This morning we are discussing Item 6, World Food and Agriculture Situation, Item 6.1, State of Food and Agriculture. The documents that are involved in this discussion are C 89/2, The State of Food and Agriculture 1989; document C 89/2 Sup.1 which is an update of document C 89/2; C 89/2 Sup.2, which refers to Sustainable Development and Natural Resources Management; C 89/INF/14, which is Aspects of FAO Policies, Programmes, Budget and Activities Aimed at Contributing to Sustainable Development. Therefore the very important issue of sustainable development should be discussed within the context of this item.
The Commission will also have the opportunity to examine, as it has done in previous sessions, the world and regional situation of food and agriculture, as well as the principal factors affecting it. In addition, this year the Commission will discuss the document which attempts to make progress towards translating sustainable development into an operation concept. The item will be introduced by Mr B.P. Dutia, Assistant Director-General, Economic and Social Policy Department.
B.P. DOTIA (Assistant Director-General, Economic and Social Policy Department): Mr Chairman, document C 89/2 and its Supplement begin by placing the current state of food and agriculture within the overall global and regional economic environment. According to recently revised IMF estimates of global macroeconomic trends and features, output growth in 1989 is now estimated at 3.5 percent in industrial and 3.2 percent in developing countries. Prospects for economic expansion this year appear somewhat better than previously estimated in the Near East and Africa, although growth would still remain negative in per caput terms in the latter region. Growth estimates for Asia are slightly less favourable than previously reported, while prospects for Latin America and the Caribbean are for zero growth, which is below already pessimistic earlier expectations.
On the whole, these revisions do not modify the basic characteristics of the current economic environment, as reported in these documents. Those countries that have performed better in recent years are generally expected to experience economic growth in 1989 as well, although at a somewhat reduced pace. On the other hand, those countries that had experienced little or no growth still fail to resume expansion. In the first case are the Asian economies, particularly the fast-growing ones on the Pacific rim, as well as the industrial countries that continued the long period of economic growth begun in late 1982. In Latin America and the Caribbean and in Africa, continuing economic difficulties, and particularly debt problems, have caused per caput incomes to fall again this year. Several non-fuel exporting countries in the Near East face similar problems. In a difficult period of transition in their economic systems and structures, some countries in Eastern Europe are also experiencing slow economic growth.
Current short-term prospects are for a continuation of economic expansion in industrial countries, though at lower and more sustainable rates. Indeed, growth in these countries is now estimated at 2.9 percent next year, price inflation remains moderate and fears of recession seem to fade. Yet, some factors, not the least the disappointing progress in reducing external imbalances among the major industrial countries, render the mid-term unpredictable. What is a certainty, however, is the dire economic situation of many developing countries. Their economic situation, far from sharing in the sustained expansion of the developed country economies, has worsened in 1989 in many respects. As discussed in these documents, such a deterioration has pervasive implications for agriculture and food security, placing pressure on the agricultural sector to produce for export; diverting the flows of savings away from investment, including agriculture; and reducing the import of items essential to maintain agricultural production growth and food supplies.
The problem of debt servicing remains paramount among the economic difficulties of many developing countries. One consequence is the continuing massive net outward transfers from debtor countries to creditor countries: a current estimated figure is almost US$ 50 billion a year. Many countries continue to face compelling adjustment needs that, while varying in their severity, policy mix and length, are often imposing heavy, yet so far unrewarded, socio-economic sacrifices.
As regards the agricultural sector, Mr Chairman, per caput food and agricultural production at the global level has declined in both 1987 and 1988. As a result, markets for several important food commodities have shifted from the situation of overall surplus, that had emerged since the early 1980s, to one of relative scarcity. For cereals, oilseeds and their products, dairy products and sugar, world stocks have been significantly reduced. Consequently, their prices increased in 1988, and in this year they have remained at about those levels or have increased further, except in the case of maize and soybeans. By contrast, supplies have remained ample and prices have been depressed for several commodities of major economic importance for many developing countries, particularly coffee and cocoa among the tropical beverages.
Current estimates indicate a considerable expansion in world food and agricultural production in 1989, mainly reflecting a significant recovery in North America from the 1988 drought, as well as larger harvests in Eastern Europe and the USSR. Agricultural production growth in the is likely to be lower than the favourable outcome of last year, with smaller output in Latin America and the Near East, a virtual stagnation in Africa and lower, if still significant, growth in Asia.
World cereal production is forecast to recover significantly from last year's dramatically reduced level, but not enough to catch up with the estimated consumption growth. Consequently, cereal stocks will be drawn down for the third consecutive year and, by the end of the 1989/90 season, they are expected to remain disquietingly close to what FAO considers a minimum margin for global food security. With wheat stocks at their lowest since the world food crisis of the early 1970s, developments in world cereal supplies must be monitored with particular vigilance. Tight cereal markets, relatively high international prices and sharply reduced food aid availability are all severe blows for many food-deficit developing countries.
In the area of trade, these documents report a continuous rapid expansion in world agricultural exports in 1988, the latest year for which complete data are available. This expansion occurred in the context of a particularly buoyant period for total merchandise trade which, after having increased at an unexpectedly high rate in 1988, is expected to grow somewhat more slowly this year. All developing regions, except Africa, achieved a significant expansion in agricultural exports in 1988, although their imports of agricultural products rose even more. Prospects for 1989 are for a continued dynamic growth in the volume of agricultural trade. But with prices in some markets being very unstable, the value of agricultural trade in 1989 is rather difficult to predict. As regards agricultural terms of trade, a general improvement was recorded in 1988, but it mainly benefited developed market economies, as prices strengthened for the temperate commodities they chiefly export.
Mr Chairman, I now turn to the third document for discussion under this agenda item, C 89/2 Supplement 2, Sustainable Development and Natural Resources Management. As explained on its front cover, the document which, in a more elaborate format, is the special chapter of The State of Food and Agriculture 1989, is an attempt to make progress towards translating sustainable development into an operational concept. Other related documents on this subject are the Review of the Regular Programme, C 89/8, Chapter 12 which reviews FAO's work in the environment, as well as an updated version of document CL 94/6, Aspects of FAO's Policies, Programmes, Budget and Activities Aimed at Contributing to Sustainable Development that was submitted to ECOSOC and the General Assembly earlier in 1989 and that is now made available to this Conference as an information document C 89/INF/14.
While the focus of the document is on sustainable development and natural resource management in developing countries, the problems and role of the developed countries are not excluded. It is now well recognized that, directly or indirectly, the industrialized countries contribute to a large share of global natural resource depletion and environmental degradation. Main difficulties, however, in ensuring sustainable development and natural resource management arise in those developing countries where poor people have little or no option but to degrade and perhaps eventually destroy the natural resource base they rely on to survive. Therefore a major focus of the paper is the need to analyse the survival strategies of the rural poor and to identify measures to develop alternative avenues of livelihood which would help to place natural resource management on a sustainable basis.
While recognizing the limitations of a generalized approach and the need to carefully tailor programmes to specific situations, the document before to move towards evolving strategies for different resource types -land of low and high potential, forests and wooded lands, fishery resources and plant and animal genetic resources - but it realizes that "low" and "high" potential have different meanings in different contexts. It is stressed that an integrated approach is the key to managing natural resources sustainably: livestock production integrated with crop production; trees integrated into crop and pastoral production systems; agriculture integrated into some crop and intensive livestock production systems, etc.
Mr Chairman, we hope that the document before the Conference will provide a useful basis for the consideration by it of a subject which is of vital interest. Conference views and guidance will also be particularly important for FAO, on the elaboration of a World Strategy for Sustainable Agriculture in the context of the 1992 UN Conference on Environment and Development.
In concluding, Mr Chairman, I shall highlight the four main issues which emerge from the analysis of the current state of food and agriculture. First, the uncertain food security situation and the need to accelerate growth in food and agricultural output in developing countries. Second, the problem of debt, and the associated problems of economic austerity and net resource outflows, which continue to impede econcmic and agricultural progress in many indebted countries despite recent initiatives. Third, the continuing difficulties faced by many developing countries in gaining access to agricultural markets and expanding their badly needed export earnings -issues that are also covered under the next agenda item; and lastly, the need to preserve our natural resource base from destructive exploitation and to make sustainable development an operational reality.
CHAIRMAN: I thank Mr Dutia for his comprehensive exposé, and now we will initiate the debate on this item.
I have already two speakers on my list, Colombia and Canada. If the other speakers would signal to the Chair their intention to speak.
Ghana, France, Malaysia, Sweden, Libya, Poland, Pakistan, Bangladesh. We can start, and the other delegates can indicate their intention to speak later.
Gonzalo BULA HOYOS (Colombia): Sobre el Estado Mundial de la Agricultura y de la Alimentación, nos vamos a referir a los documentos C 89/2 y Suplemento 1, y si nos quedare tiempo dentro del límite fijado por usted, al cual nos sometemos, trataríamos entonces el Desarrollo Sostenible a la luz de los documentos C 89/2 Suplemento 2 y C 89/INF/14.
En cuanto al Suplemento 1, éste coincide con la excelente presentación del Dr Dutia. Un mes después de publicado el documento básico, no se presentan variaciones en términos generales, y por el contrario, en el párrafo 2, al final se repite el hecho lamentable de que "el crecimiento económico de Africa y de América Latina y el Caribe fue inferior a las previsiones, que ya eran pesimistas".
En el párrafo 3 del C 89/2, Suplemento 1 se habla de la aceleración del crecimiento económico y de la reducción del desempleo, sólo en dos importantes países de la OCDE. Y al final del párrafo 4 se dice que "la desranda de productos agrícolas en las regiones de Africa y de América Latina y el Caribe seguirá siendo la más débil".
Todo ello demuestra que, como cada dos años cuando la Conferencia trata este tema, La Situación de la Agricultura y de la Alimentación en el Mundo es oscura, imprevisible, grave y preocupante, naturalmente para los países en desarrollo. Las pocas mejoras que se logran sólo favorecen a los Estados industrializados.
El párrafo 1 del documento C 89/2 indica que el crecimiento económico mundial en 1988, tuvo lugar principalmente en los países industrializados al tiempo que en muchos países en desarrollo, sobre todo en Africa y América Latina y el Caribe, continuaron los graves problemas económicos.
Ese es el marco desafortunado, lamentable, dentro del cual hay que situar el contenido de todos los documentos que analizaremos con realismo y objetividad para que se reflejen en el Informe todos estos aspectos negativos.
El párrafo 4 dice que "persisten todavía serios peligros para la economía mundial, en particular para los países en desarrollo" y se debilitará la demanda de productos que exportan esos países. Como siempre, todo sigue en mano de los Estados industrializados, que, según al párrafo 6, deberían ayudar a alimentar el ritmo de crecimiento económico de los países en desarrollo, aumento de asistencia que no se logra nunca por la reiterada e inmodificable falta de voluntad política de la gran mayoría de los Estados industrializados, aunque, como afirma el párrafo 8 esos Estados poderosos "experimentaron un crecimiento económico inesperadamente vigoroso".
