROM FODAG

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: AORC EAGR KUNR FAO
SUBJECT: REPORT OF 124TH FAO COUNCIL

Ref: a) Rome 02589, b) Rome 01658, c) Rome 02546

UNCLAS ROME 003111

SIPDIS


USDA FOR FAS/LYNN REICH AND DICK HUGHES
USDA/APHIS FOR JOHN GREIFER
USDA/FSIS FOR ED SCARBROUGH
STATE FOR IO/EDA SETH WINNICK AND IO/S GEORGE ABRAHAMS
USAID FOR RALPH CUMMINGS
PARIS FOR UNESCO
MONTREAL FOR ICAO

FROM FODAG

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: AORC EAGR KUNR FAO
SUBJECT: REPORT OF 124TH FAO COUNCIL

Ref: a) Rome 02589, b) Rome 01658, c) Rome 02546


1. Summary: The 124th Session of the UN Food and
Agriculture Organization (FAO) Council met June 23-28 in
Rome. In a successful outcome to a four-year campaign by
assorted OECD members, the Council agreed to transmit to
the 32nd FAO Conference an amendment to the FAO Basic
Texts to introduce a two-term, 10-year limit for the FAO
Director General (DG) position. The G-77 (particularly
African members) pushed hard to have Council explicitly
acknowledge the DG's eligibility to run again at the next
elections; after prolonged negotiations, USDel succeeded
in ensuring that the Council decision is silent
concerning the incumbent. The Council also endorsed a
U.S. agenda item and proposal on improving reporting on
World Food Summit follow-up. As expected, the Council
did not take a final position on the 2004-2005 budget
level, but did acknowledge the need for the Secretariat
to prepare a zero nominal growth (ZNG) budget scenario.
Although the DG may still choose not to prepare such a
scenario, this is an important step for the U.S. and
other ZNG supporters. Citing budget woes at home, the
Japanese delegation requested a "less than ZNG scenario"
and argued (unsuccessfully) for the Council to consider
its proposal to increase Asian participation in the FAO
Finance and Program Committees. The Japanese delegation
told USDel that their government was re-examining Japan's
continued participation in FAO. End summary.


2. The 124th session of the FAO Council met June 23-28,
2003 in Rome. USDA Deputy Undersecretary Jim Butler
headed the U.S. delegation, with Ambassador Tony P. Hall
serving as Alternate. The Independent Chair of Council,
Ambassador Aziz Mekouar (Morocco) chaired the session.
The United States represented North America in the
drafting committee.


3. Agenda item 1, Adoption of the Agenda.
--------------
The Council agreed to add new agenda items on "Reporting
on World Food Summit Follow-up" (U.S. proposal) and
"Composition of the Program and Finance Committees"
(Japanese proposal).



4. Agenda Item 3, Summary Program of Work and Budget
-------------- --------------
As expected, the Council did not take a final position on
the budget level for the Summary Program of Work and
Budget (SPWB) 2004-2005. The United States, Australia
and Canada requested a ZNG scenario; the G-77 (with some
exceptions, notably Malaysia, which joined in requesting
a ZNG scenario) for the most part spoke in support of the
DG's real growth (RG) proposal. The EU requested the
Secretariat to consider a scenario somewhere between ZNG

SIPDIS
and ZRG which covered exchange rate losses, but which
absorbed cost increases and a first tranche of funding
for after-service medical liabilities. Other OECD
members also stressed the importance of addressing
unfunded after-service medical liabilities, albeit
without offering specific solutions. Japan stated that
it would only be able to support a budget which saw a
"decline in Japan's assessment" and requested that a
"less-than-ZNG scenario" be prepared.


5. During Drafting Committee discussion of the SPWB, RG
supporters strongly objected to including a request for a
ZNG scenario. After extensive negotiations between
supporters of ZNG, ZRG and RG, members finally agreed
that the Council would "acknowledged the need for the
Secretariat to prepare a ZNG scenario in order for

SIPDIS
members to fully understand the implications of a
possible budget decisions." Comment: Budget Director
Tony Wade refused to comment on whether the Secretariat
would indeed prepare a ZNG budget based on the Report
language, indicating that the decision would be taken by
the DG. Nonetheless, ZNG supporters considered the
language an important first step towards that end. End

Comment.


6. Concerning priorities for the 2004-2005 budget, the
Council agreed that the International Plant Protection
Convention (IPPC) "should be funded to the level of the
biennial business plan, and that FAO should provide its
share of the additional resources required for the
accepted recommendations of the Joint FAO/WHO evaluation
of the Codex Alimentarius Commission to be implemented in
the full." The report also notes that, as agreed at the
FAO Program Committee (reftel A),the proposed funding
for a "Food Chain Approach" which actually related to the
failed FAO proposal of the same name (reftel B) would be
reallocated to Codex activities.


