127TH FAO COUNCIL, 22-27 NOVEMBER 2004: LOOKING

UNCLAS ROME 004186

SIPDIS


USDA FAS FOR MCHAMBLISS, LREICH, RHUGHES;
STATE FOR IO DAS MILLER, IO/EDA, OES/E, E, EB;
AID FOR EGAT, DCHA/OFDA, DCHA/FFP

FROM THE U.S. MISSION TO THE UN AGENCIES IN ROME

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: AORC EAGR EAID SENV KUNR KPAO FAO
SUBJECT: 127TH FAO COUNCIL, 22-27 NOVEMBER 2004: LOOKING
AHEAD

REF: (A) ROME 2436; (B) ROME 3841; (C) ROME 4106


1. (U) Summary: The upcoming FAO Council will provide
an opportunity principally for members to review the
world's food and agricultural situation, to track
progress in the activities of FAO and the World Food
Program (WFP),and to discuss FAO program, budget and
administrative issues. The weak financial health of the
organization is likely to be emphasized. A key USG
objective for the upcoming FAO Council will be to obtain
members' endorsement in principle -- and establishment in
practice -- of a mechanism to conduct an external
evaluation of the organization. The election for FAO
Director General in November 2005 will be much on
delegates' minds, although it features on the agenda only
as a narrow item regarding the April 2005 nomination
deadline. The U.S. Mission intends to organize a side
event highlighting science and technology to promote more
efficient use of water resources. End summary.

OVERVIEW


2. The 127th meeting of the FAO Council -- the
organization's 49-member executive body -- will be held
in Rome on 22-27 November. USDA Deputy Under Secretary
James Butler will head the US delegation. Below we
highlight items that will be of particular importance to
the USG.

EXTERNAL EVALUATION OF FAO


3. On 21 October, the US and Canada submitted to the
Secretariat a request that an item entitled

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"Comprehensive External Evaluation" be added to the
agenda for the Council. We have been working with other
permanent representatives in Rome on a draft concept
paper and draft Council resolution that were submitted to
the Secretariat shortly for translation and circulation
on 28 October. Details are forthcoming in septel.

WORLD FOOD AND AGRICULTURE SITUATION
(AGENDA ITEMS 3, 4, 5)


4. Delegations will have the opportunity to comment the
Secretariat's report on the State of Food and Agriculture

SIPDIS
(SOFA) 2004. The document for the Council covers trends
in food security (undernourishment, food emergencies,
food aid),the current agricultural situation
(production, cereal supply, price trends, trade,
fisheries, forestry),and resources to agriculture
(external assistance, capital stock). In addition, there
is an opportunity for delegates to comment on FAO's 2003-
4 SOFA report, published in mid 2004, and which this year
focused on agricultural biotechnology (ref A). The 2003-
04 SOFA report marks a departure from previous reports by
focusing on a single theme. The next two reports will
focus on international trade and food aid, respectively.
In our view, the new report format and the willingness to
tackle timely and potentially controversial issues are
welcome developments. We should speak favorably about
both the substance of the 2003-04 report and the new
direction for SOFA. The basis for substantive comments
on the report should be the review already conducted by
Washington agencies.


5. Committee on World Food Security (CFS): The Report
of the September 2004 CFS meeting will be considered.
The CFS reached consensus on the key issues (ref B),and
although these are not likely to be re-opened in Council,
they are worth highlighting here: (1) the creation of a
working group of experts to discuss options for improving
the World Food Summit (WFS) follow-up reporting format,
(2) the decision to hold a stakeholder dialogue at the
next CFS meeting (in May 2005) to prepare for a 2006
Special Forum to review WFS progress, and (3) progress in
the development of the International Alliance Against
Hunger. The CFS also will transmit to the Council the
finalized "Voluntary Guidelines to Support the
Progressive Realization of the Right to Adequate Food in
the Context of National Food Security." The U.S. joined
consensus on the Guidelines document, which we believe
constitutes a useful toolkit of policy measures and other
steps countries may consider as part of their efforts to
address national food insecurity, but we explained that
acceptance of the guidelines does not change the


longstanding USG position on the right of access to food.