América Latina y el Caribe, región a la cual pertenece nuestro país, fue la única región de países en desarrollo en la cual no se aceleró el crecimiento económico en 1988, según dice el párrafo 11. Otro documento para esta misma Conferencia afirma que son muy pesimistas las proyecciones para nuestra región, en la cual el aumento de la renta per cápita sería tan sólo del 1 por ciento anual. Ese mínimo porcentaje es inferior a las previsiones que aparecen en La Agricultura en el año 2000 e inferior también al que se le asignó en el estudio sobre potencialidades y obstáculos para el desarrollo agrícola, estudio adoptado por la última Conferencia Regional, celebrada en octubre de 1988 en la ciudad donde usted nació, señor Presidente, en Recife, Brasil, su país.
Ante esa situación, convendrá que los organismos internacionales, los Estados industrializados y todas las fuentes de asistencia técnica y financiera revisen e inviertan la desafortunada tendencia de los últimos años, a través de la cual se le ha venido negando el apoyo técnico y financiero indispensable a nuestros países de América Latina y el Caribe. Porque, basados en indicadores obsoletos ya superados, se afirmaba que algunos de ellos habían alcanzado un grado intermedio de desarrollo.
Para los pobres países en desarrollo, en estos documentos todo es negativo, sin ninguna esperanza, y sus más importantes puntos habrá que consignarlos en informe sobre este tema. "El valor total de las exportaciones de los países en desarrollo aumentó sólo ligeramente en 1988, pero su relación de intercambio empeoró", dice el párrafo 15. Convendrá que en nuestro informe recojamos el calificativo de "oprimente deuda externa", que "sigue siendo el principal obstáculo para un crecimiento satisfactorio en muchos países en desarrollo", de acuerdo con el párrafo 20.
En los párrafos 34 a 42 se diseña una situación relacionada con el alza de los precios de los productos básicos, situación que confirma une vez más que los países en desarrollo no tienen ninguna posibilidad de mejoramiento; se les coloca siempre entre la espada y la pared. En efecto, en el párrafo 34
se dice que los precios más altos de los productos básicos constituyen un don del cielo para muchos países en desarrollo y representan un factor indispensable para resolver la crisis de la deuda". Pero ¿qué pasa? Apenas los pobres países en desarrollo comienzan a mejorar sus ingresos con el alza de los precios de los productos básicos, las principales potencias industriales a su más alto nivel, reunidas en Toronto (junio 1988), potencias muy respetables y poderosas, elevan el grito al mismo cielo, -!al mismo cielo!, porque hay un solo cielo, amplio grande y azul, ese cielo que ha hecho el don al Tercer Mundo con el aumento de los productos básicos, para decir entonces los representantes de los países industrializados que esas alzas hay que contenerlas porque generan aumento de la inflación en los Estados industrializados, y además porque si los precios de los productos básicos siguen subiendo no será posible ni siquiera la mínima liberalización del comercio agrícola.
¿Qué hacemos, entonces, nosotros? No podremos aumentar nuestra propia producción, porque faltará el incentivo del alza de los precios. Si no aumentamos la producción y si la deuda externa y el proteccionismo, entre otros factores, nos impiden obtener divisas para importar alimentos, condenaremos al hambre y al la malnutrición a nuestras poblaciones. Ante esa situación, la Comunidad internacional deberá preguntarse si los gobiernos que actúan así son los mismos de los países, muy respetables, cuyos Jefes de Estado y de Gobierno vienen haciendo públicas y reiteradas manifestaciones de estar preocupados por solucionar la deuda externa y estimular el crecimiento económico del Tercer Mundo.
Consideraciones como éstas justifican plenamente la afirmación que se hace al final del párrafo 35: "Es poco probable que las tendencias actuales proporcionen a la agricultura del Tercer Mundo el estímulo necesario para aumentar la producción, las exportaciones y el consumo". Es decir, estamos condenados a soportar el mismo lamentable estado de cosas hasta el final de nuestros días.
Los excedentes de cereales, que ya eran bajos en 1987-88, seguirán descendiendo; las existencias se reducirán a sólo el 16 por ciento del consumo mundial estirado, mientras que la FAO calcula entre el 17 y el 18 por ciento el nivel mínimo requerido para la seguridad alimentaria. El final del párrafo 49 afirma que, en cuanto a las existencias de trigo, la situación será aún peor que la de los primeros años 70. ¿Qué vamos a hacer, entonces? ¿Convocaremos otra Conferencia Mundial de la Alimentación como a la que asistimos en Roma, en noviembre de 1974?
Los pobres países en desarrollo están sometidos al vaivén de esas crisis para que así por un cierto período se incremente la asistencia, y apenas medio desaparecen los síntomas alarmantes, se vuelve de nuevo a períodos como el que ahora estamos padeciendo, muy semejante al de la mitad de los años 70. Naturalmente, los peligros los corren solamente los países en desarrollo. En efecto, basta observar el Cuadro 1.5 de la página 15 en el texto castellano para confirmar que, a pesar de las sequías, los excedentes se hallan concentrados, en un 65 por ciento, sólo en Norteamérica, en cuanto a los excedentes existentes en los estados desarrollados con economía de mercado.
Nos complace que después de la delegación de Colombia vaya a intervenir nuestro distinguido amigo el Sr. McGowan, representante del Canadá, porque ése es uno de los países en los cuales hay excedentes que siempre son utilizados de manera adecuada y constructiva en favor del Tercer Mundo. Canadá es el segundo donante del Programa Mundial de Alimentos. Hacemos ón porque nos preocupan las previsiones sobre la posible disminución de la ayuda alimentaria a partir del párrafo 110. Debemos hacer un llamado a los donantes para que mantengan e incrementen sus contribuciones al Programa Mundial de Alimentos. Los compromisos de ayuda alimentaria hechos en dinero reducen su alcance cuando aumentan los precios de los productos; pero los grandes Estados donantes tienen tantos recursos, que bien pueden contrarrestar esa situación aumentando sus aportes y contribuyendo de manera sostenida al PMA, program que viene realizando un labor excelente. Ante una situación de la agricultura y la alimentación tan sombría como la que describen estos documentos, señor Presidente y distinguidos colegas, los representantes de Colombia pensamos que se hace imperativo incrementar la asistencia técnica y financiera, pero en (Condiciones verdaderamente eficaces, para que los países en desarrollo puedan aumentar su propia producción. Será necesario también suministrar a la FAO, a nuestra Organización, que viene ofreciendo tan valiosos servicios a los países en desarrollo, los recursos indispensables para que la FAO siga trabajando cada vez mejor y más eficazmente, como lo viene haciendo.
Señor Presidente, si mis cálculos son exactos, he utilizado trece minutos; los otros dos no me alcanzan para referirme al desarrollo sostenible, pero yo debo ser entre los primeros a conceder a usted autoridad moral para que imponga sus constructivas orientaciones como Presidente.
CHAIRMAN: I thank the delegate of Colombia. I should like to make it clear that the recommendation which the Chair made on the fifteen minutes' limit is not a binding one. It is not in the rules of procedure, of course, it is just a guideline to help us to expedite our work. If the delegate of Colombia still has something to say on sustainable development, I am sure that all the delegates would be very happy to hear it. Would the delegate of Colombia like to take another few minutes to finish his speech?
Gonzalo BULA HOYOS (Colombia): Agradezco mucho su comprensión, señor Presidente. Tal vez, en esta oportunidad prefiero terminar mi declaración y, si hubiera tiempo más adelante, me referiría con mucho gusto al importante desarrollo sostenible. Pero creo que es conveniente que haya movilidad y ánimo de controversia y de sana colaboración entre todos los miembros de esta Comisión, excelentemente dirigida por usted.
John MCGOWAN (Canada): May I congratulate you, Mr Chairman, on your election to the Chair of Commission I.
As in the past, the documents produced are a very helpful overview of the world's agricultural situation. As an initial comment, we should like to stress the importance of FAO's capacity for gathering, analysing and disseminating reliable agricultural information at the global level. Since cereal stocks are one of the most sensitive issues dealt with in the report on The State of Food and Agriculture in 1989, and their level is very much linked to the agricultural situation in North America, let me begin by referring to the most up-to-date information on the results of this year's grains and oil seeds harvest in Canada.
Our estimate of production shows a total of about 51 million tons of all grains and oil seeds. This is up sharply from last year's drought-reduced crop of 41.5 million tons. This is, in fact, slightly higher than the ten-year average of 49.4 million tons but reflects above-average acreage for this year are estimated to be lower than the ten years for all items except corn. This reduction reflects the failure of moisture levels to recover sufficiently from the preceding year's drought. We anticipate that Canada's wheat export could reach about 17 million tons, up from last year's exports of 12.4 million. This figure is well below the 20 million tons average of the last five years. Canada's ending stocks may also build up slightly over this year. Canada considers that the present short stocks are primarily the result of two successive droughts in North America rather than an upsurge in world cereal imports.
On the important topic of agricultural trade, the document reports slow progress in the ongoing negotiations. Participant countries are presently tabling their detailed proposals for the achievement of the negotiating objectives. The negotiations will move into a key stage this year and next year, when the Chairman of the Agricultural Negotiating Group of the GATT attempts to develop a synthesized negotiating text drawing on the various country proposals. Canada has contributed recommendations regarding sanitary and phytosanitary measures and will continue to press the issue of new GATT roles.
The document rightly addresses the pressing problem of debt. If the climate for the negotiation of the debt looks brighter today in a number of countries, it is largely because of the efforts made by those countries in the implementation of difficult, but necessary policies, and from the decisions by the IMF and the World Bank in making resources available to support debt-reduction operations on a case-by-case basis. Several countries have benefited from multilateral resources that support debt-reduction packages negotiated directly with commercial creditors. Canada :recognizes that lew-income debtors continue to require concessional resources on an ongoing basis, while debtors need to persist with their adjustment efforts. For these reasons, we do not concur with the hypothesis in paragraph five of the main document stating that "despite improvements for some developing countries, the debt trap actually deepened for some nations whose economic adjustment measures had reached their limits".
The Canadian Delegation would like to update and correct the figures given in the Report on Canadian Food Aid. The volume of Canadian food aid declined between 1987-88 and 1988-89 by 4.58 percent, not by 18 percent, as stated in paragraph 12. Similarly, in supplement 1, paragraph 39, it is stated that Canada will only provide six hundred thousand tons of food aid this year. Our estimated figure is approximately eight hundred and fifty thousand tons. Assurances were given in the July 1989 meeting of the Comittee on Food Aid of the International Wheat Council that Canada's shipments of food aid would exceed our Food Aid Convention obligation.
