This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

UNCLAS  ROME 005655 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
FROM THE U.S. MISSION TO THE UN AGENCIES IN ROME 
 
USDA FAS FOR U/S PENN, JBUTLER, MCHAMBLISS, LREICH 
STATE FOR IO A/S HOLMES, IO/EDA, OES/O, OES/E, E, EB; 
AID FOR EGAT, DCHA/OFDA, DCHA/FFP 
PASS USTR AND PEACE CORPS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: EAGR AORC ETRD EFIS SENV EAID FAO WFP
SUBJECT: REPORT OF THE 32ND FAO CONFERENCE, INCLUDING THE 
CONTIGUOUS 125TH AND 126TH FAO COUNCIL SESSIONS 
 
REF: (A) ROME 4556,    (B) ROME 4833,    (C) ROME 4879, 
 
     (D) ROME 5176,    (E) ROME 5195,    (F) ROME 5507, 
     (G) STATE 324909, (H) STATE 325961, (I) 01 ROME 5954 
 
------- 
Summary 
------- 
 
¶1.  At the November 26 - December 11 meetings of the FAO 
Conference and FAO Council, member governments debated 
international anti-hunger, food policy and agricultural 
trade issues and agreed on a budget and important 
institutional reforms. 
 
¶2.  In his statement on the State of Food and 
Agriculture, USDA Under Secretary J. B. Penn, who led the 
US delegation, highlighted the contributions to food 
security of new technologies to increase agricultural 
productivity, appropriate national policies and 
infrastructure, and trade liberalization.  In addition, 
U/S Penn participated in a ministerial roundtable on 
agricultural trade policy developments after Cancun.  He 
also presided at a USG-sponsored side-event on Using 
Science and Technology to Improve Water Management in 
Africa, and a meeting with Ambassador Hall and Latin 
American ambassadors on school feeding programs. 
 
¶3.  Among its substantive accomplishments, the Conference 
endorsed an improved reporting mechanism to track 
countries' efforts to meet World Food Summit (WFS) goals. 
It approved a resolution calling for intensified efforts 
against illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing 
and approved a cooperation agreement between FAO and the 
International Organization of Epizootics. 
 
¶4.  The Conference reached consensus on several critical 
institutional questions.  Member governments decided to 
limit the term of FAO directors general to six years, 
renewable once for an additional four years.  They 
approved a program of work and budget totaling 
$749 million for the 2004-5 biennium--representing a 
substantial nominal increase in dollar terms over the 
$650 million budget of the previous biennium, but falling 
$51 million short of the amount identified by FAO as 
needed to cover lost purchasing power due to inflation 
and exchange rate fluctuations.  To help protect the 
organization against the latter, members adopted a "split 
assessment" mechanism that henceforth assesses 
contributions partly in dollars and partly in euros. 
 
¶5.  Members adopted a new methodology for equitable 
geographic distribution of professional staff--modeled 
after the UN system--that will maintain pressure on FAO 
to hire more Americans.  They also agreed to enlargement 
of the Finance Committee to eleven members, thereby 
assuring a seat for the number-two donor, Japan.  The US 
was re-elected to the Executive Board of the World Food 
Program (WFP) and to the FAO Finance Committee.  The 
principled but flexible USG stance at the Conference 
generated goodwill, and will make it easier to exercise 
leadership within the FAO.  We have already made headway 
in gaining support for an independent external evaluation 
of the organization to identify its areas of strength and 
comparative advantage.  End summary. 
 
