13-17 November 1996 - Rome, Italy
| July 1996 | WFS/LARC/REP |
CONTRIBUTION OF THE 24th FAO REGIONAL CONFERENCE FOR
LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN TO THE DRAFTING OF
WORLD FOOD SUMMIT DOCUMENTS
Asunción, Paraguay, 6 July 1996
The following text will appear in the full report of the
FAO Regional Conference for Latin America and the Caribbean.
SUMMARY OF DELIBERATIONS
World Food Summit
11. All the delegations informed on the preparatory activities of the Summit, emphasizing its importance to achieve food security and nutrition welfare of the people, in a context of peace, democracy and equity.
12. The Conference ratified its support to the Summit and its commitment to the preparations at national, regional and global levels, and its follow-up activities.
13. The Conference adopted the conclusions of the Technical Committee in relation to the Summit, which are mentioned in the corresponding report.
14. The Independent Chairman of the FAO Council stated that there is a prevailing expectation that the Summit will reflect the true sense of urgency and of political commitment to meet the challenge of food security and agricultural sustainability. The Summit must not be seen as the final stage of a process but as a starting point for the follow-up of the Plan of Action. Likewise, it must promote cooperative action among the countries, Unites Nations agencies, NGOs, the private sector and the scientific and academic community, in which FAO's catalytic role will take on its true significance. He underscored that the Summit should search for solutions to alleviate the burden of foreign debt, promoting direct investment, food aid and assistance to development, and link all this with viable food security strategies, especially in the low-income food-deficit countries. Likewise, it should include the subject of urban agriculture, the elderly population and the implementation of the Code of Conduct for Responsible Fishing.
15. The Conference took note of the "Declaration in Defense of Food Security on the part of the Organizations of the Latin American and Caribbean Civil Society", which was prepared by the Regional NGO Consultation, in relation to the World Food Summit, held in Asunción, Paraguay, from 30 June to 1 July 1996. In this regard, it welcomed the valuable support of the NGOs as a contribution to the deliberations of the Regional Conference and to the preparation of the Summit.
16. Several observers at the Regional Conference expressed their support to the Summit, provided information on the preparations and contributions carried out and emphasized, amongst other issues, the integral development of humankind; attention to the family; setting goals to obtain access to food; consumer orientation; integration of health, nutrition and food policies in social development and economic policies; market liberalization and its impact on the poor; non-tariff barriers in international trade and foreign debt.
REPORT OF THE TECHNICAL COMMITTEE
World Food Summit
40. The Committee expressed its support to the preparations for the World Food Summit, to be held in Rome from 13 to 17 November 1996. Likewise, the Committee was informed of the activities which have been carried out by the Inter-sessional Working Group of the Committee on World Food Security.
41. The Committee supported the proposal formulated by the Latin American and Caribbean Group (GRULAC) to FAO concerning the Draft Policy Statement and Plan of Action. The Committee agreed that the comments formulated by the delegations to the drafts of the Policy Statement and of the Plan of Action, many of which appear in Appendix A, be revised by the GRULAC of Rome in order to determine their possible incorporation and presentation at the forthcoming meeting of the Inter-sessional Working Group of the Committee on World Food Security.
42. The Committee requested GRULAC of Rome to study how to use existing mechanisms to mobilize financial resources destined to make the agreements of the Summit viable, in order to present them at the forthcoming meeting of the Inter-sessional Working Group of the Committee on World Food Security. The elaboration of the world hunger map, through inter-agency efforts, will serve as a reference framework to channel resources.
43. The Committee took note of the document on the situation of food security in Latin America and the Caribbean, and urged the countries of the region to take it into consideration for the design of their national food security policies, as well as the corresponding regional ones. In addition, it requested FAO to revise the regional targets in the light of the latest estimates of world targets.
44. The Committee took note of the proposal made by the Organizations of the Latin American and Caribbean Civil Society on the Draft Policy Statement and Plan of Action of FAO for the World Food Summit, prepared during the NGO Consultation held in Asunción, Paraguay, from 30 June to 1 July 1996. Likewise, it highlighted the broad participation of the NGOs in the Consultation and their significant contribution.