We have also detected some problems in the text of the chapter dealing with Canada in document C 89/2. Paragraph 303 should read that Canada is committed to the elimination or reduction of trade-distorting support and protection, not "the liberalization of agricultural policies". Regarding paragraph 304, it is because grains and oilseeds are the major crops, not the "most favoured crops" that they are the major beneficiary of temporary Government interventions in the last few years, especially during the drought period.
We expect that the Canada-USA Trade Agreement will result in liberalized trade, but the term "will liberalize drastically trade" used in paragraph 305 is, in our opinion, unwarranted. In the same paragraph, it is stated that most agricultural trade between Canada and the United States is in fruit and vegetables. We find the statement incomplete in that, while fruit are the main imports from the United States, livestock and red meats are the main exports to the United States.
The Canadian Delegation would like to congratulate the Secretariat for the depth and scope of the analysis, presented, in Document C 89/2-Sup. 2, Sustainable Development and Natural Resources. We concur with the Secretariat on the need for designing new approaches and methods for assessing the long-term costs and benefits of investment proposals and for promoting an integrated approach to natural resource management. We encourage FAO to promote sustainable practices in agriculture, forestry and fisheries and to work in close coordination with the UNEP.
Because of the damaging impact of high-seas driftnet fishing on the marine environment, Canada is seeking a halt to further expansion of this practice, and a prompt transition to non-destructive fishing technology in the North Pacific. For this reason, in cooperation with several other nations, Canada is co-sponsoring a resolution in the UN General Assembly to seek a moratorium on high-seas driftnet fishing by mid-1992, unless or until it is agreed that the unacceptable impacts of such practices can be prevented.
I would again like to emphasize the usefulness of these documents.
Y.K. ATTA-KONADU (Ghana): It seems to me that the Conference is experiencing a period of calm such as we have not experienced for a long time. This being the case, I think it would be appropriate to inject a sense of humour into our deliberations by reintroducing the ritual of congratulating the Chairman, the Vice-Chairmen and the Secretariat, but, since the consensus is for us to refrain from this, I will abide by the decision of the majority: in other words, I shall not congratulate the Chairman but will go on to the business.
The Secretariat's eloquent assessment of the world economic environment as contained in documents C 89/2 and C 89/2-Sup.1 can be summed up in a few words: after seven years of uninterrupted prosperity and affluence in the developed countries, the longest post-war boom, alas not shared by the disadvantaged developing world, the sub-Saharan countries only managing 0.4 percent growth per annum, the developing countries remain outside the mainstream of economic development. My delegation agrees with the Secretariat's assessment of this phenomenal development.
My delegation further endorses the United States' Secretary of Agriculture's observation yesterday that most developing countries' markets are in North America and Europe. Incidentally, these countries are the principal aid donors, with Japan coming in in a big way in recent years.
Since aid and trade are inextricably linked, a high degree of economic dependence has been forged. Indeed, the upshot is that the developed countries' trade and aid policies can have disastrous consequences on the developing world. For example, the very high level of agricultural protectionism and price support, now an article of faith for the developed countries' agricultural policies, inexorably create price instability, generate surpluses which are at times dumped into the sea in order to stabilize domestic prices, and so on.
Tariff escalation and other non-tariff barriers to trade such as the rigid and sometimes not too well understood sanitary and phytosanitary requirements, discriminate against processed and horticultural products developing countries, and thus whittle away needlessly opportunities for agro-based industrialization and export diversification.
My delegation endorses the general observation that developing countries require greater economic independence to enable them to forge ahead with the arduous task of transforming their economies. This can best be accomplished if there are major reforms of internal or international trade as clearly spelt out in document C 89/2 and C 89/2-Sup.2 - reforms that will strengthen the GATT rules and discipline, and evolve aid policies which favour developing countries. Otherwise, the economic independence for which we are seeking will mean increasing vulnerability, and the so-called structure adjustment measure which all of us are adopting now will lead to further agricultural involution for the developing countries adopting structural adjustment programmes. At the same time, developing countries are faced with very low prices of cocoa and other crops of critical importance for the development and general welfare of such countries. The consequence is that even as we introduce incentive packages to encourage increased production and the farmers in turn positively respond with greater efforts, foreign exchange receipts keep on dwindling catastrophically, and the indication frem document C 89/2 and document C 89/2-Sup.1 are that there appears to be no end in sight to these adverse consequences.
My delegation believes that some key positive steps have to be taken to reverse the adverse trends identified in the two documents. First, the sheer magnitude of resources needed to restructure African economies, and particularly to generate surpluses to pay off our debts and reverse the environmental degradation caused by sheer poverty, as we have observed already far exceeds our domestic resources. Greater injection of external resources is therefore needed.
Second, and related to the above, is the need to inject substantial external liquidity into the system to enable these countries to pay for high-cost inputs which are badly needed for our programmes. Of course, we all know that external credit lines can be disrupted if debt service cannot be maintained.
Third, favourable trends in the world economy are needed for African economies to grow. To do this within the context of the ongoing structural adjustment programmes, the industrial countries ought to make the necessary (and relatively much minor) changes required in their own fiscal, monetary, trade, agricultural and industrial policies.
Mr Chairman, apart from the fact that Tables 1-4 of document C 89/2 and Table 4 of C 89/2-Sup.1 are contradictory in certain aspects, for example, different figures are quoted to reflect per capita the decline in food production in Ghana, the actual picture that has emerged backed by objective crop assessments in Ghana is a different one. In fact, while as already reported, the global agricultural production stagnated in both 1987 and 1989, the recent figures in Ghana show that the economy has begun to respond well to the structural adjustment measurements. Agricultural output grew a little under 14 percent in 1984, accelerated by good rainfall and improved input supplies. A further growth of 5.3 percent was recorded in 1986, and 6 percent in 1988, and we are expecting a similar performance in 1989 with the population growing at only 2.6 percent.
Specifically, my delegation would like to put it on record that the series of devaluation and subsequent increases in the agricultural output prices have had an enormously favourable impact on the comparative advantage of Ghanaian agriculture including crops and food crops as well as import . Thus the production of maize rose from 264 300 metric tons in 1982 to 600 000 metric tons in 1988, an increase of 127 percent. Rice production rose from 36 000 metric tons in 1982 to 95 000 metric tons in 1988, an increase of 163 percent. Sorghum/millet from 246 300 metric tons in 1982 to 995 000 metric tons in 1989, an increase of 304 percent. Additionally over 65 different non-traditional agricultural commodities were exported to destinations all over the world during the biennium. Improved delivery mechanisms and the appropriate pricing policies were uniquely responsible for these dramatic gains. Thus for the first time in many years, Ghana's objective of diversifying the sources of its agricultural export earnings is being fulfilled due to the positive impact of the Economic Recovery Programme on the agricultural sector. What one sees as more encouraging, Mr Chairman, is the fact that the traditional division between export crops and non-food crops is gradually becoming irrelevant as every agricultural commodity in Ghana today has become a potential export crop.
On the question of debt reduction, a case has been made that there is a need to look at all the situations on a case-by-case basis. Our position is that it would be more useful to develop a package of relief measures for all the debtor countries in Africa.
I would like to end here and come in later on the environmental issues.
Jacques WARIN (France): Monsieur le Président, permettez-moi tout d'abord de vous féliciter d'avoir été élu à cette très incartante commission puisque l'examen de la situation mondiale de l'agriculture et de l'alimentation est certainement l'une des missions fondamentales de notre Organisation.
Je vous demanderai, en commençant, de me donner l'autorisation, après m'être exprimé à titre national, de passer la parole au représentant de la Commission des Communautés européennes qui exprimera la position agréée entre les Douze; je vous donne l'assurance que nos deux interventions se tiendront dans la limite que vous nous avez conseillée.
Je m'exprime maintenant à titre national.
La délégation française a examiné avec un vif intérêt les rapports préparés par le Secrétariat et je tiens à le remercier tout particulièrement du travail accompli.
Sans commenter dans le détail ces documents, je veux reprendre les principales questions de fond qu'ils soulèvent.
Carme le soulignait hier le Ministre français de l'agriculture, la situation mondiale de l'agriculture est à la fois encourageante et préoccupante.
En effet, il faut se réjouir de l'amélioration globale de la sécurité alimentaire mondiale: d'une part, les crises alimentaires ont été moins nombreuses; d'autre part, les marchés agricoles mondiaux, et notamment les marchés céréaliers, se sont rééquilibrés: les stocks sont mieux répartis et pèsent moins fortement sur les prix. S'agissant du niveau des stocks mondiaux de céréales, je voudrais atténuer le discours quelque peu pessimiste du Secrétariat: les stocks de céréales sont encore suffisants pour assurer la sécurité alimentaire mondiale; plus que leurs volumes, c'est leur fluidité qui est à rechercher.
Mais la situation reste insatisfaisante pour de nombreux pays en développement, où la croissance du niveau de la production alimentaire est insuffisante.
Je veux insister également sur d'autres grands problêmes traités dans ce document:
Dans le domaine commercial, la France se félicite que le solde des échanges agricoles soit favorable aux pays en développement, mais constate que les perturbations très fortes rencontrées sur les marchés mondiaux affectent les exportations de bon nombre d'entre eux.
Comme l'a rappelé le Commissaire européen, M. Mac Sharry, qui s'exprimait à la Conférence, la Communauté européenne souhaite voir conserver aux pays en développement un traitement spécifique au sein des négociations commerciales multilatérales en cours, et elle s'attache à ce que des avancées significatives soient obtenues pour les plus pauvres d'entre eux.
A de nombreuses reprises, nous avons également souligné l'urgence qu'il y avait à ce que des solutions soient rapidement mises en oeuvre pour réduire le fardeau de l'endettement d'un grand nombre de pays, et nous avons même commencé à agir en ce sens. Il est fondamental que les pays développés maintiennent un flux de ressources en direction des pays en développement: de ce point de vue, l'aide publique au développement est devenue, pour les pays les plus défavorisés, une ressource essentielle. Pleinement consciente de cette exigence, la France a poursuivi son effort, et l'aide publique française au développement a atteint en 1988 0,54 pour cent du produit national brut.
Pour être efficace, l'aide publique doit se concentrer dans des secteurs prioritaires et, à notre sens, le développement rural est une clef de la dynamisation des économies.
Aux niveaux national et régional, il me semble fondamental que soit encouragée la mise en place de politiques d'organisation des marchés renforçant les relations entre l'offre de produits agricoles et la demande des consommateurs, en particulier des consommateurs urbains.
Ceci implique que les politiques agricoles soient orientées non seulement vers la production mais aussi vers la transformation des produits et la commercialisation. Je veux souligner, à ce titre, un pays comme l'Inde qui, en s'inspirant des principes simples, a pu bénéficier à plein des apports de la Révolution verte.
