OEA/Ser.P
AG/RES. 1728 (XXX-O/00)
5 June 2000
Original: English 

RESOLUTION

STRENGTHENING AND REVITALIZING TIES BETWEEN THE INTER-AMERICAN INSTITUTE FOR COOPERATION ON AGRICULTURE AND OTHER OAS ORGANS TO ADDRESS AGRICULTURAL ISSUES OF HEMISPHERIC CONCERN

(Resolution adopted at the first plenary session, held on June 5, 2000)

THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY,

HAVING SEEN the Annual Report of the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (CP/doc.3282/00); and

CONSIDERING:

That prior to the transformation of the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) under the 1979 Inter-American Convention on Agriculture, the Inter-American Conference of Ministers of Agriculture (ICMA) was established as a forum for discussion of agricultural issues and policies in the Hemisphere;

That the 1979 Convention established the Inter-American Board of Agriculture (IABA), IICA’s supreme organ, to serve, in part, as a forum "for the exchange of ideas, information, and experience related to the improvement of agriculture and rural life;"

That the last ICMAs, held in 1987 and 1991, respectively, were held in conjunction with regular meetings of the IABA and attended by the very same delegations;

That in resolution IICA/JIA/RES. 341 (X-O/99) the IABA asked the OAS General Assembly to adopt a resolution eliminating the ICMA, recognizing the IABA as the primary ministerial forum within the OAS for analyzing and building consensus on policies and strategic priorities for the improvement of agriculture and rural life in the Hemisphere, and encouraging cooperation between IICA and the organs, agencies, and entities of the inter-American system in the activities of the inter-American system and the Summits of the Americas process;

That priorities established at the Summits of the Americas–particularly sustainable development and environment, education, the elimination of extreme poverty, and trade–raise issues which relate closely to the improvement of agriculture and rural life;

That there is a need to integrate the expertise and experience of IICA, as the inter-American specialized agency on agriculture, into the policy-making and programming activities and issues relating to agriculture within the framework of the inter-American system and the agenda of the Summits of the Americas; and

That at its most recent regular session, the General Assembly recognized that need by designating the Director General of IICA as a member of the Committee to Coordinate Cooperation Programs of the Inter-American System, created under resolution AG/RES. 1666 (XXIX-O/99),

RESOLVES:

1. To abolish the Inter-American Conference of Ministers of Agriculture (ICMA) and recognize the Inter-American Board of Agriculture (IABA) as the primary ministerial forum within the OAS for analyzing and building consensus on policies and strategic priorities for the improvement of agriculture and rural life in the Hemisphere.
2. To instruct IICA to develop and strengthen mechanisms of cooperation and exchange with other organs, agencies, and entities of the inter-American system for proposing, coordinating, and executing policies and programs relating to the improvement of agriculture and rural life in the context of the inter-American system and the Summits of the Americas process.