On the cooperation of the Republic of Belarus and FAO
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations dealing with food security and agricultural development worldwide. The FAO was established on 16 October 1945 in Quebec City to provide long-term solutions in eradicating hunger and poverty. Today the agency consists of 194 member states. The FAO is a United Nations specialized agency aimed at the implementation of decisions of the world community in food, agricultural and agro-industrial areas, including recommendations concerning sustainable development, environmental protection and the development of the world commerce. The FAO gathers, analyzes, interprets and disseminates information on food and agricultural issues. The agency also renders technical assistance to the FAO member states.
On October 22, President of the Republic of Belarus Aleksandr Lukashenko met Director–General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations Jacques Diouf. The visit contributed to the Belarus accession to the FAO and in November 2005 the Republic of Belarus became its member state. Our country has gained access to the FAO information on the latest innovations in agriculture. The Belarus Agricultural Library is a deposit library of FAO documents. The national interests of the Republic of Belarus are advocated on FAO forums and meetings. FAO facilities are widely used to demonstrate the potential of Belarus in agricultural, forestry and environment sectors as well as to promote a positive image of our country worldwide.
The Republic of Belarus joined to the International Convention on Plants Protection (FAO is its depository). The aim of the Convention is to provide the coordination between the member-states in the fito-sanitary area, to develop the agricultural and pest control cooperation, to harmonize national regulations in the plant protection field.
Belarus also joined to the Codex Alimentarius Commission, which was created by the FAO and World Health Organization (WHO) in 1963 in order to develop the international quality standards for the different types of agricultural products.
In May 2013 Belarus and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations signed the first Technical Assistance Agreement. Moreover during the visit of the Deputy Director-General of FAO — Regional Representative for Europe and Central Asia Mr. V.Rakhmanin to the Republic of Belarus on September 23, 2014 the Country Programming Framework for Belarus was signed.
On April 15, 2016 the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Belarus to the Italian Republic, Permanent Representative of the Republic of Belarus to the FAO Aleksandr Guryanov presented Letter of Credence to the FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva.
In September 2013 the second Country Programming Framework for 2017-2020 was signed in Minsk. The program includes the implementation of FAO technical assistance projects for Belarus.
The 12 November 2013 the Memorandum of understanding between the Eurasian Economic Commission and FAO was signed, and then updated in August 2019.
