WORLD FOOD AND AGRICULTURE SITUATION

The State of Food and Agriculture 19921

22. The Council reviewed the food and agricultural situation at the world, regional and country levels on the basis of the Director-General's statement and the documents on The State of Food and Agriculture (SOFA) and its supplement, updated by the Secretariat's introductory statement.

23. The Council noted with concern that the subdued state of the global economic environment continued to inhibit global food and agricultural growth and trade. Economic expansion remained slow and uneven in the industrial countries and uncertainty continued to prevail over the magnitude and timing of the long-awaited return to faster economic growth and social progress. Countries in eastern Europe and the former USSR were facing grave economic and social difficulties in the early phases of the economic transformation process, although for some countries in eastern Europe there were grounds for cautious optimism over the mid-term.

24. The Council welcomed the improved prospects for economic recovery for many countries in the developing world, particularly those undertaking economic reform. Numerous cases were noted in Latin America and the Caribbean. Equally heartening were the continuing dynamism and generally promising outlook for most Asian economies, and the progress achieved in the Near East in the difficult tasks of reconstruction and economic recovery following the Iraq-Kuwait conflict. The Council was pleased to note that the structural adjustment process was beginning to show positive economic results in several countries, even though results had taken longer than originally expected and often had adverse side effects. The Council also emphasized the need to include food security and other social measures in the design of structural adjustment programmes.

25. The Council regretted that the decline in per capita economic growth in Africa could continue in 1992 and 1993. The economic outlook had markedly deteriorated in southern and eastern Africa, affected by severe drought and civil strife.

26. The Council regretted the slow progress in reducing the debt burden which remained a major obstacle to agricultural trade and development, stability and consolidation of the adjustment process in many developing countries. The Council also expressed concern that total lending to developing countries was below debt service levels, resulting in net debt-capital outflows.

27. The Council expressed concern with further decline in commitments of external lending to agriculture in 1990, which fell significantly below 1988 levels in both nominal and real terms, as well as the low investment level for agriculture. However, the grant component of total external commitments to agriculture had increased in 1990.

28. The Council noted the long-term decline in the number and proportion of the population of developing countries who were undernourished, but expressed concern over the hundreds of millions who continued to be seriously undernourished. It expected the International Conference on Nutrition (ICN), to be held at FAO Headquarters in Rome in December 1992, to provide

policy guidelines and a plan of action for achieving and maintaining health and nutritional well-being for all peoples.

29. The Council noted that early indications were for only a modest increase in world food and agricultural production in 1992, following a setback at the global level the previous year. In addition, the overall production growth was heavily concentrated in North America, while production growth was expected to fall below trend in all the developing country regions. The Council considered particularly disquieting the food production decline in sub-Saharan Africa, where a large majority of countries were expected to experience reduced per capita food production in 1992. Food production growth had also failed to keep pace with population growth in Latin America and the Caribbean in recent years, and expectations for 1992 provided little comfort.

30. The Council expressed concern with the acute food shortages in many parts of the world, particularly eastern and southern Africa. It also noted with the utmost concern the massive destruction and human suffering caused by the conflict in the former Yugoslavia and the grave shortage of food in Bosnia-Herzegovina. It welcomed the major coordinated efforts by the international community to alleviate the complex emergency situations.

31. The Council, while welcoming the responses of the donor community to currently high needs for humanitarian assistance, regretted the inadequate food availabilities and the limited support for agricultural rehabilitation. Noting the ever-increasing requirements for emergency assistance around the world, many members welcomed the proposal of the Director-General to increase the resources and improve the operations of the International Emergency Food Reserve (IEFR), while some members noted that this proposal would require further discussion.

32. The Council emphasized the links between relief, rehabilitation and development, and hoped that emergencies would not unduly divert attention and resources from longer-term development goals.

33. The Council, noting the continuing decline in real prices and purchasing capacity of developing countries' agricultural exports, expressed particular concern over the depressed international market conditions for agricultural commodities. It underlined the disappointing situation faced by many developing countries whose efforts to expand the volume of their agricultural exports, often as a component of structural adjustment programmes, had been nullified by falling prices.

