Doc. 8289

23 December 1998

Global challenges for agriculture (including forestry, fisheries and aquaculture)

Recommendation 1350 (1997)

Reply from the Committee of Ministers

adopted at the 652^nd meeting of the Ministers’ Deputies (15 December 1998)

The Committee of Ministers has studied carefully Parliamentary Assembly Recommendation 1350 (1997) on global challenges for agriculture (including forestry, fisheries and aquaculture).

It shares the Assembly's concern about the serious qualitative and, in some cases, quantitative problems caused by soil degradation and water pollution.

It has assigned ad hoc terms of reference to the Committee for the activities of the Council of Europe in the field of Biological and Landscape Diversity (CO-DBP) instructing it to "look into:

-       the advisability of reviewing and updating the European Soil Charter and European Water Charter and, if appropriate, making proposals for giving them greater legal force, bearing in mind work being carried out in other international bodies;

-       the possibility of a conference, held in co-operation with other relevant organisations, on incorporating environmental considerations into policy and in particular on conservation of biological and landscape diversity in agriculture."

The Committee is aware of the urgent need to promote practices based on sustainable exploitation in agriculture, forestry, fisheries and aquaculture and considers that the Parliamentary Assembly's anxieties relate to fundamental issues concerning both sustainable development and people's right to a healthy environment.

In this connection the Committee of Ministers points out that the Resolution on biological and landscape diversity approved by the Fourth Pan-European Ministerial Conference, "An Environment for Europe" (Aarhus, 25 June 1998), reaffirms environment ministers' commitment to building biological and landscape diversity objectives into sectoral policies and states that "the agricultural sector deserves special attention" and should be regarded as "a priority within the integration theme under the Pan-European Strategy on Biological and Landscape Diversity".

The Committee of Ministers will keep the Parliamentary Assembly informed on developments in intergovernmental co-operation in the field covered by the Recommendation in the framework of the Statutory Report.