Enfin, Monsieur le Président, sans aucunement négliger les problèmes que connaissent les autres régions du monde, je voudrais rappeler que l'un des enjeux majeurs des prochaines années est l'amélioration de la situation alimentaire et agricole dans les pays d'Afrique subsaharienne.
Bien que le secteur agricole soit prépondérant, l'Afrique arrive de moins en moins à se nourrir. La croissance de la production alimentaire reste inférieure à la croissance de la population. Les prix des produits exportés ont presque tous baissé, surtout depuis ces cinq dernières années. Dans le même temps, les importations de produits vivriers, notamment de céréales, continuaient à croître très rapidement.
Cette situation, et l'échec de certains projets de développement agricole, ouvrent un vaste domaine de réflexion et de concentration dans lequel la FAO a, à toute évidence, un rôle central à jouer, afin que continuent à être conçues de nouvelles stratégies de développement agricole.
Le redressement de l'Afrique subsaharienne appelle la poursuite de réformes structurelles tournées certes vers la recherche des grands équilibres économiques et financiers, mais aussi vers la préparation du développement à long terme.
Les besoins à cet égard sont immenses pour assurer un retour à la compétitivité: réhabilitation des infrastructures et des secteurs productifs, gains de productivité dans les filières traditionnelles, diversification des productions, etc.
En contrepartie des efforts des pays africains, la communauté internationale doit se mobiliser davantage.
Il y a là un champ d'action privilégié pour notre Organisation, et la France, qui reste à l'heure actuelle le premier bailleur de fonds de l'Afrique subsaharienne, ne peut que se réjouir de ce que la FAO accorde une attention toute particulière à cette région du monde.
Merci, Monsieur le Président; je vous réitère ma demande de bien vouloir laisser parler après moi le représentant de la Commission des Communautés européennes.
LE PRESIDENT: La Commission a écouté la demande du distingué représentant de la France; si la Commission n'y voit pas d'inconvénient, je donne la parole au représentant de la Communauté européenne, qui parlera au nom de ses pays membres.
Je ne vois aucune objection; par conséquent je donne la parole au représentant de la Communauté économique européenne.
Gérard KIELY (EEC): I should also like to thank the Commission for giving me the opportunity of making these comments.
Document C 89/2 and its supplement provide an interesting and useful description of the rain trends in production, consumption and trade of food and agricultural products. The declining trend in world cereal stocks is sizeable and needs to be closely followed as regards its effect on the world food security situation, While aggregate food output for developing countries as a whole increased by 5.6 percent in 1988. These good results are not expected to continue in 1989, for which the projected food output increase in developing countries is only 1.3 percent, well below population growth.
In several countries, for example Mozambique and Malawi, the food supply situation remains precarious, while in others it is deteriorating rapidly, such as in parts of Ethiopia and the Sudan. A timely and adequate response of food aid is called for. The European Community intends to continue its contribution in this respect.
The rise in world market prices for cereals will strengthen the position of food producers in developing countries, to the extent that governments allow these increases to be passed on to the marketing channels. At the same time, price increases will lead to a worsening balance of payments situation for food-importing developing countries and will particularly hurt vulnerable population groups, for example the urban poor, who have to obtain their food through the market.
The European Community favours improving the efficiency of targeted interventions, possibly by using food aid to prevent a deterioration of the nutritional status of such vulnerable groups.
As regards the Community's policy in relation to food security, it is worth mentioning that the Community Council approved a resolution on this subject in November last year which reflects the result of the Community's experience on food security natters. A strategy and programme to strengthen food security requires integrated measures and interventions in areas of food production, food marketing and the purchasing power of food consumers. Food security does not necessarily imply that a country has to be self-sufficient in foodstuffs. An appropriate balance should be struck between local production and imports.
Efforts to improve production and marketing of food need to be complemented by measures in relation to consumption. Consumption of local products should be encouraged, particularly by reducing the cost of processing to development of appropriate technology. There should also be specific measures to combat under-nutrition of vulnerable groups.
While the current decline of world cereal stocks should be monitored closely, in our view it does not warrant an effort by developed countries to increase production beyond the effect of a return to an average which the pattern already implies. Such action would lead to increased surpluses which would again depress world market prices. On the other hand, the effort of food-deficit developing countries to increase their food production that are under way and that are in many cases supported by the European Community should certainly be continued.
As regards food aid, the increase in world market prices has important implications for the budgetary outlays. Nevertheless, the European Community fully intends to fulfil its international obligations and also intends to respond as much as possible to the requests of food-deficit countries.
The Community will also continue to favour triangular food aid operations, especially where such actions can improve cereals trade at the regional level, contribute to a regional approach towards food security, and provide products corresponding to food habits in developing countries.
With regard to the relation between adjustment programmes and food security, while there is certainly a need for many developing countries, especially in sub-Saharian Africa, to continue their adjustment efforts, the precise measures to be taken and also the phasing and packaging of these measures may have important implications for food security that should be taken into account right from the stage of the design of the adjustment programme.
Countries carrying out adjustment programmes should be assisted with designing measures and action programmes that help to preserve food security without leading to an unsustainable burden on the government budget. The social dimension of adjustment programme SDA, set up by the UNDP, the and the African Development Bank, responds to these needs. Several European countries as wall as the Community are providing support to this initiative. It is important to ensure that the insights gained through the SDA are directly applied in action programmes that constitute an integral part of the adjustment packages.
Given the importance of Comrnunity agricultural production in the global context and its contribution to the world food situation, I should now like to make some comments on recent agricultural policy changes in the Community.
The Common Agricultural Policy, that is the agricultural policy of the European Community, has been undergoing a process of major reform for a number of years now, particularly since 1984. The underlying philosophy is one of opening Community agriculture more fully to market forces with the objective of controlling production and the costs of market support.
Since the last FAO Conference in November 1987, this concept has been applied more stringently, with the introduction in 1988 of restrictive measures regarding both production and expenditure control.
Given the dependence on the Common Agricultural Policy of over 9 million Community farmers and the diversity of farm structures throughout the Community, it was deemed necessary to ease the more extreme consequences of these reforms with other measures of a structural and social nature.
The substantial reduction in stocks which are overhanging the markets also helps to make the reforms less unpalatable in that markets, both domestic and international, became more buoyant as stocks diminished.
All these measures, combined with the many other reforms carried out over the years, have certainly reoriented the emphasis of the Common Agricultural Policy of the Community, but I assure you that in no way have the basic principles underlying our agricultural policy been altered.
Finally, allow me to say that the Community has made serious efforts to control production and stabilize markets, with some notable success. The stability on the world market which we experience today for some products can only be maintained and improved upon through a global approach. The present round of GATT negotiations provides us with the opportunity of having such a global approach and long-term stability. It is imperative, therefore, that this occasion be seized upon.
Shahid NAJAM (Pakistan): Documents C 89/2 and its supplement on the State of Food and Agriculture present a comprehensive review on the world economic environment, agriculture and food production, food aid and external assistance, besides dwelling on the specific subsectors of forestry and fisheries. These documents also reflect on the regional review of the situation of the economy and agriculture and reveal that the world economic situation, more specifically the situation in regard to food and agriculture in the developing countries, especially in Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, is extremely unsatisfactory.
Although overall growth in the developing regions registered an estimated increase of 3.4 percent in 1987 and 3.6 percent in 1988, yet it could not prevent the per capita increase from dropping in many areas. The overall value of exports by developing countries increased only slightly in 1988, but their terms of trade deteriorated because of the steep fall in world . Oppressive external debt remains the main obstacle to satisfactory economic growth which increased by 4 percent in 1987 and by 1 percent in 1988. Indeed, the debt service ratio worsened in 1988 for some of the most severely indebted and for capital-importing countries in Africa, the Middle East, Latin American and the Caribbean, which is expected further to deteriorate in 1989.
In many developing countries, high inflation accelerated in 1988. This was primarily caused by higher commodity prices and lack of fiscal restraints. While prospects remain uncertain, some easing in inflationary pressures is expected during 1989.
It is also a matter of grave concern that as against the mounting pressure of rapid population increase, the global agricultural production stagnated in both 1987 and 1988, as also did cereal production, which declined by 3.3 percent. Estimates for 1989-90 show a possible rise in cereal production. However, the report vividly highlights that food security is expected to decline in 1989.
At regional level the situation continues to be gloomy. Agricultural production remains well below the rate of population growth. In Asia and the Pacific it grew by 3.8 percent per annum during 1981 to 1987 but observed a mixed trend in Latin America and the Caribbean. In the Near East, agricultural production rose by 3.2 percent, but moderately declined in the USSR and severely declined in East European countries. Output also fell in the developed market economies, North America and Western Europe by 4.6 percent, 11.2 percent and 0.5 percent respectively.
Food aid is also expected to drop, due primarily to higher market prices in the wake of poor crops in many donor countries. This might fall below ten thousand million tonnes, the level established by the World Food Conference of 1974. The global supply/denmand balance for cereals would continue to widen due to adverse weather conditions in certain countries of the world. Stocks are expected to fall further to 290 million tonnes from already low levels. This, combined with low expected food aid, would pose a challenge to low income and food-deficit countries.
Besides cereals, the fish catch is likely to decline in developing market economies by 4.8 percent. The increase of 2.8 percent in developed market economies is likely to be offset by this decline. As regards forestry products, world production, as well as trade, is likely to increase despite the fact that deforestation is taking place at an alarming rate in many parts of the world. Developing countries are experiencing the most rapid rate of deforestation. Management of forest resources remains inadequate in most countries, despite the fact that FAO regards forests as fundamental to food security. It is thus abundantly axiomatic that the would economic environments at present are not conducive to agricultural development. In fact, to the great detriment of the developing countries, the world economy is fraught with the maladies of protectionism, increasing inflationary pressures, slow economic growth, trade imbalances, inadequate access of the products of the developing countries to world market, and the erosion of preferential trade arrangements. This state of affairs needs to be ameliorated, and concrete measures evolved for establishing equitable and viable international economic order, for reversing the trend of flow of resources from developing countries to the developed countries, and above all for ensuring a good harvest commensurate with current consumption trends, adequate enough to replenish the depleted food stocks and to re-establish the minimum levels of global food security.
Despite the bleak and not-too-happy state of would economy, agriculture in Pakistan has performed fairly well, owing primarily to the framework of policies and strategies for agricultural development through institutionalized technological change reflected in higher yields and greater production of high-value products. The main emphasis of the agricultural policy is on acceleration of the pace of modernization, to achieve a growth rate substantially higher than that of population, an increase in the agricultural productivity through vertical expansion, consolidation of self-sufficiency in grains, diversification of agricultural production and rural employment opportunities, strengthening of institutional support capabilities and availability of an appropriate technology package of farm inputs to farmers, besides incentives and support-price measures. Our seventh 5-year development plan, 1988 to 1993, based on this policy framework targets the growth rate of agriculture at 5.2 percent, with major crops at 5.6 percent and minor crops at 3.6 percent.
