WORLD TRADE WT/MIN(96)/ST/80
11December 1996
ORGANIZATION(96-5239)
Original: English MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE
Singapore, 9-13December 1996
FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION
Statement byMr.H.deHaen
Assistant Director-General, Economic andSocial Department
(Speaking asanObserver)
Onbehalf oftheDirector-General oftheFAO, Dr.Jacques Diouf, itgives megreat pleasure
today toaddress youatthisfirstMinisterial Conference oftheWTO following thehistoric meeting
atMarrakesh twoyears ago.
Ishould liketoconcentrate myaddress ontheoutcome oftheWorld Food Summit concluded
on17November inRome. ThisSummit, which wasattended bydelegations from 186countries,
including 82Heads ofState orGovernment, 30Deputy Heads and57Ministers, adopted theRome
Declaration onWorld Food Security andaPlanofAction. Thebasic objective oftheSummit was
toraisepolitical awareness oftheproblem ofhunger which currently blights thelivesofover800million
fellow human beings. TheSummit reaffirmed thefundamental rightofeveryone tobefreefromhunger
andadopted theimmediate objective toreduce thenumber ofundernourished people tohalftheirpresent
levelnolaterthan2015. Toachieve this,thePlanofAction laysthefoundation forconcerted action
atalllevels required. Itunderlines thatthevastmajority ofthose whoareundernourished, either cannot
produce orcannot afford tobuyenough food. Therefore, theimportance ofpoverty eradication and
policies towards sustainable agriculture, fishery, forestry andruraldevelopment forfoodsecurity is
particularly emphasized.
Butbefore Irefer insome more detail tothetrade aspects oftheSummit PlanofAction, I
shouldliketomentionthat,inrecognitionofthemultifacetedcharacteroffoodsecurity,thecommitments
made bytheSummit cover amuch wider range ofactions, including interaliaanenabling political,
socialandeconomicenvironment,preventionofandpreparednessfornaturalandman-madeemergencies,
andpromotion ofoptimal allocation anduseofpublic andprivate investments forfoodandagriculture.
Within thisrange ofactions, commitment three underlines thatparticipatory andsustainable food,
agriculture, fishery, forestry andrural development policies andpractices areessential toadequate
andreliable foodsupplies -andthisinconsidering themultifunctional character ofagriculture. In
fact,theeconomic andsocial development oftheruralsector isrecognized asakeyrequisite forthe
achievement offoodsecurity forall.
TheSummittookfullcognizanceofthisweek'smeetinghereatSingaporeand,whiletheSummit
didnotnegotiate ontrade matters perse,itdidconsider that,together withappropriate domestic
economic andsocial policies, trade wasakeyelement inachieving foodsecurity. Indeed, oneofthe
seven commitments oftheSummit wastoensure thatfood, agricultural tradeandoverall tradepolicies
areconducive tofostering foodsecurity forallthrough afairandmarket-orientated world tradesystem.
Inorder tomeetthechallenges ofandutilize theopportunities arising from theinternational
tradeframework, Members oftheWTO committed themselves atRome topursue theimplementation
oftheUruguay Round Agreement, which willimprove market opportunities forefficient food,WT/MIN(96)/ST/80
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agricultural, fisheries andforestry producers andprocessors, particularly those ofthedeveloping
countries.
Moreover, theinternational community asawhole haspledged tocontinue toassist countries
adjust theirinstitutions andstandards tofoodsafety andsanitary requirements andtopromote technical
andfinancialassistancetoimproveagriculturalproductivityandinfrastructureofthedevelopingcountries
particularly thelow-income fooddeficit countries, inorder tooptimize theopportunities arising from
theinternational tradeframework. FAOwillcontinue toplayitspartthrough itstechnical programmes
toassist inthesanitary andphytosanitary area,onnational agricultural policy andthrough ourvarious
programmes, particularly theSpecial Programme onFood Production inSupport ofFood Security
inLIFDCs toboost foodproduction.
Regarding sanitary andphytosanitary measures, FAO hasfullysupported theobjectives of
theUruguay Round Agreements aimed atremoving unjustified andarbitrary technical barriers totrade
infoodandagricultural products, whether these aresanitary andphytosanitary measures orother
technical barriers. Thiswasalsotheobjective behind theestablishment oftheJointFAO/WHO Food
Standards Programme in1962. Food-related measures which arenecessary forpublic health, the
facilitation oftrade, prevention ofdeceptive practices andgeneral consumer protection arenecessary
activities ofgovernments, andtheadditional emphasis ontherights ofcountries toapply suchmeasures,
asoutlined inthenewUruguay Round Agreements, iswelcome.
International trade infood andagricultural products hasanannual value ofmore than
US$300 billion. Many millions ofdollars arewasted eachyearasfoods notconforming tolegitimate
foodsafety andconsumer protection requirements arerejected ordetained atthepoint ofimport. The
objective ofFAO'sfoodcontrol programmes istoensure thatdomestic foodsupplies andfoods entering
international trade meet theminimum essential quality andsafety requirement specified inCodex
standards.
FAOhasstrengthened itsprogramme ofscientific expert consultations toprovide theessential
riskanalysis which underpins Codex standards, guidelines andother recommendations. Ithas
strengthened theoverall Codex programme, andhasprovided additional support todeveloping countries
byhelping themorganize national Codex Committees andcontact points. FAO hasalsostrengthened
itstechnical assistance programme tohelpcountries meet theirobligations andexercise theirrights
under theAgreements. Itwillcontinue itsactivities atthehighlevelofinput.