7. Agenda Item 4, Report of the Committee on Commodity
Problems
-------------- --------------
Reflecting the U.S. position taken during the Committee
on Commodity Problems (CCP),the Council endorsed the
report of the 64th Session of the CCP "recalling that one
member had disassociated from the consensus adoption of
the Report and had maintained that position."


8. Agenda Items 5 and 3, Committees on Forestry and
Fisheries
-------------- --------------
The Council endorsed the reports of the Committees on
Forestry and Fisheries.


9. Agenda Item 6, Report of the Committee on Agriculture
-------------- --------------
The Council endorsed the Report of the Committee on
Agriculture (COAG) and welcomed the announcement that the
DG would convene a special session of COAG in early 2004
to review the Report of the Joint WHO/FAO Expert
Consultation on Diet, Nutrition and the Prevention of
Chronic Disease. The Council noted the concerns of some
members that the recommendations could result in changes
in demand with adverse impacts on small producers and the
agricultural economies of developing countries. Under
the Report of COAG and the Report of the Committee on
Commodity Problems, members also supported having the
Secretariat propose ways to reduce the total number of

SIPDIS
days allotted to the two meetings, possibly by holding
them jointly or back to back. A proposal along these
lines will be sent to the next Council session.


10. Agenda Item 7, Report of the Committee on World Food
Security
-------------- --------------
Ambassador Tony P. Hall delivered the U.S. intervention
on the Report of the Committee on World Food Security
(CFS). The Council considered the proposal to improve the
reporting format for the World Food Summit (WFS) follow-
up on the basis of the request put forward by the United
States and supported by the EU. The Council endorsed the
proposal that the CFS Secretariat, in close collaboration
with the Bureau, should:

--analyze the difficulties and the underlying reasons in
the current reporting process;
-- examine ways of improving the existing reporting
system;
--identify a set of appropriate qualitative and
quantitative indicators based on experience with FIVIMS
and previous reporting mechanisms, including the impact
of HIV/AIDS on food security;
--supplement the report with case studies of successfully
country experiences from which lessons learned could be
extracted. The reporting should be based on simplified
and improved methodology.


11. The Council recommended that the draft revised
format be developed in consultation with the CFS bureau
and submitted to the forthcoming session of the FAO
Council.


12. Agenda Item 8, Convening of the Second Global Forum
of Food Safety Regulators
-------------- --------------
The Council endorsed the proposal to hold a Second Global
Forum of Food Safety Regulators during the second half of
2004 on the main theme of "Building Effective Food Safety
Systems." The Government of Thailand offered to host the
Forum.


13. Agenda Item 9, Report of the World Food Program
-------------- --------------
Ambassador Tony P. Hall delivered the U.S. intervention
on the Report of the World Food Program. The Council
"reaffirmed its support for WFP's dual mandate to assist
the hungry poor in both emergency situations and in the
field of development and expressed its support for WFP's
innovative efforts to increase the level of resources
provided by non-traditional donors, particularly the
private sector."


14. Agenda Item 10, Preparations for the 32nd Session of
the FAO General Conference
-------------- --------------
The Minister of Agriculture and Trade of New Zealand will
chair the Conference. The Vice-Chairs are: Austria (name
not yet known) and Iran (FAO Ambassador Nouri-Naeeni).
Canada will represent North America on the Credentials
Committee. There will be three ministerial-level round
tables. The Secretariat will contact regional groups
concerning proposed themes and logistics. The deadline
for nominations for the Independent Chair of Council is
September 5; for election to Council, November 29 at
12:00.


15. Agenda Item 15, Report of the Finance Committee
-------------- --------------
The Council approved the proposed scale of assessments.
The Council took note of Argentina's request to have its
assessment be reduced along the lines of the reduction at
the UN, but took no action on the request. Concerning
the Split Currency Assessment Proposal, the Council took
note of the differing views presented (including U.S.
objections) and agreed that the matter would need to be
considered in greater depth at the upcoming Finance
Committee session.


16. Under the Finance Committee Sub-Item on "Methodology
for Determination of Equitable Geographic Distribution,"
the Council noted that the September 2003 Finance
Committee session would conduct a further analysis of the
options for the methodology prior to submitting a
recommendation to the Council at its next session. The
Report states the U.S. position as follows: "Another
member stated that practices to promote adequate
representation of under-represented countries would need
to be implemented before looking at any proposal to
change the system of equitable geographic distribution."


