This meeting convened at FAO Headquarters in Rome, Italy from 28 October – 1 November 2002.

Agenda items for the Council, which consists of 49 Member States, included the report of the 28th Session of the Committee on World Food Security, activities of the World Food Programme, and budgetary and administrative matters.
Among other decisions taken, the Council established and developed the terms of reference for an Intergovernmental Working Group (IGWG) to elaborate a set of voluntary guidelines to support Member Nations’ efforts to achieve the progressive realization of the right to adequate food in the context of national food security. The IGWG was established as a subsidiary body of the Committee on World Food Security (CFS). Its work is to be conducted with the participation of stakeholders, who may fully participate in the discussions and as observers when decisions are being made.
The Council also adopted Resolution 1/123, the Revised Version of the International Code of Conduct on the Distribution and Use of Pesticides. Through this Resolution, the Council approved amendments to the “International Code of Conduct on the Distribution and Use of Pesticides” and recommended that all FAO Members and public and private entities engaged in or affecting the distribution and use of pesticides promote the use of this Code. The Council also: requested governments, in collaboration with FAO, to monitor the observance of the Code; invited the pesticide industry and NGOs to report on and monitor activities related to implementing the Code; and called on countries with advanced programmes for regulating pesticides to provide technical assistance to other countries in developing infrastructures and capacity to implement the Code’s provisions. The report of the 123rd Session of the FAO Council can be found at: http://www.fao.org/DOCREP/MEETING/005/Y7932E/Y7932E00.HTM