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mentary on paragraph 1
New Article III
11. Paragraph 1 is the b sic provision requiring the payment of mandatory contributions. It specifies, (1) who shai determination; (iii) wher. fall due. A fifth question paragraph, is that of the These five questions merit
(1) Who shall determine
determine the contributions; (ii) the procedure for their :.is procedure shall take place; and (iv) when contributions that might have been, but has not been covered in this riteria in accordance with which the budget is to be apportioned. come individual comment and will be dealt with below in turn.
12.
contributions?
Where an agreement e tablishes an intergovernmental body which has statutory or other subsidiary budies, decisiva relating to the main financial obligations of its Members are normally entrusted to it: incipal organ on which all members are represented. This, it would be appropriate for Commission (rather then its Executive Committee) to determine the contributions that si i be paid by its members, by deciding both the level of the budget and the apportionme of the contributions.
(ii) What will be the pro «dure for determining the contributions?
13. In view of the importance of decisions relating to contributions, the decision approving the Commission's budget is subject to a two-thirds majority of the members of the Commission. This major.ty would reflect a reasonable measure of support and is the majority provided for in the corresponding provisions of other similar agreements concluded under Article XIV of the FAO Constitution.
(111) When would the contributions be determined?
14. In accordance with Article II.3, the Commission "shall meet whenever convened by the Director-General after consultation with the Chairman of the Commission". It is also provided in Article II.3 that the Director-General "shall convene the Commission at least once every two years or when so requested by at least one-third of the Contracting Governments". Thus, the intervals between the Commission's sessions may vary. However, at least one session (although not referred to as a "regular" session) shall be held every two years, and the pattern of sessions over the years generally reflects this periodicity. It is for this reason that paragraph 1 envisages approval of a programme of work and budget on a biennial basis. It would also be desirable, for a number of practical reasons, for the Commission's financial period to correspond to the FAO biennium.
(iv) When will contributions fall due?
15. In order to allow for a regular flow of funds and to take into account the annual budget cycle of many governments, provision has also been made for the payment of contributions for a given biennium in two instalments, at the beginning of each year. Depending on the date of the session of the Commission at which the first biennial budget would be approved, it may : · necessary, as a transitional measure, to approve an initial budget covering a span of re or perhaps less than two years.
(v)
How will the contributions be apportioned among the Members of the Committee?
16. As indicated in paragraph 11 above, no statutory criteria for apportionment of the budget have been laid down in the Agreement. The reasons are, first, that many criteria for apportionment exist and, second, that the Commission did not indicate a preference for any particular criterion.
17.
The absence of any criteria for apportionment in the Agreement means that the Commission is free to adopt criteria of its choice and that it can alter them from time to time without an amendment to the Agreement being needed. On the other hand, if the criteria were specified in the Agreement, this matter would be pre-determined and when the Commission was called upon to consider the question of contributions every two years, it would only have to decide the level of the budget to be apportioned.
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