VI 32nd Meeting of the Governing Council

VI

32nd Meeting of the Governing Council

The Common Fund for Commodities (CFC) held its 32nd Annual Meeting of the Governing Council (GC) on 8 and 9 December 2020. Due to the restrictions posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, this was the first time the meeting was held via teleconference. H.E. Mr. Mario Oyarzábal, Governor of the CFC for the Argentine Republic, opened the Meeting in his capacity as Acting Chairperson of the Governing Council. He welcomed all Members of the Council as well as the representatives of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). The Managing Director of the CFC, Ambassador Sheikh Mohammed Belal, delivered a statement on the activities of the CFC during 2020.

The Governing Council welcomed Mr. Sebastian Lesch, Head of Division 121 ‘International agricultural policy, agriculture, innovation’ of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). In his statement, Mr. Lesch highlighted the importance of the work of the CFC, particularly in such challenging times. He praised the measures the CFC took to quickly respond to the COVID-19 pandemic by launching the Emergency Liquidity Facility. Mr. Lesch also addressed the cooperation between the CFC and the BMZ in the frame of the Africa Agriculture and Trade Investment Fund (AATIF), which is managed by the CFC’s Technical Assistance Facility Program and was initiated by the German Development Bank (KfW) on behalf of the BMZ. Mr. Lesch also thanked CFC for this role of transferring technology and knowhow in the developing world.

The Governing Council

As is the custom, the substantive Agenda of the Governing Council opened with the General Debate, where thirteen delegations delivered national statements, including a statement on behalf of the OECD group, delivered by the representative of Sweden; two national delegations submitted a written statement. Moreover, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) delivered its statement to the Governing Council as Observer.

Two projects supported by the CFC delivered a presentation explaining their operations and involvement with the CFC, namely Ten Senses Africa (TSA) and EcoEnterprises III (EcoE III). These exemplified the potential of impact investing in supporting commodity-dependent developing countries by helping small- and medium-sized enterprises better integrate international markets, while achieving sustainable impact.

The Governing Council considered the ‘Extension of the date of Entry into Force of the Amendments to the Agreement Establishing the Common Fund for Commodities’ and was informed that, during the GC in December 2019, it was decided that the date of entry into force of the amendments to the Agreement would be 10 January 2021. Upon request of two Member Countries that needed additional time to complete their internal procedure, it was further decided that the date would be extended to 10 January 2022, with the possibility of a further extension to be granted by the Council at its Thirty-Third Annual Meeting.

The Governing Council also decided to extend the date of entry into force of new documents, and amendments to existing documents, referred to as the ‘Second Level’, to the same date, 10 January 2022. Consequently, the Governing Council extended to 10 January 2022 the suspension of certain Articles of the Agreement that was given during the 24th Annual Meeting of the GC; the purpose of this suspension is to cover the envisaged transition period required for adopting appropriate amendments to the Agreement.

Further, the Governing Council took note of the report on the Fund’s activities under the First Account Net Earning Programme throughout 2020. The CFC Secretariat reported that between 2013 and 2020, the CFC participated in 5 development partnerships and remained involved in its current Impact Investment Funds, thus complying with the Governing Council’s decision at its Twenty-Fourth Meeting to establish development partnerships with impact investment funds. The Governing Council also took note of the report of the Fund’s activities under the Second Account during the year 2020, and further approved the Administrative Budget for 2021 and the 2019 Audited Financial Statements.

It was recalled that the Executive Board in its 68th Meeting requested to develop the initiative towards the creation of an impact investment facility under the management of the CFC. In this regard, an open-ended Working Group on Sustainable Fund Management (WG-SFM) was established, which met for the first time virtually on 1 September 2020. Mr. Herbert Ndahiro (Rwanda), Chair of the Open-Ended Working Group of the Executive Board presented an oral report on the work of the WG. The Governing Council took note of the deliberations of the WG-SFM so far and requested the Executive Board to complete, without delay, all the necessary steps for the creation of the CIIF in the year 2021.

The Governing Council also considered and approved the proposed changes to the Staff Regulations and Rules, which remain under constant review with reference to best working practices in benchmark organizations and ongoing developments within the United Nations.

The Thirty-Second Annual Meeting of the Governing Council could be considered as a great success despite the obstacles posed COVID-19. The year 2020 brought important changes to the CFC, from the new Managing Director assuming duties in the midst of a pandemic to increased resilience. This year particularly demonstrated the ability of the CFC to adapt to unprecedented circumstances. Indeed, the CFC Secretariat effectively adopted teleconference facilities, thus ensuring relevant decisions are taken to sustain the CFC’s operations and collaborations.

Chairperson and Vice-Chairpersons of the Governing Council for the Year 2021

The Governing Council, by consensus, elected H.E. Mr. Mario Oyarzábal, Governor of the CFC for the Argentine Republic as Chairperson for the period up to and including the Thirty-Third Annual Meeting of the Governing Council.

The Chairperson and Vice-Chairpersons of the Governing Council for the year 2021 are as follows: Chairperson for 2021 H.E. Mr. Mario Oyarzábal (Argentina) Vice-Chairpersons for 2021 African Region Group: Representative from Kenya Asian and Pacific Region Group: To be communicated China: Mr. Guosheng Zhang Latin American and Caribbean Region Group: H.E. Mr. Mario Oyarzábal (Argentina) OECD Group: Ms. Anna Tofftén (Sweden) The Russian Federation: Mr. Anton Tsvetov