34. The Council deplored the fact that export subsidies and protection of the agricultural sector were prejudicial for international trade in agricultural commodities. It reiterated the crucial importance for developing countries to gain increased market access and to strengthen existing compensatory mechanisms in order to expand export earnings, reactivate and restructure their economies and reduce their debt burdens.

35. The Council expressed deep concern over the delay in the completion of the Uruguay Round of Multilateral Trade Negotiations and, in the strongest possible terms, urged the countries and country groups involved in the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) negotiations to bridge their remaining differences in order to reach a successful conclusion as soon as possible. It emphasized the negative consequences of failure for the world trading environment in general, for agricultural trade in particular and, most specifically, for the developing countries.

36. Two members expressed their opposition to the so-called Torricelli Law and its effects on Cuba. One member replied that this was a totally inappropriate matter for discussion in FAO Council, and strongly opposed the inclusion of this matter in the Report.

37. The Council referred to the disquieting deterioration of the natural resource base and quality of the environment. It welcomed the outcome of the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) as an important step towards defining concepts and lines of action for the sustainable use of the world's resources and the protection of the environment for future generations. It requested that FAO, within its mandate, assist Member Nations in their efforts to implement UNCED principles and to achieve sustainable development.

38. The Council noted that shipments of food aid in cereals in 199192 had increased slightly, but regretted that shipments to developing countries still remained well below the level reached in 1987/88. Further pledges to the International Emergency Food Reserve were requested. Concern was expressed over the continued dependency of a number of developing countries on food aid. The Council urged that food aid deliveries to developing countries should not be reduced as a result of the significant assistance requirements of some countries of eastern Europe and the former USSR, and noted with appreciation that assistance to the latter countries by some major donors was additional to their food aid to developing countries.

39. The Council was informed of the current trend in world fish production and recognized the major role of the fisheries sector in the national economies and food supplies of many countries, and stressed the need for improved management of marine and freshwater resources to ensure sustainable fisheries development and protection from environmental degradation.

40. The Council noted with appreciation that the Government of Mexico, in collaboration with FAO, had convened the International Conference on Responsible Fishing in May 1992, where broader issues of world fisheries had been addressed and future action recommended.

41. Questions were raised about the Secretariat's estimated costs and returns of the world's fishing fleets, and the methodology underpinning the estimates. Concern was expressed over the magnitude of the implied subsidy. The Secretariat informed the Council that such estimates would be fully explained in a special chapter in the published version of SOFA 1992 on "Marine Fisheries and the Law of the Sea: A Decade of Change".

42. The Council also underlined the need to provide further support for the development of inland fisheries and aquaculture and, in this connection, noted the recent developments in Lake Victoria Fisheries which required further assistance from FAO and donors in the implementation of a sound management scheme by the riparian countries.

43. The Council emphasized the increasing role FAO should play in providing policy advice and assistance to Member Nations in the areas of food security and nutrition, structural adjustment and economic transformation, trade, sustainable development and environmental resources management, as related to agriculture, fisheries and forestry. In this regard, the Council recalled with interest the recommendations of the 1992 Regional Conferences.

Report of the Seventeenth Session of the Committee on World Food Security (Home. 23-27 March 1992)2

44. The Council endorsed the report of the Seventeenth Session of the Committee on World Food Security (CFS) in its entirety, which it noted had been thoroughly debated and adopted by the Committee.

45. The Council expressed its concern with the continuing critical food security situation faced by many developing countries and the fact that there had not been any gains in food consumption for almost half of the low-income food-deficit countries compared to the early 1980s. It noted that this unsatisfactory situation reflected a number of factors in many countries. These included poor performance of domestic food production; declines in national incomes resulting from an adverse external economic environment, including protectionism and inadequacies of market access for country exports; the deterioration in their terms of trade, and external debt servicing costs. Several members emphasized the additional food security difficulties faced by countries undergoing structural adjustment programmes.

46. An appeal was made to the donor community to provide all possible assistance, including finance, food aid and technical assistance for food and agricultural production, particularly for low-income, food-deficit countries. The Council supported the use of triangular transactions and local purchases, where appropriate, as these encouraged farmers to produce more than for self-consumption and did not distort consumption habits.