-------- 
Overview 
-------- 
 
¶6.  The 32nd ministerial-level meeting of member 
governments of the UN Food and Agriculture Agency (FAO) 
was held in Rome from 29 November to 9 December 2003. 
This marathon gathering, known as the FAO Conference, 
sets the organization's budget and policy direction for 
the coming biennium (2004-5).  The Conference stretched 
over nine working days.  Up to three sessions ran 
concurrently, in addition to various committees, working 
groups, roundtables and side events.  A 3-day preparatory 
meeting of the organization's 49-member executive body, 
the FAO Council, preceded the Conference.  An additional 
Council meeting was held afterwards on December 11, 
principally to elect new members and officers of the 
Finance and Program Committees.  The US was represented 
by officials from USDA, State and the US Mission; the 
full delegation list is given in ref I.  This cable 
covers highlights of the FAO meetings that were of 
 
 
particular relevance and interest to the US.  The full 
set of meeting documents is available from the Council 
and Conference links on FAO's home page, www.fao.org. 
 
           ----------------------------------- 
           FOOD AND AGRICULTURAL POLICY ISSUES 
           ----------------------------------- 
 
-------------------- 
U/S Penn's Statement 
-------------------- 
 
¶7.  In his Conference plenary remarks, U/S Penn noted 
mixed progress towards achieving the WFS goal of halving 
the number of hungry people by the year 2015.  He 
stressed that one of the most effective ways to reduce 
global hunger is raising agricultural productivity 
through science and technology.  Countries must be 
willing to accept sound scientific principles, and 
technologies must be assessed objectively for benefits 
and risks based on science -- not on fear, rumor or 
politics.  Penn noted that countries must have the 
appropriate policies and infrastructure to succeed. 
Sustained growth is correlated with open markets and open 
economies.  He stated that international trade can and 
must play a central role in addressing the world's food 
security needs, reiterating the USG commitment to 
achieving an international agreement toward liberalizing 
agricultural trade. 
 
¶8.  U/S Penn underscored the USG commitment to combat 
hunger and poverty.  He made special mention of US 
development aid and humanitarian relief in Afghanistan 
and Iraq, thanking FAO for its help in reconstructing of 
agricultural and water infrastructure and enhancing food 
security in those countries.  Penn stated that FAO's 
leadership could play a pivotal role in feeding the 
world, but to achieve real progress the organization must 
have a clear vision that enables it to prioritize its 
efforts and take advantage of synergies with other 
organizations.  Such partnerships will make scarce 
resources go further, particularly in helping countries 
make the transition from emergency to rehabilitation. 
Penn called on FAO to show leadership in operating an 
efficient and effective organization, ensuring equitable 
geographic representation in recruitment of professional 
staff and hiring well-qualified field personnel. 
 
--------------------------- 
Ambassador Hall's Statement 
--------------------------- 
 
¶9.   Earlier, during the 125th Council discussion on 
World Food Summit follow-up, Ambassador Hall highlighted 
the need to improve monitoring of progress in national 
implementation of the WFS Plan of Action.  Drawing on his 
travels to food-insecure areas around the globe, he 
commented on FAO's work in the field.  He praised the 
efforts of the FAO representative in DR Congo, 
contrasting this with poor performance by the FAO 
representation in Ethiopia.  The Ambassador lamented the 
lack of a rigorous performance evaluation mechanism for 
FAO field representatives whereby accomplishments are 
duly recognized and underperformance is swiftly 
addressed.  He stressed the need for FAO to cooperate 
closely with other agencies such as WFP and the 
International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). 
He provided examples of how food aid can complement and 
serve as a catalyst for sustainable agricultural 
development, easing the transition from external famine 
relief to the rehabilitation of domestic agriculture. 
 
¶10.  Ambassador Hall reiterated the importance the US and 
G-8 attach to food security, along with famine prevention 
and response.  He made note of recent US congressional 
approval of a flexible approach to famine and an 
additional $220 million to this end.  The Ambassador also 
called attention to a recent study by the Netherlands 
government of its extrabudgetary cooperation program with 
FAO (ref E).  He underscored the USG interest in joining 
with other member states in a discussion of the lessons 
learned from and the broader implications of the Dutch 
report.  He concluded that the challenge before member 
states is to take a clearer look at the mandate, capacity 
and strengths of FAO. 
 
