• Poland was one of the 44 founding members of FAO, participating in the Hot Spring Conference in 1943 as well as in the FAO founding conference in Quebec City on 16 October 1945.

• Poland left the Organisation in 1953 and joined again in November 1957.

• Poland is involved in scientific-technical research within the framework of the European cooperation networks (ESCORENA) concerning such problems as: control of pesticide residues, study on trace elements, the use of animal wastes, intensification of soybean, corn, sunflower and flax breeding (Poland is a world focal point for flax), the use of grassland in the mountains and highland areas, contribution to the world bank of plant, animal and forest genetic resources as well as agricultural economics, agrotourism and role of women in agricultural and rural development.

• Poland cooperates with Joint FAO/IAEA Division in Vienna which covers such subjects as: the use of radiation techniques in food biotechnology, the use of radiation techniques in the field of animal physiology, the effectiveness of photosynthesis and effective use of animal feeding and radiation methods in food preservation.

• Polish experts take part in the work of the following Committees of the FAO/WHO Codex Alimentarius Commission: General Principles, Food Labelling, Methods of Analysis and Sampling, Food Hygiene, Pesticides Resudies, Food Additives and Contaminants, Import/Export Inspection and Certification Systems, Nutrition and Foods for Special Dietary Uses, Residues of Veterinary Drugs as well as in Commodities Committees.

• Since 1963 Poland has been given access to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) funds, which were used in cooperation with FAO to boost Polish agriculture. The programmes were implemented directly by FAO and with the participation of FAO experts.
  The most important of them were:
  1. "Aid for scientific, training and education in the field of food production, processing and trade" which included assistance in the establishment of the National Food and Nutrition Institute.
  2. "Programme concerning maritime fishing research - assistance in equipping the Professor Siedlecki scientific-research vessel"
  3. "Determination of pesticide residues in agricultural products"
  4. "Intensification of triticale breeding and seed production"
  5. "Poultry breeding in Poland"
  6. "Improvement of quantity and quality of triticale production in Poland"
  7. "Introduction of triticale into agricultural practice"
  8. "Improvement of milk production and quality"
  9. "Remote sensing based system of dynamic grassland soil moisture determination and yield forecasting"
  10. "Intensification of pond fish breeding in Poland"
  11. "Intensification of slaughter pig production through application of hybridization"

• Poland received 16 technical cooperation programmes within TCP (Technical Cooperation Programme).
  The most important were:
  1. Assitance to the Vistula River Project
  2. Agricultural Project Formulation Mission
  3. Improvement of Agricultural Extension Support to Private Family Farm Management Accounting and Rural Economic Development
  4. Training in Water Management (Upper Noteć Project)
  5. Improvement and Practical Application of Embryo Transfer and Related Techniques to Cattle Breeding Programmes
  6. Strenghtening of Food Control in Poland
  7. Fruit and Vegetable Post-Harvest System Development
  8. Fish Disease Information Exchange and Diagnosis Services System (Interregional)
  9. Intensification of Slaughter Pig Production through Application of Hybridization
  10. Regional training in veterinary biotechnology for improved control of livestock and poultry diseases (Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia)
  11. Designing of Loan Guarantee/Insurance Mechanisms for Agricultural Lending
  12. Strenghtening National Capacity in Fish Quality Assurance
  13. Assistance in Preparing a Livestock Action Plan
  14. Low-Input Grassland Production Systems for Livestock Feeding
  15. Household Food Consumption and Anthropometric Survey
  Within the all above mentioned programmes the modern equipment was purchased and thousands of Polish specialists were trained in the leading world scientific centres.

• Poland was a few times elected a member of the FAO COUNCIL.

• Poland's representatives have regularly attended sessions of the Committee on Agriculture (COAG), Committee on Fisheries (COFI), Committee on Forestry (COFO), Committee on Commodities Problems (CCP), Committee on Food Security (CFS), European Inland Fisheries Advisory Commission (EIFAC) as well as in all Regional Conferences for Europe, World Food Conference, Rome 1974, World Conference on Agrarian Reform and Rural Development, Rome1979, in World Food Summit Rome 1996 r.

• Several hundred Polish experts have so far been employed by FAO to work in developing countries in the field of agriculture, fisheries and forestry, especially in the field of animal production and veterinary medicine, meat and milk technology, bee-keeping, fishing and economists in the Investment Centre.

• Polish specialists have also been employed in the FAO Headquarters in Rome and some of them were employed at high posts (Assistant Director-General - Agriculture Department, acting Assistant Director-General - Fisheries Department).

• Thanks to statutory activities of FAO Poland benefits from access to world systems of scientific and technological information such as AGRIS, CARIS, world agriculture, forestry and fisheries statistics, numerous analytical studies concerning agriculture, food economy, forestry and fisheries which are used by Polish scientific centres, administration, business and trade as well as civic organisations.
  • FAO Depository Library - Central Agricultural Library (CBR) in Warsaw
  • National AGRIS-FAO Input Centre - Central Agricultural Library (CBR) in Warsaw
  • AgroWeb CEE Network - Central Agricultural Library (CBR) in Warsaw

In 1995 the President of the Republic of Poland ratified the FAO International Plant Protection Convention. Accession to the Convention is a step towards the adjustment of Polish legal regulations to European and world standards, and is of great importance for plant protection as well as the operation of Polish plant protection services and the state of legal regulations in the field.

• Poland has frequently organized important FAO conferences, including:
  • the Regional Conference for Europe in Cracow, 1988;
  • II Consulation of the Ministers of Agriculture from Central and Eastern European Countries in Warsaw, 1994;
  • Consultation on ICN Follow-up in the European Region and OECD Countries in Warsaw, 1996.

Maintained by Ms Małgorzata Piotrowska, MRiRW, Poland
Copyright 2002 Polish FAO National Committee. All rights reserved