G/AG/GEN/155  
 
14 October 2019  
(19-6627) Page: 1/2 
Committee on Agriculture  Original: English  
 
SUBMISSION BY THE IN TERNATIONAL GRAINS C OUNCIL  
ON BEHALF OF THE FOO D ASSISTANCE COMMITT EE 
The following submission, dated October 2019, is being circulated at the request of the International 
Grains Council (IGC).  
 
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1.1.  The Food Assistance Convention entered into force on 1 January 2013. The Convention expands 
the traditional focus of previous Food Aid Conventions and now incorporates additional forms of food 
assistance, including the provision of micronutrients and cash & vouchers to meet the food and 
nutrition needs of the most vulnerable populations.  
1.2.  There are currently 16 parties who have ratified, accepted or approved the Food Assistance 
Convention (Australia, Austria, Canada, Denmark, European Union, Finland, France , Japan, Korea 
(Rep. of), Luxembourg, Russian Federation, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden , Switzerland, and the 
United  States of America).  
 
1.3.  The key components of the Food Assistance Convention are the Parties' annual commitments 
to provide a defined minimum level of food assistance on a yearly basis based on the agreed 
principles of food assistance.  
1.4.  Each Party to the Convention makes a minimum annual commitment of food assistance, 
expressed in terms of value (in Party's currency of choice) or quantity, or a combin ation of both. 
After each calendar year, the Parties report their food assistance operations, detailing how they meet 
the respective commitments.  
Donor  2013  2014  2015  2016  2017  2018  2019  
Australia   
A$80m.  A$80m.  A$80m.  A$80m.  A$80m.  A$80m.  
Austria  €1.495m.  €1.495m.  €1.495m.  €1.495m.  €1.495m.  €1.495m.  €1.495m.  
Canada  C$250m.  C$250m.  C$250m.  C$250m.  C$250m.  C$250m.  C$250m.  
Denmark  DKK185m.  DKK185m.  DKK185m.  DKK185m.  DKK185m.  DKK185m.  DKK185m.  
European Union  €200m.  €300m.  €350m.  €350m.  €350m.  €350m.  €350m.  
Finland  €6m. €6m. €6m. €6m. €6m. €6m. €6m. 
France       
€33m.  €38m.  
Japan  JPY10bn.  JPY10bn.  JPY10bn.  JPY10bn.  JPY10bn.  JPY10bn.  JPY10bn.  
Luxembourg   
€4m. €4m. €4m. €4m. €4m. €4m. 
Republic of Korea       
KRW46bn.  KRW46bn.  
Russian Federation   
$15m.  $15m.  $15m.  $15m.  $15m.  $15m.  
Slovenia   
€30,000  €30,000  €30,000  €30,000  €30,000  €30,000  
Spain    
€500,000  €500,000  €10m.  €10m.  €10m.  
Sweden   
SEK200m.  SEK200m.  SEK200m.  SEK200m.  SEK200m.  SEK200m.  
Switzerland  CHF34m.  CHF34m.  CHF34m.  CHF34m.  CHF34m.  CHF34m.  CHF34m.  
United States of America  $1.6bn.  $1.6bn.  $1.8bn.  $2.2bn.  $2.2bn.  $2.2bn.  $3.5bn  
 
1.5.   The FAC is also a forum for Parties to share information and best practices in food assistance 
delivery. Meeting twice annually, the FAC provides an opportunity for Parties to discuss the most 
efficient and effective means of delivery of food assistance. Recognizing the changing landscape of 
emergencies and other assistance needs, Parties have prioritized the consideration of new modalities 
for food assistance aimed at reducing associated costs, while ensuring that the most in need are 
reached.  G/AG/GEN/155  
 
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  1.6.  Since its e ntry into force, the Committee has held eleven sessions where it has reviewed the 
current and prospective food situation in developing countries against the background of recent 
developments in world supply and demand for grains, rice and oilseeds. Members  also provided 
detailed information on responses to food emergencies, together with planned operations and policy 
developments. Other items discussed at the meeting included members' annual commitments under 
the Convention and steps to expand membership.  
1.7.  The 10th Session of the Food Assistance Committee was held in Paris on 7 December 2018 at 
the invitation of France's Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs. The Session was preceded on 
6 December 2018 by a seminar entitled "Neglected areas and food assista nce" and included 
interventions from France, WFP and EU who presented DG ECHO's Forgotten Crises Assessment and 
updated members on the EU  Humanitarian -Development nexus approach to encourage 
humanitarian, development and political/ diplomatic actors to add  value and work better together. 
Canada also presented their resilience programme in three African Countries while ACF delivered a 
snapshot on food insecurity in Central African Republic. The Chairman also presented the lessons 
learned from the FAC joint f ield trip to Uganda.  
1.8.  The 11th FAC Session was held on 18th June 2019 in London. The Session was preceded on 
17 June 2019 by a seminar entitled "Strengthening humanitarian cash assistance with best practices, 
by mitigating risks and through empowering vulne rable groups " and included interventions from 
the EU, CALP, GSMA, ICRC, ODI, UNHCR and WFP. The aim of the seminar was to optimize the 
collaboration with private sector service providers to improve the efficiency and impact of cash 
transfers to the most vu lnerable.  
1.9.  The IGC Secretariat gave a presentation at both sessions on production, supply, demand and 
trade prospects for grains, rice and oilseeds in 2019/20, highlighting the difference between the 
global supply and demand balance sheets, and the outlook for countries requiring food assistance – 
particularly in sub -Saharan Africa, highlighting the ongoing need for food assistance.  
1.10.   The presentations also focused on recent market and price developments for grains, rice and 
oilseeds, with the support of the IGC's Grains and Oilseeds Index (GOI). The IGC GOI Index is a 
daily index comprising wheat, maize (corn), barley, sorghum, rice, soyabeans, soyameal and 
rapeseed/canola export prices. With January 2000 taken as its base, component weightings are 
based on t heir five -year average share of total trade of all commodities considered. While global 
prices generally displayed a weaker trend, heightened volatility has been noted, making effective 
food assistance programming much more difficult. In addition, it was n oted that global export prices 
do not take into account freight and transportation expenses, forming a substantial part of the total 
costs of all food assistance provided. Furthermore, it was highlighted that the IGC GOI Index does 
not take into account do mestic grain, rice and oilseeds prices which can differ greatly from global 
export quotations.  
1.11.   The FAC Chair was also represented at the High -Level Event "Food and agriculture in times of 
crisis" in Brussels in April 2019 and made a presentation at the WT O information session on 
international Food Aid in June 2019 on the type of data shared by FAC members.  
1.12.   The 2018 narrative report on food assistance by members of the Food Assistance Convention 
will be approved at the 12th FAC Session to be held on Friday  15 November 2019 and uploaded onto 
the Food Assistance Convention website: http://www.foodassistanceconvention.org/reports.aspx . 
1.13.   The Food Assistance Committee will undertake its third jo int field mission in 2020 under the 
Chairmanship of Denmark. The location will be confirmed during the 12th FAC Session.  
1.14.   The Food Assistance Convention is open for accession by all food assistance -providing 
countries, including those who were not party to the Food Aid Convention, 1999, subject to a decision 
by the Food Assistance Committee. For more information on the Food Assistance Convention see:  
http://www.foodassistanceconvention.org/ . 
 
 
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