Although the year 1988 to 1989 was not conducive for the crop production due to the vagaries of weather, heavy rains and devasting floods, yet with the adoption of these measures, the agricultural sector registered a growth rate of 6.1 percent. The major crops - wheat, rice and cotton - increased by 7.8 percent, and minor crops by 3.2 percent. The livestock sector and forestry also made headway in terms of 3.9 percent and 0.5 percent growth. We could manage to harvest 14.4 million tons of wheat, 3.2 million tons of rice, 8.4 million bales of cotton and 36 million tons of sugarcane.
However, due to floods and rains, as earlier stated, and in the wake of the presence of more than 3.5 million Afghan refugees, we had to import 1.8 million tons of wheat during 1988-89. An identical quantity for imports of wheat has been planned for 1989-90 to secure the national reserve position and meet the expected shortages. We have fixed the targets for the major crops for the year 1989-90 as follows: cotton, 9 million bales; rice, 3.4 million tons; sugarcane, 34.3 million tons; and wheat, 15.5 million tons.
We are confident and hopeful of achieving these targets, which would further consolidate our agricultural and food security situation.
Ms SITI BALKISH SHARIFF (Malaysia): First of all, the Malaysian delegation would like to thank the Secretariat for an informative paper and the clear presentation made this morning by Mr Dutia.
We note that the overall economic growth was primarily favourable to developed countries, while growth in many developing countries slackened as a result of unresolved external debt problems and protectionist policies of the developed countries. Global agricultural production has stagnated, and its future growth potential does not appear bright, because of continued over-supply of many agricultural products, slow growth in global demand for agricultural products and unstable commodity prices. We share FAO's concern for a good harvest to meet current consumption levels, to replenish depleted food stocks and to re-establish minimum levels of global food security.
The Malaysian delegation looks forward to the methodology to be released by FAO regarding nutritional levels assessment, which will enhance efforts in improving not only food consumption, but also production.
The Malaysian delegation is concerned about the decline in exports by many developing countries. The GATT Study conclusions about the negative impact of agricultural protectionism on farm trade signal the importance of a freer world market. In this regard, we believe that the move to form blocks runs contrary to the spirit of liberal trading systems, and will hinder further efforts to improve economic performance of developing countries, in particular to correcting the current perverse flow of resources from developing to developed countries.
At this juncture, with regard to the Uruguay Round Negotiations on agriculture, we would like to re-emphasize the need to provide special and differential treatment for the developing countries in their endeavour to undertake agricultural reform.
The Malaysian delegation would like to take this opportunity to inform the Conference of our commitment for the stable management of our valuable tropical rain forest, not only to conserve our national heritage, but also to ensure a better quality of life for our people. In this regard, ecologically-and environmentally-oriented forest conservation and management practices have been adopted to ensure forest renewal and yield on a sustained basis. About 20 million hectares, or 61.1 percent of our total land area is still under natural forest, and, taking into account other areas under tree-crops, such as oil-palm and rubber, the figure is even larger at 23.6 million hectares, or 71.1 percent. In preserving our flora and fauna, besides the large areas of undisturbed forest, some 1.3 million hectares have also been established as reserve for national parks and wildlife sanctuaries.
Malaysia is concerned about calls made by conservation groups, as deliberated in paragraph 146 of the Report, for a boycott of timber products under the guise of environmental concerns. Even more disturbing is the fact that such concerns have been used as a basis for suggesting unjustified barriers to trade.
The Malaysian delegation wishes to re-emphasize the country's commitment to protect the environment, as contained in the Langkawi Declaration on the Environment, which was fully endorsed by the Heads of Government of the Commonwealth at its recent meeting.
Rolf AKESSON (Sweden) : We would also like to commend the Secretariat for the thorough report on the present situation, and Mr Dutia for his introductory statement. The report is a major undertaking and it contains an immense amount of useful information. while the theory of specialization according to comparative advantages is appealing with regard to the activities of international organizations, it is sometimes difficult to apply in practice, but we have here one example where FAO clearly has a comparative advantage. It is indeed difficult to imagine that an analysis as comprehensive as this one could be produced at any other international organization. For that reason, and since it will directly or indirectly form a basis for opinions and decisons on both national and international economic policy, we are of course anxious about the reliability of its data and the soundness of its judgements. In general, we find that it presents a fair and balanced view of developments, and, although we do not agree with each and every one of them, we find the analysis and conclusions relevant and easy to accept.
However, there is one exception, and I think it was touched upon by the delegate from France just recently. It concerns the rather dark picture that is given of the present food situation and the lack of confidence about the future. We find that there is undue emphasis on the negative aspects, and that the more balanced account of all relevant factors would give rise to an assessment that is both more optimistic and more nuanced.
Let me give you a few examples: it is true that cereal stock levels now are lower than during earlier parts of the 1980s, but it is equally true that earlier levels were considered excessive, too costly and with negative market effects.
Secondly, it is true that total cereal production declined in 1987 and 1988, but it is also true that it was a decline from a level clearly above market clearing levels, and also a decline which, to some extent, was planned and longed for; there were thus large reserves of production capacity in many important producing countries.
Thirdly, it is certainly possible that a change in the global climate may have a negative long-term effect on agriculture in many areas, but is it not equally possible that the opposite may occur in other areas? Is it not also likely that in the short term there will, in fact, be positive effects due to the yield increase associated with carbon dioxide enrichment?
For the longer-term prospects for per capita food production, is it not worth mentioning that the population growth in many large developing countries, and in developing countries in total, is considerably smaller now than it was before?
For these, and for some other reasons, a fuller account of all relevant factors would provide a less negative picture. We are not looking for a bright and rosy picture, and we have certainly no reason to be complacent; particularly in the short run the situation seems precarious, and should be subject to close monitoring, in spite of the favourable outlook for 1989-90. However, a more balanced view may not only increase the credibility of the Secretariat, but may also contribute to the ongoing reform of agricultural policies, both in developed countries and in developing countries, as recommended also in this Organization.
Finally, I would like to say that we appreciate the problem-oriented sections on forestry. It is indeed an important area and we think it generally deserves thorough treatment. In the future we Would be happy to find an extension of the areas and the problems covered in previews of this kind. For example, the EEC is certainly an important part of Europe, but it is not the only one, and in many other European countries, particularly in the north, forestry plays a vital role. The effects of airborne pollution on forestry is one example of a topic which might merit attention in regular global overviews of this kind.
Ali ARHOUMA (Libya) (original language Arabic): My country's delegation deeply appreciates the information, statistics, data and proposals included in the documents before us. We should like to thank the Secretariat for its great efforts. We should like to stress the FAO's role in laying down the programmes for the implementation of these proposals. My country's delegation supports the analysis of the food and agriculture situation in Africa given by the distinguished representative of Ghana.
We share the international community's concern regarding the world food situation despite the expected improvement for this year. We believe that the real problem lies in the fact that developing countries are unable to raise their production rates in order for them to be coherent with their natural resources.
Africa , Mr Chairman, despite its vast natural resources, is the region that faces the gravest food problems in the world. We believe that the FAO has a major role to play to enable the developing countries to achieve the optimum utilization of their resources in order to increase their production and to protect their ecological resources.
We do support the FAO Programmes to extend the necessary technical assistance to the developing countries and we believe that this aspect should receive special priority. In this connection, I should like to refer to the meeting sponsored by the FAO on world food security. We hope that recommendations adopted by this meeting will be taken into account in the elaboration of the world food strategy. My country believes that something should be done about the declining prices of the developing countries' export commodities and the high prices of import commodities.
This situation results in aggravating the problem of indebtedness and the depletion of the natural resources in many of the developing countries. Moreover, my delegation would like to refer to the paragraph on pests and diseases in document C 89/2-Sup.1 which relates to the American screwworm fly. We would like to inform the Member States that as soon as we learned of the possible presence of this dangerous pest in the country, we contacted all parties of experience.
We also asked the FAO to help us in monitoring programmes. Surveys have actually been conducted and we are doing our best to control the screwworm. We are in constant contact with the FAO. Funds that amounted to over one million dollars have been allocated for the campaign against it.
Mr Chairman, my country's delegation supports the FAO approach in the field of forestry for achieving the appropriate balance between forests and the environment. As for the strategy of tropical forests, we do support it fully. We believe that the Tropical Forestry Action Plan referred to in page 59 of the Arabic text of document C 89/2-Sup.2 is an exemplary one. We hope that similar plans of action would be created for other regions, such as the Near East region, in the future.
Janusz ROWINSKI (Poland): In my intervention, I will limit myself only to some comments on selected issues, as presented in part II, section E, paragraphs 250 to 271, and in paragraph 23 of the Supplement. In this part of the material, a review of the situation in Eastern Europe and in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was performed. This region includes also Poland.
The point of the matter is that a synthetic assessment of the transformations taking place in this region in the economic sphere is an unusually difficult task. The group of countries in question, only a few years ago, could have been described as having a uniform economic system. It is presently clear that the systems of management of the national economies are becoming more and more differentiated. Some countries are maintaining the system of management of the national economy practised so far. Other countries, for example Poland, are introducing far-reaching changes, moving towards market mechanisms and transforming the relations of ownership in the national economy. The speed of the changes in question has accelerated in some countries to such a rapid pace that any assessment based on an analysis of the state of things in the years 1987 and 1988, and even in early 1989, is already outdated.
The remark made in paragraph 269 that "Reforms in agricultural management have been particularly far-reaching in most countries" calls for further comment. This is true of some countries in the region but the situation in this respect in Poland is different. The way and mode of affecting the biggest and most important group of agricultural producers - private farmers - has not undergone significant change for a number of years now.
Thus, in the last years the important system changes were introduced first of all in the other segments of the food economy and consisted for the main part of strengthening of the position of the enterprises.
A major acceleration of the transformations in the food economy took place in summer of 1989. At this point, I would like to draw attention to paragraph 271. It is correctly remarked that the rapid rate of elimination of subsidies serves to accelerate the inflationary processes and exerts a strong negative impact on accumulated savings, wages, retirement pensions and the functioning of the taxation system. In this context, as an example of countries Where the presently experienced situation should encourage other countries to more spread out in time elimination of subsidies, Poland and Hungary are quoted. But the very same facts have permitted the formulation of the view that a policy of small steps is, in Polish conditions, not very efficient. It has resulted, among others, in a growth of the state budget deficit and has brought about the menace of complete destruction of the market, thus making it impossible for the critical state of the national economy to improve. Taking this into account, bold and radical moves were decided. In the course of only a few months, practically all subsidies to agricultural production inputs and to food products were eliminated and price controls lifted. With demand exceeding supply, a hyper-inflationary movement of prices was recorded, which after: only a few months ran into the limited demand barrier. We hope this is the beginning of the phase of declining inflation. It is, as yet, definitely too early to make any assessment of the overall effect of the changes.