45. The Committee agreed on the need for an institutional framework in which the governments can jointly examine food security issues which are relevant for Latin America and the Caribbean, including follow-up of the World Food Summit. In this regard, it decided to request the Director-General of FAO to take the necessary measures in order to include as a permanent item on the Regional Conference Agenda the evaluation of progresses achieved on food security in the region and, in particular, on the execution of the Plan of Action of the World Food Summit. To this end, the technical meeting will have a duration of one more day. The pertinent part of the report of the FAO Regional Conference will be remitted to the Committee on World Food Security.
46. The Committee agreed on the fact that the results of the Uruguay Round on Agriculture, although they constitute only a first step which must continue in 1999, are important because they marked a new path towards agricultural trade liberalization. Likewise, it highlighted the importance of the full compliance of the agreements of the World Trade Organization, with particular attention to the prompt implementation of the Ministerial Decision of Marrakesh on "Measures related to the possible negative effects of the reform programme in the less developed countries and in the net food-importing developing countries".
47. The Committee adopted the initiative to elaborate the International Code of Conduct for the Application of the Right to Food, which is stipulated in objective 7.3 of the Draft Plan of Action proposed by the GRULAC of Rome.
48. The Committee supported the launching of the "Food for All Campaign" by the World Food Summit, with the purpose of creating a public opinion movement to promote the participation of civil society in the actions aimed at overcoming food insecurity and facilitating follow-up to the commitments undertaken at the Summit. This proposal must be adapted to the characteristics which are inherent to each country.
49. The Committee supported the request of the Chairman of the Central American Agricultural Council (CAC) to coordinate the dissemination of information on the Summit in the subregion.
APPENDIX A
PROPOSAL FOR MODIFICATION OF THE DRAFT POLICY STATEMENT
Paragraph 5:
After civil strife, add: “We reaffirm that the right to food is a fundamental human right and, therefore, the use of food as an element of economic and political pressure cannot be permitted.”
PROPOSAL FOR MODIFICATION OF THE DRAFT PLAN OF ACTION TO ACHIEVE UNIVERSAL FOOD SECURITY
Incorporate the definition of food security.
Paragraph 3:
Add a new paragraph: “Plans to increase food production should take into consideration the crucial importance of child care and the burden of work of women if it is desired to improve nutrition, under the provisions of the World Statement and Plan of Action on Nutrition in its Section IV.6.35 of December 1992.”
Paragraph 18:
In point b), add: “ensuring their participation in decision-making”.
Commitment Two:
After institutions, insert: “community-based organizations”.
Paragraph 22:
Objective 2.2, at the end, add: “taking into account the phenomenon of feminization of poverty”.
Paragraph 25:
After point h), add: “i)Promote training of professionals and technicians for sustainable agricultural production”. In this same point, add: ....”This should be undertaken at different levels with the objective of improving the consumption of available food through a better selection, combination and handling in order to deal with the problem of malnutrition due to excessive eating, which is a major concern for many countries in the region”.
Paragraph 31 b:
Add: “and guarantee that the provision of food assistance does not include political conditions that violate the principles of national sovereignty and free determination of the States”.
Paragraph 31 c:
Add: “and guarantee that emergency assistance actions are executed through the coordination between relief agencies and national or local authorities”.
Paragraph 32:
In point (a), eliminate “where there is no effective government or” and add “where the government’s capacity is limited”.
Paragraph 35:
Add another paragraph after paragraph 35: “Agroforestry and other land regenerative uses which have the potential of combining indigenous and modern expertise with conservation and food production purposes, should be promoted.”
Paragraph 38:
Objective 4.1, add: “We shall enhance, maintain and establish permanent mechanisms to allow the rehabilitation of food and natural resources production and potential and arrest their degradation and depletion”.
Objective 4.2, add: “We shall promote agroecologic practices to permit food production diversification in order to achieve durable improvements in relation to productivity, effectiveness and safety, reduce wastes and losses and protect the environment”.
Paragraph 39:
Add after point c): “In view of the capital role played by water in agricultural production, the commitment of the international community for investments aimed at establishing infrastructures to permit an adequate management of this natural resource must be ensured.”