47. Mention was made of the Barcelona Declaration on the Food Rights of Man, as well as the declaration of the Non-aligned Nations, which inter alia, stated that food should not be used as a political weapon.

48. The Council reiterated its strong support for a successful outcome of the Uruguay Round of Multilateral Trade Negotiations which, as stressed in the Committee's report, would contribute to improving world food security. In this respect, some concern was expressed that liberalization of both domestic and international trade policies, could, in the short term, render low-income groups in some countries vulnerable to the effects of higher input and food prices. The importance of adequate compensation, as established by the Dunkel proposal, for net food-importing developing countries which could face higher food import bills as a result of trade liberalization, was emphasized.

49. The Council welcomed the efforts being made to improve the analysis on the demand side of the food security situation and the approach discussed by the Committee for developing and testing a composite index of household food security. While it endorsed the general approach to be followed in this regard, it stressed that the measure of household food security should also include nutritional considerations, and should be country-and-region specific. However, FAO should obtain statistical information regarding household surveys from the Member Nations, without incurring appreciable additional costs. In this context, the Council noted the complementarities that existed between the activities related to monitoring of household food security and the likely follow-up to the upcoming International Conference on Nutrition (ICN), and urged the Secretariat to examine its programme of work in this area in the light of the conclusions reached by the ICN.

50. The Council welcomed the review by the Committee of the contribution of ruminant livestock to food security, and expressed the hope that future work of the Secretariat would also cover reviews of the contribution of non-ruminant animals and the fishery sector. It reiterated me view expressed in me Committee's report about the potential negative interaction of ruminant livestock with the natural environment, especially in fragile ecosystems, and supported consideration of this issue in the study under preparation by the Secretariat on the links between food security and sustainability. The Council noted that the food security of rural households that depended on livestock for their livelihood was threatened during periods of distress, and urged FAO to extend assistance for measures that could be taken to safeguard the livelihoods of livestock producers during such periods.

51. The Council reaffirmed its support, to the activities of the Global Information and Early Warning System (GIEWS) which had been accepted internationally as a low-cost, flexible and operational instrument for detection of emerging food supply difficulties and as a reliable source of information on the food supply/demand situation throughout the world. It also noted with satisfaction the growing recognition within the UN system of the comparative advantage of the GIEWS as a mechanism for food disaster detection. The Council endorsed proposals to improve both the monitoring of socio-economic indicators of food demand and the agro-meteorological assessment of crop growing conditions. In this connection, suggestions were also made to include the monitoring of hydrological indicators. The Council urged that the high priority accorded to the activities of GIEWS should be reflected in future allocations of Regular Programme resources.

52. The Council noted the Committee's deliberation on the issue of the frequency of CFS sessions, and endorsed the Committee's decision to defer a decision on this subject in view of upcoming discussions on the economic and social fields of the United Nations, coupled with the outcome of the ICN, the UNCED and the Uruguay Round, which might need to be taken into account in ascertaining an appropriate frequency of CFS sessions and in establishing the Committee's future work programme. The Council looked forward to a resolution of this issue during the Eighteenth Session of the CFS in 1993.

Recent Developments in the Field of International Fisheries:3
Responsible Fishing and Regime of High Seas Fishing

53. The Council jointly reviewed documents CL 10219, Responsible Fishing, and

CL 10220, Regime of the High Seas.

54. The Council noted that two important events in international fisheries took place in 1992, the first being the International Conference on Responsible Fishing held in Cancún, Mexico, which was convened by the Government of Mexico in consultation with FAO in May. In September 1992, the Technical Consultation on High Seas Fishing was organized by FAO in collaboration with the UN Division of Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea.

55. The Council unanimously endorsed the Declaration of Cancûn and praised the initiative taken by Mexico in organizing the International Conference on Responsible Fishing.

56. The Council was concerned that while the world's fleet of fishing vessels had increased since the adoption of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea in 1982, most of the fisheries resources had been reported as being exploited at, or beyond, their maximum sustainable levels and significant economic losses were being incurred. Existing methods of fisheries management had been unable to redress this situation for, inter alia, a number of political and socio-economic reasons. It was noted that reflagging into flags of convenience, the use of non-selective fishing practices, trade barriers and subsidies tended to exacerbate the situation, and that there was a need for a more responsible approach to fisheries management and fisheries operations.