The described policy is one of the major elements of the first stage of the economic programme, which is presently being discussed with the International Monetary Fund. It is no doubt a very risky policy. It may encounter strong public resistance and thus may be conducted, only by a Government which has strong public support.
Shamim AHMED (Bangladesh) : As this is the first time that the Bangladesh delegation has taken the floor here, I, on behalf of my delegation, would like to convey my heartiest felicitation to you on your election as Chairman of this Commission. May I also assure you, Mr Chairman, of my delegation's fullest support and cooperation.
Coming to the topic of our deliberations here, I would like to congratulate the FAO Secretariat for producing the document under the title The State of Food and Agriculture. These documents contain an excellent and comprehensive presentation of all major issues relative to the state of food and agriculture all over the world. I also thank Mr Dutia for his lucid presentation of the topic.
As we all know from the experiences of many developing countries, including my own, agriculture is never a simple business. Despite best efforts and sound policies, weather, pests, and other factors can bring disappointment.
On behalf of my delegation, I extend concern and sympathy of the people of Bangladesh to the people of those countries whose agricultural production has been adversely affected this year due to natural hazards and calamities.
Here at this point, let me say a few words on the present state of agriculture in Bangladesh. From the experience of my country, since the floods of just over a year ago, we offer not only thanks but also hope. Today, not yet one and a half year after experiencing the devastation of unprecedented floods, farmers in Bangladesh are beginning to taste the fruits of high rates of agricultural growth. Within the past year, our Government has made many changes in policies towards agriculture. These new policies have, for the most part, liberalized private import trade and also domestic trade in agricultural inputs. The most important input affected by policy changes has been small diesel engines which farmers use to lift ground and surface water for irrigation. The Government has also taken steps to give the private sector a larger role in fertilizer trade. With these new policies, 1989 saw a record expansion of the area irrigated and indications are that the expansion of irrigated area in 1990 may be equally impressive. We anticipate substantially larger food grain production in 1989-90.
Before I conclude, I would like to draw your kind attention to paragraph 52 of the document C 89/2 where there is a reference to what has been stated as occurrence of famine in Bangladesh due to floods last year. Here I would say, most emphatically, as also stressed by the Honourable Minister of Agriculture of Bangladesh in his statement at the Plenary, that despite a very bad flood last year, there was no famine in Bangladesh. This was due to timely mobilization of resources by the Bangladesh Government.
As deliberations on this topic proceed, my delegation will take the floor at subsequent stages.
MA GENG-OU (China) (original language Chinese): Mr Chairman, first of all, please allow me, on behalf of the Chinese Delegation, to congratulate you on your election as Chairmain of this catmittee. I believe that under your guidance this carmittee will have good discussions on the important issues related to food and agriculture in a friendly and cooperative manner so that the deliberations will be fruitful.
From the conference documents and the information provided by FAO, we can see that the situation of food production has become rather serious in recent years. After a sharp drop in would food production for two consecutive years in 1987 and 1988, the global cereal production rose somewhat in 1989, but still below the annual consumption level. The cereal stocks will continue to fall for a third year being only 16 percent of the annual consumption, still lower than the minimum level set by FAO to ensure world food security. It should be specially mentioned that the situation has become even worse for the developing countries. Despite the recovery of international agricultural trade after the decline at the beginning of the 1980's, the agricultural trade in developing countries has progressed slowly. Despite price recovery of cereals, the price of cash crops, important exports for the developing countries, remains depressed. The terms of agricultural trade worsened for most developing countries. Besides, in the developing countries, the serious debt problem and the outflow of capital has led to the weakening of food import ability and reduction of capital needed for the development of food and agriculture in the third would countries.
The agricultural environment and resources are deteriorating with each passing day. All these has had extremely adverse effects on the agricultural production and economic prosperity of the developing countries. In view of this grave situation, we hope that this Conference will concentrate on the development of production, trade and international cooperation and take effective measures and realistic actions.
It is our view that agriculture holds an exceedingly important position in the economic growth of the developing countries. The development of agriculture will not only provide food to the world and eradicate hunger and malnutrition but will also facilitate the development of international agricultural trade and international economy. Therefore, the developing countries should place agriculture in a strategically important position and make necessary adjustment and reforms in the backward agricultural systems, policies, techniques and managerial methods and mobilize thousands of millions of farmers for concrete actions. On the other hand, the international community should, with joint efforts, create a favourable international economic and political environment for development. The developed countries should, in the spirit of sincere cooperation, and out of long-term interest, assist developing countries in food production and capital investment and technology transfers relax competition with developing countries concerning their major agricultural produce and improve terms of agricultural trade. The developing countries should also strengthen cooperation among themselves. We believe that FAO can make greater contributions to the promotion of world agricultural cooperation and the acceleration of agricultural development.
In recent years, the deterioration of the world agricultural environment and resources has become increasingly serious, and this has aroused the great concern of the international community. At present, soil and water erosion, the loss of soil fertility, the reduction of tropical forests and soil salification and desertification in certain parts of the world are worsening. The aquatic resources in some areas and certain animal and plant resources with exploration potential are gradually decreasing or disappearing. The deterioration of the environment in some parts of the world may possibly lead to a global crisis. We should bear this in mind.
We have noticed that a great deal of work has been done by FAO and other international organizations in protecting the agricultural environment and resources. However, such work has not received enough attention. Some programmes and proposals are not implemented, due to lack of funds and manpower. Therefore, strategic plans should be worked out to protect and recycle agricultural resources for sustained development and food security and for future generations as well. We sincerely hope that the international community, especially the developed countries, will make more commitments in environmental protection.
Now I should like to touch briefly upon food and agricultural production in China.
Since the rural economic reforms started in 1979, there has been a rapid development of agricultural production in China. The population of 1.1 billion has basic food and clothing. Nevertheless, the production of food and cotton after 1985 has never gone beyond the 1984 level, which has caused great concern to the Chinese Government. The total output of this year's summer crop exceeded the record level in history and an increase of cereal output is expected.
The Chinese Government will make further efforts to do the following work. First, we will continue to increase the rural reforms, establish and perfect the pre-production in production and post-harvest service systems and promote appropriate scale operations in areas with suitable conditions. Second, we will actively popularize advanced research findings in agriculture, organize agricultural regional development in a planned way and develop new production forces for an all-round development of agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry, side-line production and fisheries. Third, we will increase agricultural inputs, expand farmland capital construction, develop agro-industry in a big way and improve agricultural production and ecological conditions.
With all these measures, the Chinese Government is confident that agriculture in China will be developed continuously and steadily.
Chang Hyuk SUH (Republic of korea): On behalf of the Korean Government delegation, I should like to express the Korean Government's worries about the uncertain world food situation and research development. With regard to this, I would comment on two issues: first, the uncertain food situation and the problems of food security of developing countries and, second, the problems related to food production and natural resource depletion.
As indicated in The State of Food and Agriculture 1989, world cereal stocks are expected to decline further and will amount to 16 percent of world annual consumption by the end of 1989. This level is below the minimum necessary to safeguard world food security. Decreasing world cereal stocks pose a very serious problem for many food-importing developing countries. Increasing world cereal prices due to decreasing stocks will eventually affect the people of the developing countries, because most of these countries do not have enough foreign currency to import food.
Accordingly, I suggest that workable measures should be devised to reduce the uncertain food situation, especially for the food-importing countries. In this regard, I think the role of food-exporting developed countries is much more important than that of developing countries. Moreover, serious consideration should be given to allowing food-importing countries like Korea to maintain an optimi level of domestic food supply and to continue to adopt the necessary policy measures to ensure adequate food supplies.
On my second point, I should like to comment on natural resource depletion relating to food production. We know the seriousness of natural resource depletion in world agriculture, fishery and forestry development. However, it is very complicated to find out what is the optimum depletion level in the case of renewable resource development. Moreover, the externality problems of resource development make it more difficult.
Accordingly, the problems relating to food production at this time and conservation for future food production should be decided based on scientific knowledge and back-up. This approach can also be applied to common resource development in the area of fisheries development in the high seas.
With regard to this issue, I expect FAO to initiate the provision of work on a scientific basis on natural resource depletion and food production.
Engelbert MOYO (Tanzania): In Tanzania, agriculture continues to be the largest sector in the country's economy. It provides 40-50 percent of the GDP and 80 percent of export earnings. It is the main source of food supply, provides raw materials for the industrial sector labour employment and creates a large and effective market for domestic industrial goods.
Real growth rate in 1986 in Tanzania was 3.8 percent, 4.4 percent in 1987 and 4.8 percent in 1988, comrpared to annual growth rates of less than 3 percent during the 1981-1985 period. The encouraging performance in the agricultural sector in Tanzania was mainly due to the favourable weather conditions, due to the fact that the agricultural sector in Tanzania is rain-fed, and there were quite good price incentives for small-scale farmers. But large potential for expanding production remains unexploited, mainly as a result of low level of technology, insufficient and inefficient distribution of inputs and tools and poor agricultural infrastructure in marketing roles and other things.
Currently Tanzania is implementing the structural adjustment programme which is associated with devaluating its currency. This will in no way avoid subsidizing farmers, if agricultural output is to be increased if not maintained at current output.
With regard to the sustainable development and natural resource management, the next few decades will present a greater challenge to the world food systems than they may ever face again.
The effort needed to increase production in face of an unprecedented increase in demand, while retaining or maintaining the essential ecological integrity of food systems, is important both in its magnitude and complexity. Given the obstacles to be overcome, most of them nan-made, it can fail more easily than it can succeed.
The dimensions of the scientific challenges ahead for achieving concurrently ecological and food security are probably unprecedented in human history. How are we to face them? The 1990s will mark the beginning of a new phase where agriculture will face serious challenges on the ecological, economic, energy, equity and employment fronts.
Scientists will have to struggle with problems arising from the loss of the biological potential of the soil on the one hand and biological improvement of the whole world on the other.
Currently environmental issues have also become an increasing concern in my country. Uncontrolled forest clearing, soil erosion due to poor crop and livestock production management, especially over-grazing and over-stocking, and other resource degradations are currently being experienced at an increasingly alarming rate.
My Government is currently putting emphasis on the protection of the environment in order to sustain agricultural development. A substantial part of the country is put into forest reserves and game reserves to be able to sustain the environment in the country, and I hope this will take care of what is happening now in most of the countries where it is essential that the environment be maintained.
A. Alim FAUZI (Indonesia): Mr Chairman, first of all please allow me, on behalf of my delegation, to extend ray congratulations to you on your election as Chairman. With your guidance, I believe our session will reach a fruitful result.
As we know, since 1984, Indonesia has raised the level of self-sufficiency in rice production. After long and hard work for more than fifteen years with the cooperation and technical assistance from FAO, Indonesia enjoyed an increase of 8 percent rice production in the year 1984 and reached the level of self-sufficiency.