6. The CFS is the only one of the large governing
committees of FAO -- i.e., those open to all interested
members -- that meets twice per biennium. Holding annual
meetings is costly and allows only limited time for
intersessional work. The US delegation will want to
explore with other delegates the idea of moving to
biennial CFS meetings. This could also be discussed as
an efficiency measure aimed at streamlining the cost
effectiveness of the organization and making more funding
available for work in the field. (Note: interpretation
costs, alone, for such meetings run somewhere in the
neighborhood of $10,000 a day.)


7. Committee on Agriculture (COAG): The Council will
consider the Report of the February 2004 COAG session,
concerning FAO's proposed follow-up to the work of the
Joint WHO/FAO Expert Consultation on Diet, Nutrition and
Chronic Diseases. At the February session, the US
delegation expressed support for a global effort to fight
non-communicable diseases attributable to poor diet and
lack of exercise. We welcomed FAO's follow up statement,
and suggested that its proposals be fine-tuned and
examined with an eye to efficacy in disease reduction,
cost-effectiveness, avoiding unintended side effects, and
fostering strong world food markets and economic
development. In its statements and in its role as chair
of the drafting committee, the USG served as a bridge
between some developed countries favoring a more activist
FAO approach to diet and health issues, and many
developing countries that were concerned about potential
economic and societal impacts, particularly for sugar
producers. The resulting COAG recommendations called for
continued FAO work with WHO on this area, but also
stressed that this work should not divert resources from
FAO's core mandate with regard to malnutrition. This
recommendation seems to have struck a balance among
member states, and we see no need to reopen the debate in
the Council.

ACTIVITIES OF FAO AND WFP
(AGENDA ITEMS 6, 7, 8)


8. WFP: The Council will elect six members to the WFP
Executive Board to fill seats to be vacated by Canada,
China, Germany, Eritrea, Haiti and Mauritania. As
previously agreed among "List D" countries, Canada and
Germany will be renominated by their group. Other groups
will nominate successors to their members whose terms are
expiring. Delegations also will have the opportunity to
discuss the Annual Report of the WFP Executive Board on
its Activities in 2003. The USG has strongly supported
closer coordination among the UN agencies in Rome, but we
do not believe the FAO Council is the appropriate and
cost-effective forum for detailed discussion of WFP's
activities. Wherever opportunity arises we should push
for reforms that will remove remaining vestiges of FAO's
operational oversight of WFP, such as in the Finance
Committee. Devoting meeting time, and often entire
Finance Committee sessions, to WFP budget issues (as done
twice over the past 15 months) is a large waste of
resources that could be better used accomplishing the
organization's primary objectives.


9. Food Safety Regulation: There will be reports on the
Second FAO/WHO Forum of Food Safety Regulators and on
progress of the Commission on Genetic Resources for Food
and Agriculture. The Council meeting would be an
appropriate time for the USG to signal its position on
continuation of the Food Safety Regulators Forum. To
date, FAO has been very supportive of the Forum and
international support for continuing the Forum appears to
be strong. If the forum is to continue, issues such as
its mandate and funding, the provision of secretariat
support by FAO, and the relationship with Codex and other
established bodies need to be addressed in an inclusive
and transparent process. We encourage Washington
agencies to consider whether the USG should participate
in future meetings of Food Safety Regulators and, if so,
how to ensure that the process has a proper home with
adequate oversight and control within FAO.


10. Genetic Resources: The report from the Commission
on Genetic Resources should address two key issues. The


first is the progress on implementation of the
International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food
and Agriculture (IT),including the development of the
Material Transfer Agreement (MTA). The meeting of the
Interim Committee for the IT will occur the week before
the Council. There should be progress to report on both
the implementation of the IT and the development of the
MTA. The second significant issue will be the
recommendations from the Commission on Genetic Resources
for further work on animal genetic resources. The
Commission will decide on those recommendations at its
meeting the week of November 8-12. There has been
support from some quarters for embarking on negotiations
for an international treaty on animal genetic resources
for food and agriculture. The USG view is that such a
treaty would be premature at this point.