 
-------------------------------------------- 
Agricultural Trade Negotiations After Cancun 
-------------------------------------------- 
 
¶11.  The FAO Conference was the first major international 
gathering of agriculture ministers since the WTO meeting 
in Cancun.  Agricultural trade issues therefore featured 
prominently in the ministerial segment of the Rome 
meeting--in plenary statements by delegation heads, in a 
ministerial roundtable, and in plurilateral and bilateral 
side-meetings.  In his remarks to the Conference plenary, 
U/S Penn expressed USG disappointment with the outcome of 
the WTO ministerial in Cancun.  He stressed the need to 
continue to work together in good faith to make progress, 
calling for commitment, hard work and flexibility on the 
part of WTO members. 
 
¶12.  Fifty-nine heads of delegation participated in the 
December 2 Roundtable on "Developments in the WTO 
Negotiation on Agriculture and Implications for Food 
Security -- including the Work of FAO."  The key 
conclusions of the discussion were compiled by the 
Italian and Chilean agriculture ministers (who served as 
co-chairs) and were reported back to the Conference. 
There was general disappointment with the failure to 
achieve concrete results in Cancun.  Several delegations 
said Chairman Derbez's text could be the basis for 
resumed negotiations.  Delegations underscored the 
commitment made at WFS to strive to ensure that food, 
agricultural trade and general trade policies are 
conducive to fostering food security through a fair, 
market-oriented trade system.  Participants reaffirmed 
their commitment to the Doha Development Agenda mandate 
in agriculture regarding market access, export subsidies, 
and trade-distorting domestic support. 
 
¶13.  Many roundtable participants stressed the crucial 
role of open and fair trade for food security, but felt 
that trade alone is not sufficient to guarantee it. 
Delegations expressed the need to maintain the 
multilateral nature of trade agreements, and some 
mentioned the risks of resorting to bilateralism.  All 
participants stressed the need for flexibility in the 
ongoing negotiations.  Some indicated the need to balance 
market access with the need to maintain a viable 
agricultural sector.  Some called on developed countries 
to grant tariff and quota-free access to the products of 
least-developed countries.  Several asked that the 
negotiations pay attention to market distortions for 
products of special interest, such as cotton.  Some 
stressed the importance of non-trade concerns and the 
multifunctional role of agriculture.  All delegations 
expressed appreciation for FAO's trade-related activities- 
-information, policy advice, impact analysis of various 
policies--and called for strengthened support for 
capacity building to enable developing countries to 
participate more effectively in the multilateral trading 
system. 
 
¶14.  WTO and trade issues were also the principal topic 
of discussion at two plurilateral events hosted by New 
Zealand and Canada, respectively, and a series of 
bilateral meetings U/S Penn held with counterparts from 
Australia, the European Commission, Germany, Italy (see 
ref F), Japan, Netherlands, South Korea, and Thailand. 
 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
US Event on Agricultural Science and Technology 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
 
¶15.  The USG sponsored a side event on December 2 on 
"Using Science and Technology to Improve Water Management 
in Africa."  This was a follow-up to USDA Secretary 
Veneman's June 2003 Ministerial Conference and Expo on 
Agricultural Science and Technology.  In addition, it 
dovetailed with the FAO focus on water as a critical 
resource for agricultural development.  The presentation 
at the FAO Conference reviewed the challenges faced in 
Africa to increase access to water for agricultural 
needs.  It considered lessons learned from specific 
projects and highlighted successful water management 
practices and technologies applicable to the region. The 
event was opened by U/S Penn and introduced by FAO 
Assistant Director General for Agriculture Louise Fresco. 
Namibia's Minister for Agriculture, Water and Rural 
Development, Helmut Angula, described his country's 
 
 
experiences.  For a private-sector perspective, the 
General Manager of Valley Irrigation of Southern Africa 
(Pty) Ltd. provided a case study from Botswana.  FAO's 
Director of Land and Water Development reviewed his 
agency's involvement.  The event was attended by several 
African cabinet ministers and attracted a sizeable 
audience of Conference delegates and FAO professionals. 
 