Paragraph 44:
Insert after ....”self-reliance strategies.” “However, export subsidies have adverse effects on food production and distribution in countries that do not subsidize their domestic production. The artificial reduction of average costs leads to a displacement of competitors, cornering of markets and domination of food security of countries that are artificially at a disadvantage”.
Paragraph 45:
At the end of Objective 5.1 add: “We shall strive to eliminate export subsidies.”
Add: Objective 5.4: “We shall watch over the non-application of economic blockages and other types of unilateral measures of one State against another which affect the international trade and food security of the countries”.
Paragraph 46:
To achieve Objective 5.1, add at the end of the paragraph: “with the perspective of gradually eliminating export subsidies”.
Commitment Six:
An alternative formulation is proposed: “We shall promote investment, participation, transparency and durable impact in research on agriculture, forestry, fisheries and natural resources, as well as in extension, infrastructure and institutions”.
Paragraph 53:
Add before point c): “Urge the developed countries to comply with their commitment of earmarking 0.7% of their GDP to Official Development Finance (ODF) and supervise and monitor the flows of ODFs destined to the agricultural, fisheries and forestry sectors of the developing countries, to ensure that funds are sufficient to achieve the objectives of the Food Summit, and that these external funds be used efficiently and have continuous effects so that they can be disposed of in a foreseeable and stable manner.”
Commitment Seven:
A more proactive formulation is suggested: “We shall ensure that international cooperation and assistance are effectively conducive to strengthening the local power, training and at the benefit of food security, the environment and the living conditions of the farmers”.
Paragraph 58
Objective 7.1, after point f) add: “In line with the provisions of the United Nations Resolutions GA/49/139B and GA/50/19, promote the creation of national teams of volunteer experts, similar to the “Cascos Blancos”, capable of participating in the establishment of food security programmes and taking part in assistance operations”.
Objective 7.1, add a new point: “Increase international financial assistance to direct South South cooperation and facilitate its implementation”.
Objective 7.1, add another point: “Explore new ways of obtaining substantial financial resources that can be destined to programmes to increase food production; one of them should be a significant reduction of expenditures on the armament race on the part of the principal military powers, including the trade of weapons as well as production and investments in this enterprise. The reallocation of these resources for development activities would permit that a considerable amount of them could be destined to food security-related activities.”
Objective 7.1, add another point: “Mobilize new and additional resources that are adequate and foreseeable, guaranteeing the use of all available sources of resources, including multilateral, bilateral and private ones, on concessional terms.”
Objective 7.1, add another point: “Study innovative forms of financing, including new ways of generating public and private resources. In this sense, the various measures aimed at alleviating the enormous burden of foreign debt for the developing countries, among which are its remission or reduction, and which will permit allocating important resources to food security-related activities, may play an important role.
Paragraph 61:
At the end add: “The governments and international organizations, taking into account reasons of efficiency and effectiveness, should offer and resort to the teams of specialized volunteers constituted within the image of the “Cascos Blancos”, as foreseen in Resolutions GA/49/139B and GA/50/19 of the United Nations, and as another way to address food security issues, including participation in operations aimed at guaranteeing food in crisis situations”.
Paragraph 68:
Add: “It is also equally necessary to see that monopolies in the trade of food products are not constituted at the national level; the consolidation of small operators in the framework of a fluid and transparent market must be particularly favoured in deficitary countries.”
Add a new paragraph: “In the case of extremely deficitary countries, improvement in production passes, at least for a short time, through a minimum protection of producers in respect of international competition. It is not desirable, therefore, to reduce customs tariffs applied to food. It is necessary to jolt food imports with customs tariffs in order to create favourable conditions for the re-launching of local production”.
General observations
Regarding the recommendations in relation to macroeconomic and social policies, employment, land policy, tax policy, etc., it must be noted that the countries have assumed commitments in other international and regional fora, which limits the possibility of adhering to some of the aforementioned recommendations (Paragraph 15 c), 24 c), 24 e) 23 c), 41 e), 43, 47, 45, Objectives 5.1, 5.2.).