H. Res. 604

In the House of Representatives, U.S.,

November 15 (legislative day, November 14), 2002.

Whereas since 1997 the price of coffee has declined nearly 70

percent on the world market and has recently reached its

lowest level in a century;

Whereas the collapse of coffee prices has resulted in a widespread humanitarian crisis for 25,000,000 coffee growers

and for more than 50 developing countries where coffee

is a critical source of rural employment and foreign exchange earnings;

Whereas, according to a recent World Bank report, 600,000

permanent and temporary coffee workers in Central

America have been left unemployed in the last two years;

Whereas the World Bank has referred to the coffee crisis as

‘‘the silent Mitch’’, equating the impact of record-low coffee prices upon Central American countries with the

damage done to such countries by Hurricane Mitch in

1998;

Whereas 6 of 14 immigrants who died in the Arizona desert

in May 2001 were small coffee farmers from Veracruz,

Mexico;

Whereas The Washington Post, The New York Times, and

The Wall Street Journal report that cultivation of illicit

crops such as coca and opium poppy is increasing in tra-
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ditional coffee-growing countries, such as Colombia and

Peru, which have been adversely affected by low international coffee prices;

Whereas the economies of some of the poorest countries in

the world, particularly those in Africa, are highly dependent on trade in coffee;

Whereas coffee accounts for approximately 80 percent of export revenues for Burundi, 54 percent of export revenues

for Ethiopia, 34 percent of export revenues for Uganda,

and 31 percent of export revenues for Rwanda;

Whereas, according to the Oxfam International Report

‘‘Mugged: Poverty in your Coffee Cup’’, in the Dak Lak

province of Vietnam, one of the lowest-cost coffee producers in the world, the price farmers receive for their

product covers as little as 60 percent of their costs of

production and the income derived by the worst-off farmers in that region is categorized as ‘‘pre-starvation’’ income;

Whereas on February 1, 2002, the International Coffee Organization (ICO) passed Resolution 407;

Whereas Resolution 407 calls for exporting member countries

to observe minimum standards for exportable coffee and

provide for the issuance of ICO certificates of origin according to those standards;

Whereas ICO Resolution 407 calls on importing member

countries to ‘‘make their best endeavors to support the

objectives of the programme’’;

Whereas both the Specialty Coffee Association of America

(SCAA) and the National Coffee Association (NCA) support ICO Resolution 407 and have publicly advocated for
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the United States to rejoin the International Coffee Organization;

Whereas on July 24, 2002, the Subcommittee on the Western

Hemisphere of the Committee on International Relations

of the House of Representatives held a hearing on the

coffee crisis in the Western Hemisphere;

Whereas the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has already established coffee sector assistance programs for Colombia, Bolivia, the Dominican

Republic, East Timor, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Guatemala,

Haiti, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, Rwanda,

Tanzania, and Uganda; and

Whereas the report accompanying the Foreign Operations,

Export Financing, and Related Programs Appropriations

Bill, 2003 (House Report 107–663), highlights the coffee

price crisis as a global issue and ‘‘urges USAID to focus

its rural development and relief programs on regions severely affected by the coffee crisis, especially in Colombia’’: Now, therefore, be it

Resolved, That—

(1) it is the sense of the House of Representatives

that—

(A) the United States should adopt a global

strategy to respond to the coffee crisis with coordinated activities in Latin America, Africa, and Asia

to address the short-term humanitarian needs and

long-term rural development needs of countries adversely affected by the collapse of coffee prices; and
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(B) the President should explore measures to

support and complement multilateral efforts to respond to the global coffee crisis; and

(2) the House of Representatives urges private sector coffee buyers and roasters to work with the United

States Government to find a solution to the crisis which

is economically, socially, and environmentally sustainable

for all interested parties, and that will address the fundamental problem of oversupply in the world coffee market.

Attest:

Clerk.