--------------------------------------------- 
Other Highlights, Roundtables and Side Events 
--------------------------------------------- 
 
¶16.  Off-Key Keynote Speech:  The first morning of the 
Conference featured a keynote speech by former Malaysian 
Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad.  The Asian leader 
charged that the WTO negotiations are about enriching the 
already rich: "the rich want the poor to open up their 
countries so they can be fully exploited."  He criticized 
multinational corporations and foreign direct investment 
(FDI), calling for world tax on corporate profits, the 
proceeds of which would fund agricultural infrastructure 
development in poor countries.  Then, apparently 
unmindful of any inconsistency, Mahathir explained how 
FDI had helped Malaysia make impressive strides to raise 
employment and living standards.  He concluded, tongue-in- 
cheek, by saying that his call for a world tax in a 
speech before a group in China was met with total 
silence. 
 
¶17.  Director General's View:  In remarks at the opening 
of the Conference, DG Jacques Diouf recalled the latest 
figures indicating that there are 842 million 
undernourished people in the world.  In the past decade, 
the number dropped by only 19 million.  At this rate the 
WFS goal of halving the number of hungry people by 2015 
cannot be attained.  Diouf stressed the need to mobilize 
the political will of national decision-makers, the 
energy of civil society and bilateral and multilateral 
resources.  "The existence of hunger in a world of plenty 
is not just a moral outrage, it is also the result of 
short-sighted economic policy."  The DG recapped reforms 
undertaken by FAO since 1994, including a 30% reduction 
in staff.  He noted that the organization's budget was 
cut in 1996-97 and has not increased in real terms since 
then.  He warned against further reductions.  At the 
closing session, Diouf returned to the hunger theme and 
the necessity of making faster progress.  He thanked 
member governments for their efforts to reach consensus 
on the program of work and budget.  He reiterated FAO's 
intention to increase cooperation with governments, 
development partners and financial institutions to secure 
the necessary investments for sustainable agricultural 
and rural development. 
 
¶18.  Other roundtables and Side Events:  There were two 
additional roundtables that provided an opportunity for 
heads of delegation to engage in probing discussions. 
One covered the Role of Water and Infrastructure in 
Ensuring Sustainable Food Security.  Another dealt with 
the Dimension of Food Safety in Food Security.  There 
were another eleven side events presented by the 
Secretariat, member governments or NGOs.  Among the 
 
SIPDIS 
topics discussed were HIV/AIDS, small island developing 
states, the International Treaty on Plant Genetic 
Resources for Food and Agriculture, linking relief to 
rehabilitation and development, South-South cooperation, 
and community development to fight hunger. 
 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
Discussion on School Feeding with Latin Americans 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
 
¶19.  On December 2, Ambassador Hall hosted at the US 
Mission a meeting for U/S Penn with ambassadors and 
permanent representatives from Chile, Dominican Republic, 
El Salvador, Honduras, Panama, Peru, and the Deputy 
Director General of the Inter-American Institute for 
Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA).  This was arranged in 
response to an earlier request from Grulac ambassadors 
(ref C).  The ambassadors discussed the importance of 
school feeding as a development tool and their interest 
in being able to maintain and enlarge programs they are 
supporting from their own and US resources.  U/S Penn 
reviewed the state of FY2004 funding for the Global 
Initiative and the McGovern-Dole Food for Education 
Initiative. 
 
 
-------------- 
Media Coverage 
-------------- 
 
¶20.  US Mission hosted a press conference for U/S Penn, 
with essential support from Embassy Rome's Public Affairs 
Section.  Seven journalists, both Italian and 
international, attended and heard from the Under 
Secretary about his purpose in attending the FAO 
 
SIPDIS 
Conference and other subjects of importance to the USG, 
specifically agricultural trade.  This resulted in at 
least two stories, both favorable, from Associated Press 
and Reuters. 
 
