Dear Director-General Qu Dongyu,
As you begin your second term as the Director-General of the FAO, we, representatives of civil society, Indigenous Peoples and trade union organizations, would like to seek clarity on the official status of the indefinite Letter of Intent (LOI) signed between FAO and CropLife International (CLI) in October 2020. During your previous term, more than 430 civil society and Indigenous Peoples organizations, 250 scientists and academics, nearly 50 philanthropic groups, nearly 200,000 individuals from over 107 countries, and the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food have asked the FAO leadership to end this partnership agreement that promotes deeper ties between the agency and the pesticide industry.