On the other hand, the real price of foodstuffs has declined while the real income of farm households has increased. Yet like all other crop production, the rice production since then fluctuated due to unpredictable climate conditions. In 1987, for instance, the long drought caused the increase of rice production could not cope with the rice demand and rice consumption. (Production increased by 9 percent but consumption increased by 2.5 percent.) In this case, of course, we need additional supplies from abroad. However, in the last five years, we succeeded to sustain the level of self-sufficiency 2in rice production and we even have some surplus.
From 1984 to 1989, Indonesia has been exporting rice in the amount of approximately 900 000 tons. Half was given as a loan to some countries which had some problems in food supplies resulting from production failure. However at the same time we also imported about 600 000 tons, mostly as repayment in the form of rice from lender-countries, and seme as carry-over import from the years before 1984. This year, 1989, rice production is projected to increase by 4.5 percent to about 29.7 million metric tons, and maize increased by 3.0 percent to about 6.8 million metric tons. Nevertheless, wheat, which cannot be raised in Indonesia, still has to be imported at an average of 1.5 million tons annually to feed the foreigners and some people in the big cities.
Our problem in the near future is hew to sustain the level of self-sufficiency in rice production and other crop production in the long run with limited resources but without jeopardizing the environment. In this connection, Indonesia, like some other developing countries, still needs some effective cooperation and technical assistance from FAO and other relevant international organizations. We think that FAO's assistance to fulfil the needs of developing countries in the form of regular programmes, field programmes and technical cooperation programmes is still needed and should be continuously promoted.
With regard to document C 89/2, it is stated that there is a close relationship between forests and agriculture. The document points out the importance of forestry to food security. Since approximately 65 percent of Indonesia's total land mass is covered by forest area, forests have been playing an important role in the development of the country. We appreciate the growing world awareness for the conservation of tropical forests, but at the same time we are concerned with the negative propaganda against the use of tropical forest products. In fact, efforts have been made by our Government to conserve our natural resources and to develop our forest. We develop agriculture by maintaining the integrity of the functions of forest, land and water. We develop industries by controlling their negative impact on the environment. We improve the standard of living without reducing the capability of natural resources to improve the standard of living of future generations. Indeed, we would like here again to underline that Indonesia to the principles and framework of the TFAP. We would like to use the TFAP as the national instrument for developing the forestry sector.
Mahmoud SAMY (Egypt) (original language Arabic): I shall simply stick to two points referring to agricultural production in my comments. Mr Chairman, as far as concerns documents 89/2 and 89/2 Sup.1, I will just stick to two important points concerning agricultural production and industrial production. The first is the question of debt, which is one of the main obstacles obstructing agricultural production in developing countries and also economic development in general. Debt servicing takes up a large portion of available economic resources, making it difficult for the Gobernment to finance agricultural programmes.
Given these conditions which prevent investment in agricultural production, the agricultural development therefore is decreased, and therefore nobody can deny that the international community should be aware of the danger of foreign debt and its impact on the world economy. Hence, efforts are being made to try to alleviate the burden of this debt, particularly as regards structural agricultural adjustment. However, all these solutions can only reduce the burden of debt on a provisional basis, and in spite of the measures taken by the World Bank to reduce the burden of the debt, the results are still far off. The system is only a palliative, and we must realize that if we do not adopt a solution immediately the crisis will deepen. We therefore have to expand the established measures taken to cope with this crisis, while weighing them against the economic and social effects involved.
The second point is the question of the pests which are affecting our livestock and our agricultural production, particularly desert locusts. We should like to thank FAO and donor countries which have tried to reduce the danger caused by these plagues. We would like to ask all countries to remain vigilant to cope with this problem. There is also the problem of the screwworm fly which is affecting livestock in North Africa and even Southern Europe, and we would like to congratulate FAO on the efforts they have made in this regard. FAO has drawn up a plan to control this pest and we would like to ask them to continue to carry out this plan.
Víctor Eduardo MACHINEA (Argentina): Ante todo, deseamos agradecer el esfuerzo de la Secretaría para la elaboración del documento C 89/2, destacando que la recuperación de los precios de los productos básicos de 1988, no llega a compensar la caída desde los niveles alcanzados a principios de la década.
Con referencia a los párrafos 93 a 99, nos parece insuficiente su contenido en lo que se refiere a la importancia de las negociaciones en curso para los países en desarrollo y exportadores de productos primarios. Para países como el nuestro cuyo comercio depende en un gran porcentaje de las exportaciones de productos agropecuarios, víctimas durante mucho tiempo de las políticas de subsidios y de las barreras al acceso practicadas por los países desarrollados, la liberalización no es sólo retórica sino una cuestión de supervivencia. Prueba de ello es la posición adoptada por los países latinoamericanos del Grupo Cairns, en la Reunión de la Ronda Uruguay del GATT en Montreal, al supeditar el avance del resto de las negociaciones de la Ronda a un acuerdo satisfactorio en agricultura.
Esta actitud permitió revitalizar las negociaciones y llegar a un resultado aceptable en la Reunión de Ginebra, en abril de 1989. En el acuerdo alcanzado en la mencionada reunión, se tuvo en cuenta los objetivos principales del Grupo Cairns de reducción substancial de subsidios, tanto de los destinados a la producción interna como a la exportación, así como un mejoramiento progresivo del acceso.
Un aspecto a tener en cuenta al evaluar el impacto real de lo acordado en Ginebra y la evolución futura de las negociaciones, es el clima imperante en las relaciones comerciales en este período.
Debemos aquí realizar la siguiente reflexión. ¿Las políticas implementadas desde abril son compatibles con estos acuerdos? Existen serias dudas al respecto ya que algunas partes en la negociación parecen interpretar el congelamiento de manera bastante flexible. En el caso de la Comunidad Económica Europea se encuentra teóricamente en proceso de implementación de las :recommendaciones de la Cumbre de Bruselas de febrero de 1988, cuyos aspectos centrales son el control de la oferta y la contención de los gastos de la política agrícola común. Las decisiones de esa Cumbre fueron bienvenidas por los países del Grupo Cairns como una declaración de buenas intenciones ya que esa reforma significó que, por primera vez, se quebraba el principio de la existencia de precios garantizados no vinculados al volumen de producción.
Sin embargo, algunas propuestas recientes dan a pensar que no se le está dando suficiente importancia a los objetivos de liberalización cuando se formulan las políticas agrícolas a nivel sectorial.
Durante 1989 se han venido sucediendo las propuestas para implementar mecanismos de apoyo adicionales, como aquellos destinados a la carne de ovino, junto con mayores dificultades en el acceso, o la extensión de los subsidios a nuevos productos.
Un ejemplo de esto último son los Reglamentos 1834/89, 1835/89 y 1836/89 de junio 1989, por los cuales se decidió conceder un subsidio de 155 ECUs por hectárea a la producción de maíz duro vitreo de alta calidad. En cuanto a los Estados Unidos, se encuentra en pleno período de preparación de su Ley Agrícola. En este caso, lo importante desde el punto de vista de la negociación en el GATT es que esta Norma, además de ser consistente con lo acordado hasta ahora, incluya alguna previsión para que las políticas que surjan de la Ley puedan ser modificadas con ocasión de lo que se decida en las negociaciones multilaterales.
Después de abril de 1989, el ritmo del progreso alcanzado hasta la revisión de mediano plazo no se mantuvo, ante la falta de indicación por parte de los principales participantes, especialmente la Comunidad Económica Europea, sobre sus intenciones respecto a la profundidad de las reformas.
A partir de la reunión de octubre del Grupo de Negociación, la agricultura ha pasado nuevamente a ser el centro de la Ronda Uruguay, revitalizada por la propuesta de los Estados Unidos. La misma abarca todas las medidas internas de sostén y protección que caracterizan a su sistema agrícola, hecho que le otorga credibilidad y liderazgo, al indicar el camino de las responsabilidades que deben asumir otras partes contratantes importantes.
Querernos ahora destacar algunos elementos básicos que el Grupo Cairns ha venido sosteniendo en la negociación. Nuestro país considera que el obtener un acuerdo sobre estos elementos básicos es imprescindible para el éxito de las negociaciones.
En cuanto al acceso a los mercados, creemos en la necesidad de eliminar todas las medidas que no esten explícitamente previstas por el GATT, incluyendo las barreras no tarifarias y los gravámenes móviles. Deberían además prohibirse todas las excepciones existentes para la agricultura, mantenidas ya sea a través de waivers o de protocolos de accesión.
En relación a las medidas de apoyo, éstas deberían ser disciplinadas en el marco del GATT, incluyendo la prohibición de aquéllas más distorsionantes para el comercio.
También deberán ser desmantelados los sisteínas de subsidios a las exportaciones. Existe el riesgo, sin embargo, de que esta asistencia sea derivada hacia programas bilaterales de ayuda alimentaria. Para que esto no ocurra, insistimos en la necesidad de que toda ayuda alimentaria sea canalizada a través de los organismos multilaterales relevantes.
El trato especial y diferenciado para países en desarrollo creemos que es fundamental y que las medidas de apoyo vinculadas con el desarrollo agrícola y rural deben ser excluidas de cualquier compromiso sobre reducción del apoyo que asuman los países en desarrollo. Estos países deberían además gozar de una mayor flexibilidad en los plazos para la aplicación de estos compromisos, para permitirles así realizar los ajustes graduales y necesarios para llegar al objetivo final de una agricultura más vinculada a las señales de los mercados.
Deseamos destacar nuestro objetivo final en las negociaciones de la Ronda Uruguay del GATT: rechazamos todo compromiso final que no implique un acuerdo razonable y concreto en el sector agrícola, que permita encarar la reforma estructural de este sector.
Con referencia a los párrafos 100 a 108, quebremos señalar la necesidad de mayores niveles de asistencia exterior a la agricultura hacia América Latina. ,
Con respecto al párrafo 110 y la ayuda alimentaria, señalamos su bajo nivel en 1988/89, pero dejamos claro que la misma debe canalizarse a través de organismos multilaterales, para que no sea usada como una forma encubierta de subsidio a la exportación.
Con referencia a los párrafos 218 a 229, se comparte en general la línea del documento sobre la importancia de la agricultura para el desarrollo de la economía y el alivio de la pobreza en los países en desarrollo.