17. Agenda Item 16, the Number and Length of Term of the
Office of the Director General
-------------- --------------
As reported in Reftel C, documentation for this agenda
was still not available at the opening of Council. USDel
met numerous times during the week with the Friends of
the Chair, seeking to resolve the question of what would
be put before the Council for decision. At the outset,
the G-77 and the EU supported having the Council
"approve" a report of the Friends of the Chair (provided
by the Chair on June 20). The Chair's June 20 report
contained language concerning the incumbent's eligibility
to run again which was inconsistent with the Group's
decision to be "silent" on the question of transition
measures. (Comment: Other OECD members of the Friends
group -- Australia, New Zealand and Canada -- told USDel
privately that they could accept the language of the
report as a Council decision but were supportive duringTION 04 OF 05 ROME
003111

USDA FOR FAS/LYNN REICH AND DICK HUGHES
USDA/APHIS FOR JOHN GREIFER
USDA/FSIS FOR ED SCARBROUGH
STATE FOR IO/EDA SETH WINNICK AND IO/S GEORGE ABRAHAMS
USAID FOR RALPH CUMMINGS
PARIS FOR UNESCO
MONTREAL F
negotiations. End comment).


18. The Group finally agreed to put before Council:

-- A Council decision (CL/124/13) which "agreed to
transmit the proposed amendment to Article VII.1 of the
Constitution that "the DG should be appointed for a term
of six years, renewable only once for a further term of
four years," to the FAO Committee on Constitutional and
Legal Matters, at its 75th Session, in October 2003,
along with document CL/123/INF/22 before being submitted
to the 32nd Session of the Conference for adoption."

-- A Council information document (CL 124/INF/22)
containing the Report of the Friends of the Chair (with
improved language negotiated by USDel)


19. The Chair put the decision before the Council on
Thursday, June 27 after a brief introduction. In his
introductory reports, the Chair did not mention the
content of the Report of the Friends of the Chair, and
made no reference to the incumbent. Te decision was
adopted by acclamation with no coments from the floor.


20. The Report of the Frinds of the Chair, in its final
form, provided th view of the Legal Counsel that, in the
absence f transitional measures, the Conference "would
hve the authority to elect under the new system anyof
the nominated candidates." The rights of the ncumbent
are not specifically mentioned. The Reort also states
that the revision of Article VII1 would apply to the
election at the 33rd Sessio of Conference in 2005 and
govern the mandates o the Directors-General from 1
January 2006. (Commnt: the entry into force was already
agreed at te 123rd Council session which established the
madate of the Friends of the Chair Group. End commet).


21. Agenda Item 16.5, Japanese request on omposition of
Finance and Program Committees
-------------- --------------
Japan, supported by the Republic of Korea, circulaed two
proposals to amend FAO's Basic Texts concrning
membership of the Program and Finance Commttees in order
to increase Asian representation o the Committees. As
expected, the proposals wer strongly objected to by
other regions that saw threat to their presence on
these Committees. he Council agreed that the Asia
Regional Group culd continue to hold further
consultations with other regional groups to further
advance the issue The Council did not agree to place
the item onthe agenda for the next session (as the
Japaneserequested).


22. Agenda Item 18 - Appointment t the UN Joint Staff
Pension Committee
-------------- --------------
The Concil confirmed the appointment of Mr. Bruce
Bertn, Alternate Permanent Representative of the Unite
States as a member to the Staff Pension Committe for the
period ending 31 December 2004 to replace and complete
the term of office of Mr. Chris Rchard.

23. Comment: on Term Limits and Japanes participation
in FAO
-------------- --------------
Council endorsemet of Term Limits represents a
successful outcome to a four-year campaign by assorted
OECD members,albeit, with one more hurdle to pass (the
32nd FAO Conference) and without a prohibition on the
incumbent running again (as U.S. had originally sought).
However, in its final form, the Report of the Chair is
neutral on the question of the incumbent and the Council
Decision itself makes no mention of transitional
measures.


24. The Japanese delegation expressed disappointed to
USDel at the outcome of Council and commented that

Japan's continued participation in the FAO was being re-
examined in Tokyo. The Japanese Perm Rep noted in this
context that Japan had not yet paid its 2003 assessment.
We understand that the FAO Director General appears to be
seriously seeking to increase Japanese staffing at the
FAO (another perennial source of unhappiness for the
Japanese). Hall
NNNN
2003ROME03111 - Classification: UNCLASSIFIED