------------------------ 
Other Substantive Issues 
------------------------ 
 
¶21.  The Conference endorsed or approved a long list of 
reports from various technical subsidiary bodies.  Among 
the topics that attracted USdel interest were: 
 
-- IUU Fishing:  The Conference approved a resolution, 
proposed by New Zealand with input from Australia, US and 
others, that calls for intensified efforts to combat IUU 
fishing. 
 
-- 2004 International Year of Rice:  Delegates were 
informed of FAO's plans for public events to call 
attention to the importance of rice in the food security 
of a majority of the world's population. 
 
-- Forest Governance:  Brazil unexpectedly used a Council 
discussion of the Program of Work and Budget to state for 
the record that FAO should not undertake work on issues 
related to forest governance.  USdel worked in the 
Council's drafting committee to ensure that Brazil's 
erroneous assertions on the lack of international 
agreement on forest governance were attributed only as 
the views of one regional group, thereby minimizing the 
impact of these statements on FAO's Program on Forest 
Policies and Governance. 
 
                  --------------------- 
                  INSTITUTIONAL REFORMS 
                  --------------------- 
 
-------------------------------- 
Term Limits for Director General 
-------------------------------- 
 
¶22.  DG term limits, one of the most important 
institutional governance issues before the Conference, 
were--by design--scarcely mentioned during the official 
meetings.  Anxious not to re-open an acrimonious debate 
that might raise particular sensitivities among African 
supporters of the current (Senegalese) Director General, 
delegates had tacitly agreed to maintain public silence 
on the subject.  The draft resolution amending the FAO 
Constitution to reinstitute a term limit on DGs was 
adopted without comment by a vote of 105 in favor, 0 
opposed, and 1 abstention (Botswana).  The amended text 
reads as follows: "There shall be a Director-General of 
the Organization who shall be appointed by the Conference 
for a term of six years.  He shall be eligible for 
reappointment only once for a further term of four 
years."  The resolution also specifies that the revision 
will apply at the election at the 33rd Conference in 
2005, and governs the mandate of DGs from 1 January 2006. 
The resolution is silent on the applicability of term 
limits to the incumbent. 
 
------ 
Budget 
------ 
 
¶23.  The proposed FAO budget for the next biennium 
generated hours and indeed days of discussion.  Opening 
debates revealed a wide divergence among member 
governments, ranging from demands for real growth (many G- 
77 delegations) to calls for further adherence to a Zero 
Nominal Growth scenario (US) or less (Japan). 
Complicating the discussion was the deep erosion of FAO's 
purchasing power in the past two years due to the strong 
decline of the dollar against the euro.  The Secretariat 
 
 
painted a bleak picture of layoffs and significant 
program cuts under all but the most generous budget 
scenarios.  A friends-of-the-chair group met late into 
the night to discuss the alternatives.  In the end, 
consensus was reached on a budget of $749 million for 
2004-5.  In nominal dollar terms, this is $97.2 million 
more than the budget for 2002-3, but according to FAO it 
represents a decline in real terms of $51 million. 
 
¶24.  The approved budget provides funding of $14.1 
million for the amortization of employees' after-service 
medical care.  In adopting the budget in plenary, member 
states also agreed by consensus that the approved budget 
level would include the necessary costs for security 
upgrades.  In addition, the budget appropriation 
resolution includes a provision to invite the Secretariat 
to make proposals to the Finance Committee for the 
reallocation of arrears to cover one-time costs for staff 
redeployment and separation.  The referenced arrears are 
the unspent balances of the $100 million Helms-Biden 
arrears payment made by the US in 2002; the USG will need 
to review and thoroughly scrutinize any such proposals. 
The Finance and Program Committees were also tasked to 
allocate the cut in purchasing power among FAO programs. 
This is to take place at the Committees' May sitting. 
 