Sobre el párrafo 236, deseamos insistir en la necesidad de una liberalización del acceso a los mercados de los países desarrollados para las exportaciones de productos primarios provenientes de los países en desarrollo. En lo que hace a los párrafos 294 a 301, señalamos nuestra discrepancia con el tratamiento que se da en el documento a la politica agrícola de la Comunidad Económica Europea. En particular, el documento carece de referencias al papel distorsionante de la PAC en el comercio agrícola mundial. Por otra parte, se presenta a las reformas recientes en la PAC como de una significación mayor a la real al analizar las proyecciones sobre el presupuesto de la Comunidad Económica Europea; se observa que la parte destinada a los subsidios agrícolas en el año 1988 en adelante sólo disminuirá marginalmente,
manteniéndose por encima del 54 por ciento. Además, en términos monetarios nominales se prevé un aumento del FEOGA en los próximos tres años, que va de 27 700 millones de ECUs en 1989 a 29 600 millones en 1992.
Con referencia al Suplemento 1, el párrafo 18 reconoce que el aumento de los precios de algunos productos agrícolas en el año 1988 pudo afectar negativamente a algunos países en desarrollo importadores de alimentos; sin embargo el documento minimiza la importancia que los precios más elevados tienen para los países exportadores como el nuestro. Debería insistirse en que la solución a los problemas de balanzas de pago de los países importadores no pasa por una depresión en los precios que afecte a los exportadores, sino por la instrumentación de mecanismos crediticios a través de instituciones multilaterales como el Fondo Monetario Internacional, Banco Mundial, y políticas agropecuarias que incentiven las producciones locales.
En este sentido, en reuniones celebradas recientemente entre las principales autoridades del GATT, Banco Mundial y Fondo Monetario Internacional, estos organismos expresaron su voluntad de proveer asistencia financiera a los países en desarrollo importadores netos de alimentos. Esperamos que prontamente se concrete.
Por otra parte, los niveles de precios alcanzados por los productos que más subieron, en referencia al cuadro 9, a mediados de 1988, 160 dólares por tonelada para el trigo y 122 dólares por tonelada para el maíz, sólo representaron una recuperación de precios que estaban muy deprimidos. El trigo volvió al nivel de 1982 y el raíz al nivel promedio de los años 1982/85.
En relación al documento del Desarrollo Sostenible y Ordenación de los Recursos Naturales, se destaca como muy importante y realista el texto del párrafo 69, ya que históricamente se ha presentado tal situación. Intimamente ligado a lo anterior se resalta con el mayor énfasis el contenido de los párrafos 72 a 82 porque se considera un valioso cambio de enfoque que hace previsible que los responsables de tonar soluciones atiendan con una prioridad singular al perjuicio económico derivado del uso insostenible de los recursos.
En tal sentido, se sugiere este enfoque se realice siguiendo metodologías desarrolladas por esta Organización.
Respecto al párrafo 85, se está decididamente de acuerdo en lo general, pero en oposición a que resulte necesario que los beneficios de una práctica deban obtenerse en el mismo año de su aplicación. Esta limitación es demasiado estrecha. Concretamente Argentina está llevando a cabo un programa exitoso de femento de prácticas de las que en su mayoría se obtienen beneficios en años subsiguientes a la puesta en marcha.
Los párrafos 106 y 127 parten del presupuesto de que los campesinos deben disponer de más tierra para producir, mediante la reforma de la tenencia de ésta y de los derechos de la propiedad. Al respecto, caben las siguientes consideraciones -y aclaro que es para el caso específicamente de la República Argentina. Para su economía global, es primordial el uso más eficaz del recurso con los medios técnicos y financieros más apropiados que permitan obtener la máxima rentabilidad de los predios. Antes que dividir grandes predios, sería más razonable establecer para el sector un sistema impositivo que grave fuertemente a aquellos productores que subutilizan sus predios, ya que la tierra es un recurso escaso, del que depende la alimentación.
Por último, señor Presidente, deseamos destacar el párrafo 172 del documento, que describe en forma precisa la posición de mi Delegación sobre la necesidad de reconocer que los problemas ecológicos de los países en desarrollo se entrelazan, en últirta instancia, con los mercados internacionales, las pautas comerciales y las corrientes del capital. Por consiguiente, también se necesita una reforma de estas relaciones estructurales. La agricultura sostenible requiere una inversión que las naciones en desarrollo y especialmente los pobres que viven al día no pueden realizar. Esto no significa sólo aumentar o mejorar la ayuda exterior; es preciso introducir cambios estructurales en la economía internacional, aliviar la carga de la deuda de los países en desarrollo y mejorar sus relaciones de intercambio, a fin de liberar los recursos necesarios para establecer prácticas agrícolas sostenibles. Le pido disculpas, señor Presidente, por la extensión, y muchas gracias.
José Luis VAAMONDE (España): En primer lugar, señor Presidente, deseamos felicitarlo en nuestra primera intervención por su elección como Presidente y por el buen orden que modera y rige esta reunión. En segundo lugar, deseamos felicitar también al Secretariado de la FAO por el documento que nos ha presentado, que nos permite disponer de datos reveladores sobre el orden mundial de la agricultura y la alimentación.
Quisiéramos significar que la agricultura española -lógicamente, en el marco de la política del área conunitaria- sigue su esfuerzo de control de las producciones y de orientación de estas producciones al mercado; esfuerzo que comporta, en muchos casos, problemas estructurales que hay que subsanar, y algunos con alto contenido social.
También queremos manifestar nuestra sensibilidad y nuestra preocupación por los efectos que el deterioro de los recursos naturales tiene, a su vez, sobre la producción de alimentos y la necesidad de articular estrategias realistas en contra de este deterioro. Fundamentalmente, quisiéramos referirnos a la importancia que el recurso pesquero tiene, cada vez más, para muchas poblaciones y muchas regiones del planeta. En este sentido, queremos congratularnos del aumento de las capturas pesqueras que se está operando en los países en vías de desarrollo; congratulación que, a su vez, manifestamos porque España sigue ofreciendo una cooperación cada vez mayor en este ámbito, en el que ha acumulado históricamente una gran experiencia. Y quisiéramos también manifestar nuestra enorme preocupación por el deterioro medioambiental y la contaminación que se está produciendo en las aguas marinas. Es una preocupación que va creciendo por su efecto limitante sobre el aumento de las capturas; es una preocupación que, además, entendemos extensible al conjunto de todos los países del planeta.
En último lugar, quisiéramos manifestar que nuestro país sigue manteniendo su vocación de cooperar y de hacer llegar la ayuda alimentaria, fundamentalmente en la red de emergencia, en la medida en la cual somos concientes de la demanda que mantiene cada vez más este programa, que entendemos tiene un futuro importante.
CHAIRMAN: I realize that not all delegates referred to a particularly important aspect of the item you are discussing, that is, sustainable developement. I regret if my friendly advice on the length of statements has somehow induced delegations to omit this matter in their individual interventions. In any case, the Chair would like to inform delegates that we have enough time available if they wish to re-take the floor on this issue.
I understand that a number of delegations do not find themselves ready to speak now, and I should also like to inform you that we have reserved two days in our schedule and that delegations have prepared their statements accordingly. I have the impression that we have over-estimated the interest of member countries and that perhaps the items that are being discussed in Commission II have somehow monopolized the attention of delegations. Anyhow, I would make an appeal to delegations who have not yet spoken to get ready to deliver their statements this afternoon, as we should proceed with the agenda and should not drag our feet on this item if there are no delegations wishing to speak. The representative of the Sudan has asked to take the floor at the end of this morning's deliberations to comment on a reference made to his country in a previous statement. I give the floor to the representative of the Sudan.
Right of reply Droit de réponse Derecho de réplica
Mohamed Saeed HARBI (Sudan) (original language Arabie): I did not really wish to take the floor, but I listened to what the representative of the EEC said about the serious situation in southern Sudan and Ethiopia, and I would like to reply personally with respect to southern Sudan. I will let Ethiopia deal with its statement.
The situation in southern Sudan is not that serious, but sometimes exaggerated statements are nade. The International Red Cross moves freely in the entire country, and this applies to any other aid organization. We have never heard of any organization having difficulty, be it imposed by the Government or by any region in the country- We would like to state that aid flows freely into Sudan and the situation has improved considerably after the revolution for national salvation. This revolution has promoted peace, as was reflected in the National Dialogue Conference for Peace which lasted for six weeks and where all the representatives of the north, south, east and west of the country were represented, as well as international and regional press. Resolutions and recommendations of a very serious nature were adopted at that Conference, which have been implemented in the meantime.
Southern Sudan is an integral part of the country, and at present we are trying to correct the evil caused by imperialism without any racism whatever. As any other developing country, we need the assistance of friendly countries. we need training and transfer of technology, because Sudan is a potentially rich country, and it is really the bread basket of the world.
As I said, Sudan has the potential resources to be a rich country, be it in the field of agriculture or mining. It also has oil. Our need is for aid in order to take advantage of these resources. We need the assistance of organizations such as FAO and the EEC.
Briefly, we have received aid for the agricultural sector, which we continue to receive in order to combat airborne plagues. We are a country which is as large as six countries of western Europe, so I should like to invite developed countries to continue giving aid to the Sudan in order to ensure peace.
Gonzalo BULA. HOYOS (Colombia): Señor Presidente, varaos a intervenir ahora -desde luego, muy brevemente- porque consideramos que es importante que esta Comisión mantenga un diálogo y cierta movilidad que ponga de presente el interés de las delegaciones en el debate y no nos limitemos simplemente a escuchar declaraciones. Queremos decir que nos complace mucho la declaración que acaba de hacer el colega de Sudán, en el sentido de que su país está superando las dificultades que le permitan recibir la asistencia externa, que ojalá se siga suministrando a ese importante país del Tercer Mundo.
Recordará usted, señor Presidente, que la delegación de Colombia fue el primer orador en el debate sobre este tema. Expresamos nuestra preocupación por la posible reducción de la ayuda alimentaria, según se dice en el documento básico, a partir del párrafo 110. Después de nuestra intervención, nos tranquilizó mucho la declaración del colega y amigo Sr. McGowan, del Canadá, y también la declaración del Representante de la Comunidad Económica Europea, en el sentido de que la ayuda alimentaria se va a mantener y, posiblemente, a incrementar.
También dentro de esa situación nos preocupa el contenido del párrafo 111, que hace referencia a un importante país, los Estados Unidos de América, al cual Colombia está vinculada por gratos nexos de amistad y simpatía. Nosotros también esperamos que si entre los oradores de esta tarde estuviera nuestro colega y amigo señor Wayne Denney, de los Estados Unidos, él nos va a confintar que ese gran país continuará su asistencia alimentaria para beneficio de aquellos países en desarrollo que todavía la necesitan. Si, como lo espero, éste será al caso, entonces podríamos decir en nuestro informe que consideramos importante que la ayuda alimentaria se mantenga y fortalezca, y que a tal respecto tomamos nota con satisfacción de que las declaraciones de los más inportantes donantes van en ese sentido positivo.
CHAIRMAN: We will now close our session for this morning. The meeting is adjourned until two thirty this afternoon.
The meeting rose at 12.30 hours
La séance est levée à 12 h 30
Se levanta la sesión a las 12.30 horas