57. The Council requested the Director-General to draft an international code of conduct for responsible fishing taking into account the Declaration of Cancún including fair trade practices, the provisions of Agenda 21 of the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), and the outcome of the Technical Consultation on High Seas Fishing, following its consideration by COFI. It was stressed by the Council that the code should be formulated within the framework of the provisions of the 1982 Convention on the Law of the Sea and other relevant international instruments. However, it was recognized that, should there be a need for special measures to be applied to the high seas, such measures could be incorporated in the code. In this regard, some members expressed the view that measures related to the high seas should be the subject of a separate instrument.

58. The Council agreed that the issue of reflagging of fishing vessels into flags of convenience to avoid compliance with agreed conservation and management measures, while forming part of the issues that would be covered by a code of conduct, should be addressed immediately by FAO, with a view to finding a solution which could be implemented in the near future. It also agreed that there was a need for an international agreement on this matter. It endorsed the proposal to convene a small informal expert group meeting early in 1993 to ensure that the major issues and interests were covered, and for FAO to consult with relevant international organizations in order to provide the Twentieth Session of the Committee on Fisheries with sufficient technical information and procedural guidance to allow it to make an informed recommendation to the Council for definitive action.

59. The Council requested that proposals on the content of the code of conduct and if possible, a draft proposed text of an agreement on reflagging and time-frame for their adoption and implementation, be presented to the Twentieth Session of the Committee on Fisheries in March 1993.

60. The Council encouraged the Director-General to allocate additional resources for fisheries, and recommended that the resources necessary for the preparation of an international code of conduct for responsible fishing be allocated in the next Programme of Work and Budge" and in the medium term.

61. The Council expressed its appreciation for FAO's initiative in convening the Technical Consultation on High Seas Fishing in September 1992. It was noted that the report of the meeting would be submitted to the Twentieth Session of the Committee of Fisheries for examination and recommendation.

62. The Council agreed that the regional and sub-regional fishery bodies were appropriate mechanisms for the management of high seas fisheries and that they should be strengthened. Coordination between these bodies should be enhanced to avoid duplication of work, to share statistics and information and to effect transfers of expertise and technology. In this connection,

the generai need was stressed for improved collection of statistics and scientific information, as well as for their analysis and dissemination, particularly with respect to straddling stocks, subject of course to the sovereign rights of coastal states to manage resources in waters under their national jurisdictions.

63. The Council agreed that there was a need to strengthen monitoring, control and surveillance capacities for all fish stocks including straddling stocks. However, it also recognized that this would place additional burdens on most developing countries, and would thus call for specific measures to enable them to develop further their technical expertise in these areas.

64. It was agreed that there was a need to strengthen the developing countries' capacity to participate in high seas fishing.

65. The Council noted the current discussions in the United Nations as to the modalities of organizing an intergovernmental conference under the auspices of the United Nations, with a view to promoting effective implementation of the provisions of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea on straddling fish stocks and highly migratory fish stocks, as recommended in UNCED's Agenda 21. The Council stressed the technical and scientific contribution and the contribution on technical policy issues that the FAO could make to this conference in the context of its role as the United Nations body responsible and competent for such matters. Accordingly, it recommended that the Organization be ready to provide, within available resources, any necessary support to the United Nations conference pursuant to a request from the United Nations. A number of members suggested that the intergovernmental conference should be held in FAO Headquarters. The Council agreed that, given these circumstances, there was at present no need for FAO to convene the intergovernmental consultation on high seas fishing which it had recommended at its Ninety-ninth Session in 1991.

¹ CL 1022; CL 1022-Sup.l; CL 1022-Sup,l-Corr.l (E/F/S/C only); CL 102PV/2; CL 102PV/3; CL 102PV/4; CL 102PV/18, CL 102PV/19.

² CL 10210; CL 102PV/4; CL 102PV/18.

³ CL 10219; CL 10220; CL 102PV/5; CL 102PV/6; CL 102PV/18.