The Right to Food around the Globe

  Netherlands

The Constitution of the Kingdom of the Netherlands does not explicitly guarantee the right to adequate food. 

The Kingdom of the Netherlands has become a State party to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) in 1978 by way of ratification. It has signed the Optional Protocol (OP-ICESCR) in 2009, but has not ratified it yet.

CONSTITUTIONAL RECOGNITIONS OF THE RIGHT TO ADEQUATE FOOD

National status of international obligations

Article 91:

"1. The Kingdom shall not be bound by treaties, nor shall such treaties be denounced without the prior approval of the States General. The cases in which approval is not required shall be specified by Act of Parliament.

2. The manner in which approval shall be granted shall be laid down by Act of Parliament, which may provide for the possibility of tacit approval.

3. Any provisions of a treaty that conflict with the Constitution or which lead to conflicts with it may be approved by the Houses of the States General only if at least two-thirds of the votes cast are in favor."

Article 94: “Statutory regulations in force within the Kingdom shall not be applicable if such application is in conflict with provisions of treaties that are binding on all persons or of resolutions by international institutions.”

Other pertinent provisions for the realization of the right to adequate food

Article 20: 
1. It shall be the concern of the authorities to secure the means of subsistence of the population and to achieve the distribution of wealth; 
3. Dutch nationals resident in the Netherlands who are unable to provide for themselves shall have a right, to be regulated by Act of Parliament, to aid from the authorities.”

Article 22.1:  "The authorities shall take steps to promote the health of the population."

INTERNATIONAL INSTRUMENTS

Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) – 1948

International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) – 1966

Status: Ratification (1978)

Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) – 1979

Status: Ratification (1991)

Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) – 1989

Status: Ratification (1995)

Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) – 2006

Status: Signature (2007)

Legislation and policies recognizing the right to adequate food

Guidance on how to progressively realise the human right to adequate food in contexts of national food security has been provided by the Right to Food Guidelines, adopted by the FAO Council and endorsed by the Committee on World Food Security.

Considering that the human right to adequate food can be implemented through a variety of legal and policy actions, we invite you to visit the FAOLEX Country Profile database for a wide-ranging collection of measures that have been taken at national level. Some of the documents you may find are legislation and policies that touch on a number of relevant Guidelines, such as those on Access to resources and assets (Guideline 8), Food safety and consumer protection (Guideline 9), Support for vulnerable groups (Guideline 13) and Natural and human-made disasters (Guideline 16).

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