FAO hasestablished theSecretariat fortheInternational Plant Protection Convention (IPPC)
todealwiththeharmonization ofphytosanitary measures andinformation exchange.
Since itsestablishment afewstandards havebeenapproved, including guidelines forpestrisk
assessment andtheestablishment ofpestfreeareas. Anumber offurther standards areunder
development. Currently, theIPPC itselfisunder revision tobring itinlinewithmodern plantprotection
practices andtoinclude SPSconcerns. Itishoped thattherevised Convention willbeadopted by
theFAOConference inNovember 1997. TheOrganization stands ready toassist developing countries
inmeeting thefuture requirements oftheSPSAgreement inthisimportant field.
Asastandard setting organization FAO hasbeenencouraged bytheextent ofthecooperation
between theWTO Committees onSPSandTBTandtheCodex Alimentarius Commission andtheIPPC.
Asalsosuggested bytheUnited Kingdom delegation during thisMinisterial Conference, FAOpledges
itsfullcommitment tocontinuing andenhancing thiscooperation.
TheSummit 'sPlanofAction alsogoesintothetrade-related aspects ofsustainability, which
itselfwillbeoneofthemainpillars offoodsecurity intheyears ahead. AttheSummit theinternationalWT/MIN(96)/ST/80
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community hasagreed toendeavour toensure themutual supportiveness oftrade andenvironmental
policies insupport offoodsecurity, looking totheWTO toaddress therelationship between WTO
provisions andtrade measures forenvironmental purposes. Every effort should bemade toensure
thatenvironmental measures donotunfairly affect market access forthefoodandagricultural exports
ofdeveloping countries. TheSummit PlanofAction emphasized theneedtoconduct international
trade infishandfishery products inasustainable way.
FAOwillcontinue toprovide technical assistance toitsmember countries, onrequest, tomeet
theirobligations under theUruguay Round, particularly theTRIPS Agreement. Indeveloping their
national policies andprogrammes, countries maywellwishtotakeintoaccount andutilize international
agreements andcodes ofconduct which theFAO members havenegotiated andadopted, including
those related totheconservation andutilization ofplant genetic resources forfoodandagriculture.
Relevantnegotiationsonaccesstoplantgeneticresourcesforfoodandagriculture,thesharingofbenefits
andtherealization offarmers 'rights areongoing intheintergovernmental FAOCommission onGenetic
Resources forFood andAgriculture, fortherevision oftheInternational Undertaking onPlantGenetic
Resources, inharmony withtheConvention onBiological Diversity. These areespecially relevant
fortheTRIPS Agreement, particularly Article 27.3(b) andmatters related totradeandtheenvironment.
Oneveryimportant recommendation inthePlanofAction oftheWorld Food Summit isthat
theDecision onMeasures Concerning thePossible Negative Effects oftheReform Programme onLeast
Developed andNetFood-Importing Developing Countries should befullyimplemented. FAO has
beenanactive participant inthework carried outintheCommittee onAgriculture asafollow-up to
theDecision. Inparticular, thisincluded ananalysis ofthedefinition offoodimporting countries and
provision ofrelated datatotheSecretariat andtoMember countries. Westand ready tocontinue these
working arrangements inthefuture.
Asfortheappropriate forms ofassistance, clearly thiswould depend ontheparticular
circumstances oftherecipient country and,inthisconnection, thePlanofAction callsongovernments
andtheinternational community, asappropriate, toexamine WTO-compatible options andtakeany
appropriate steps tosafeguard theability ofimporting developing countries, especially LIFDCs, to
purchase adequate supplies ofbasicfoodstuffs fromexternal sources onreasonable terms andconditions.
ThePlanofAction alsorecognizes prominently theother component ofassistance called for
bytheDecision. Itcallsfortheinternational community, incooperation withgovernments andcivil
society, topromote financial andtechnical assistance toimprove theagricultural productivity and
infrastructure ofdeveloping countries, especially LIFDCs, inorder tooptimize theopportunity arising
from theinternational trade framework. Thistypeofassistance hasalasting impact onthecapacity
ofaffected countries torespond totheirfoodsecurity problem andcontributes totheirself-reliance.
Apart from these concerns ofthefoodimporting countries, thePlanofAction alsoplaces
considerable emphasis ontheneedforfoodexporting countries toactasreliable sources ofsupply
totheirtrading partners andgivedueconsideration tothefoodsecurity ofimporting countries especially
theLIFDCs. Thefoodexporters arecalled upon toreduce foodexport subsidies andrefrain from
using export restrictions inlinewiththeirUruguay Round commitments andtoadminister allexport
related trade policies andprogrammes responsibly withaviewtoavoiding disruptions toworld food
trade.
TheSummit alsorefers tothecontinuation ofthereform process foragriculture inconformity
withtheUruguay Round Agreement, particularly Article 20.Inthiscontext governments commit
themselves toensure thatdeveloping countries arewellinformed andequal partners intheprocess
working foreffective solutions thatimprove theiraccess tomarkets andthatareconducive totheWT/MIN(96)/ST/80
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achievement ofsustainable foodsecurity. Forourpart,weinFAO stand ready toassist developing
countries inthisendeavour.
FAO hasdeveloped close working relationships withtheWTO inthepasttwoyears. Weare
attending eachother'smeetings, wehaveprovided technical assistance tohelpMember countries in
theirimplementationofthevariousagreements,activitiesthatweplantostrengthen,andwehaveenjoyed
close working relationships withyourSecretariat throughout. Welookforward toacontinuation of
these close anduseful relationships inthefuture.