PROGRAM, BUDGET, FINANCIAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE MATTERS
(AGENDA ITEMS 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)


11. Among the issues to be considered are:

-- Medium Term Plan 2006-2011: The MTP covering the next
three biennia envisions the following allocation of
resources to the five corporate strategies: (A) food
security and rural poverty - 21%, (B) regulatory
frameworks - 18%, (C) food supply and availability - 22%,
(D) conservation and sustainable use of natural resources
- 8%, and (E) knowledge and assessment - 31%. This
reflects minor increases in A and C, and slight decreases
in B and D, compared to the 2004-09 plan period. The MTP
includes a priority-setting effort linking changes in
resources for specific program entities to their relative
priority, where priority is assessed according to three
criteria: conformity to FAO's mandate, expressed priority
by members or governing bodies, and FAO's comparative
advantage. The MTP's assumptions of 2.2 percent per
annum real growth in resources will be problematical for
the US and other major contributors, as they deviate from
what we consider politically likely and reasonable, and
thus distort program planning over the medium term (see
ref C).

-- Report of the Finance Committee, including status of
contributions and arrears, budgetary performance,
methodology for equitable geographic distribution. The
organization's serious financial problems will likely be
an important area of discussion. These issues are
discussed in ref C;

-- Report of the Program Committee; and

-- Program Implementation Report 2002-2003.

DG ELECTION AND OTHER CONSTITUTIONAL/LEGAL MATTERS
(AGENDA ITEMS 14, 15)


12. The election of the Director General, to take place
at the FAO Conference in November 2005, will be on the
minds of many delegations and the subject of many
corridor conversations. This issue will only come up
formally at the upcoming Council when members approve the
proposed nomination deadline of 8 April 2005.


13. The report of the Committee on Constitutional and
Legal Matters includes discussion of a proposed change to
the rules of procedure for Codex Alimentarius regarding
NGO participation. Under this agenda item we may wish to
voice our disappointment with the slow pace for approving
applications for NGO status in FAO bodies. The
International Grain Trade Coalition, in which the U.S.-
based North American Export Grain Association is a
member, has been waiting for over two years for a
decision on its application for NGO status in Codex.

OTHER MATTERS
(AGENDA ITEMS 16, 17)


14. The Secretariat is presenting information documents
on various issues, which delegations may address under
"Any Other Matters" on the Agenda. Among the topics upon
which the US delegation might wish to comment are:

-- implementation of the International Code of Conduct on
the Distribution and Use of Pesticides;


-- entry into force of the Rotterdam Convention on the
Prior Informed Consent Procedure for Certain Hazardous
Chemicals and Pesticides;

-- the International Year of Rice;

-- the upcoming (March 2005) Ministerial Meetings on
Forests and Fisheries

Canada is slated to represent North America on the
Drafting Committee.

USG-SPONSORED EVENTS


15. US Mission is planning a side event, likely to take
place late on the afternoon of 23 November, on "Making
Use of Best Practices, Emerging Techniques and Technology
to Conserve Water Resources Needed for Agriculture."
This event will build on a side event on water management
done at the FAO Conference in December 2003. The program
will feature US, FAO, and developing-country experts who
will present practical examples in several areas, e.g.,
use of domestic wastewater for agricultural purposes,
reuse of irrigation return flows and runoff,
desalinization techniques, diminishing freshwater demands
through agricultural biotechnology, integrated water
resource management techniques, and eliminating
disincentives for water conservation.


16. The Ambassador intends to host a representational
event for key delegates on the eve of Thanksgiving.
Instead of the conventional canapes and cocktails, this
event would dramatize global inequalities in access to
food.

HALL


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2004ROME04186 - Classification: UNCLASSIFIED