------------------------- 
Split Currency Assessment 
------------------------- 
 
¶25.  The Council and Conference devoted long hours to a 
proposal to assess contributions partly in dollars and 
partly in euros.  (At current exchange rates, 
approximately 54% of FAO's expenditures are in euros and 
46% are in US dollars, while under the existing system 
100% of contributions are assessed in dollars.)  In 
September 2003 the Finance Committee had recommended the 
adoption of a split assessment methodology.  The US 
agreed not to block the consensus in the Finance 
Committee, but entered the Council and Conference 
discussions on split assessments with serious questions 
regarding how a new split assessment methodology would be 
implemented.  We had particular problems with the 
Secretariat's proposed methodology, which used multiple 
 
SIPDIS 
exchange rates and would have given the organization 
opportunities to profit through arbitrage at the expense 
of members. 
 
¶26.  The US also insisted that the overall budget level 
remain a separate decision of the membership, independent 
of any decision regarding split assessments.  Other 
delegations, particularly the Grulac countries, had 
strong initial reservations about split assessments. 
During the course of the Conference, the Secretariat 
provided detailed briefings on the rationale and 
operation of a split assessment methodology.  In 
bilateral discussions, the Secretariat also agreed to US 
requests for a simpler methodology that would be applied 
to partial payments and treatment of arrears.  Following 
these discussions, the Conference agreed to the adoption 
of split assessments, effective January 2004. 
 
--------------------------------------------- -------- 
Geographical Distribution and Employment of Americans 
--------------------------------------------- -------- 
 
¶27.  Another issue from the September 2003 Finance 
Committee--that of a new methodology to determine 
equitable geographic distribution of professional staff-- 
gained unexpected momentum at the Council and Conference. 
The current system is based on members' assessed 
contributions and relies on an arbitrary and archaic 
grade-weighting scheme that dates from the 1950s.  In 
September the Finance Committee could not come to 
agreement on a new methodology and suggested that the 
125th Council might create a working group to study the 
matter further.  The Council agreed to establish such a 
working group.  Under strong pressure from the G-77, it 
also decided that the group should begin its work 
immediately and report to the Conference within a few 
days. 
 
¶28.  After three meetings, the working group reported to 
the Conference that it had not come to consensus.  G-77 
members of the working group were firmly behind a 
methodology--patterned after that of the UN Secretariat-- 
 
 
that included percentages for membership, population and 
assessed contribution.  The European Regional Group 
thought the whole issue required more study. The US 
insisted that talk of a new methodology was premature, 
pending presentation of a concrete action plan by the FAO 
Secretariat to address the concerns of countries under- 
 
SIPDIS 
represented under the current system.  The Conference, at 
the urging of the G-77, asked the working group to try 
again to come to a conclusion. 
 
¶29.  In the end, the US was able to join consensus on a 
resolution for a new methodology that uses the current UN 
system with its weighting factors of membership, 
population and contribution--but not post or grade- 
 
weighting--and that also calls for an action plan for 
under-represented countries.  (The US would also remain 
under-represented [below the desired target range] under 
the new methodology, and there will therefore be 
continued pressure to hire more Americans.)  The EU, 
having several over-represented countries and suffering 
from coordination problems, was the last to join 
consensus and did so finally with ill grace.  The US-- 
which co-chaired the working group discussions but also 
had a representative at the table to vigorously defend 
our own interests--gained considerable goodwill from the 
G-77 and others for its leadership in facilitating the 
negotiation and working for--and ultimately achieving-- 
consensus. 
 
