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Marrakech – Many distinguished guests were honoured at the 109th session of the Council of Members of the IOC, in particular the Ministers of Agriculture of Egypt, Ezz El Din Abu Steit; of Libya, Abdelbaset M And Ghanimi; and of Georgia, Levan Davitashvili; as well as the Secretary General of the Ministry of Agriculture of Morocco, Mohamed Sadiki; the Vice-Minister of Trade of Turkey, Sezai Uçarmak; and the representative of the Moroccan olive sector associations, Ben Ali Rachid.
The session took place in Marrakech between 17 and 21 June 2019. It was chaired by Egypt, and attended by the following member countries: Algeria, Argentina, Egypt, the European Union, Jordan, Libya, Morocco, Palestine, Tunisia, Turkey and Uruguay. Montenegro was represented by the European Union.
The United States and Georgia attended in an observer capacity. A number of institutions and international organisations also attended with observer status, including the Arab Federation for Food Industries (ARABFFI); the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO); the International Centre for Advanced Mediterranean Agronomic Studies (CIHEAM); and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD).
Several decisions were made during the session, including the renewal of the mandate of the three senior officers and the approval of the request for accession submitted by Georgia, which is set to become the 17th member of the IOC.
The ARABFFI proposed an agreement with the IOC to spread awareness of the IOC standard throughout Arab countries. A request to strengthen collaboration through a memorandum of understanding was also submitted by FAO at the plenary session in addition to the existing memorandum with CIHEAM.
The number of members of the Advisory Committee has risen from 92 to 99 with the addition of representatives from Albania and the Islamic Republic of Iran, the latter of which was officially decided upon during the session.
At the end of the session, the Executive Director thanked Nabil Chaouki, from the Ministry of Agriculture of Morocco, for the smooth running of the session and the hospitality shown by the Moroccan delegation to the staff of the Executive Secretariat.
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