-------------------------------------- 
Independent External Assessment of FAO 
-------------------------------------- 
 
¶30.  USdel made important headway in advancing a proposal 
for an independent external assessment to define FAO's 
areas of strength and comparative advantage.  U/S Penn 
and Ambassador Hall raised this point in plenary 
statements in the Conference and Council.  USdel followed 
up in informal conversations with a number of influential 
delegates.  With the UK Permrep, we convened on the 
margins of the Conference a meeting of like-minded senior 
officials, both Rome-based and from capitals, to chart 
the way forward.  Interested partners in this concept 
included Australia, Canada, Japan, Kuwait, Netherlands, 
New Zealand, Peru, and the UK.  Several of them pledged 
their intellectual and financial support for an 
assessment.  We plan to include African and other Asian 
delegations in the near future. 
 
--------------------------- 
Other Institutional Matters 
--------------------------- 
 
¶31.  Finance Committee Enlargement:  The Council 
discussed an Asia Group proposal to enlarge the Finance 
Committee from 9 to 11 members, by adding an additional 
seat for Asia and for Europe.  This ensured inter alia 
that Japan--the number-two donor and generally a US ally 
on budgetary questions--was re-elected to the Committee 
for 2004-5.  Although the US in general opposes committee 
enlargements, we did not block consensus when the 
proposal was about to be approved by the Council. 
 
¶32.  Elections:  Aziz Mekouar, Morocco's Ambassador to 
the US, was re-elected as Independent Chair of the FAO 
Council.  The Netherlands Permrep was elected to chair 
the Program Committee (replacing Canada), and the 
Peruvian Permrep was elected to chair the Finance 
Committee (replacing Chile).  The US Deputy Permrep was 
elected to a seat on the Finance Committee.  Angola, 
Bangladesh, Syria, Netherlands and US were elected to the 
WFP Executive Board, as was El Salvador, which said it 
would rotate its seat with Guatemala and Nicaragua. 
 
                         ------- 
                         COMMENT 
                         ------- 
 
¶33.  Delegates and senior Secretariat officials were 
generally satisfied with the Council and Conference.  A 
number of difficult issues were resolved in an amicable 
way, without the rancor that marked the previous 
Conference, where the USG had to abstain in roll-call 
votes on the budget and a key treaty (ref I).  USdel was 
successful in attaining key USG objectives.  Important 
issues regarding hunger, sustainable agriculture and 
 
 
international agricultural trade were aired and debated 
in a generally positive atmosphere, despite differences 
of opinion.  The indispensable role that FAO plays or 
could play in these areas was underscored.  We were able 
to get our message--on trade, sustainable agriculture, 
science and technology, FAO reform--to a very senior 
international audience.  We reinforced our objective of 
promoting responsible, sustainable fisheries through the 
adoption of tough language on IUU fishing. 
 
¶34.  Vital FAO institutional and governance issues--term 
limits, budget, split assessments, geographic 
distribution--were successfully resolved by consensus. 
The re-institution of DG term limits sent a powerful 
signal of the desire for a change in leadership in 2005. 
The USG call for continued budgetary discipline was in 
the end accepted, in part because we were able to show 
some flexibility in covering exchange-rate losses and on 
the issue of split assessments.  In the new methodology 
for geographical distribution of professional staff, we 
were able to join consensus for reforming an outdated 
system while keeping pressure on FAO to hire more 
Americans.  The ability to get real-time, updated 
guidance from IO/S, OES/OMC and OES/ETC on fast-moving 
issues at the Conference greatly contributed to USdel's 
effectiveness. 
 
¶35.  The principled but flexible approach of the USG 
during the Conference and Council generated goodwill and 
has paved the way for the US to exercise greater 
leadership in strengthening the focus and the 
effectiveness of FAO.  In that regard, we see the 
expressions of interest from other key member states in 
our proposal for an independent evaluation of FAO as 
highly significant.  Such an evaluation would facilitate 
the difficult but essential task of setting clear 
priorities for the organization for the coming decade. 
 
HALL 
 
 
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 2003ROME05655 - Classification: UNCLASSIFIED