ARCHIVESHISTORIQUES
DELACOMMISSION
COLLECTION RELIEEDES
DOCUMENTS "COM"
COM(78)105
Vol.1978/0036

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COMMISSION OFTHEEUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
COM(78)105 final .
Brussels .13March 1978 .
Commission Communication
•to "the Council
onemergency food aid for Syria
C(5.1(78)105final .

I.Request from -theSyrian Government andanalysis ofrequirements
A. Request
Following thevery "badharvest of1977 caused byserious drought ,the
Syrian Government recently made arequest totheCommunity foremergency
food aidinvolving thesupply of15000tonnes ofcereals tofeed around
200000people foraperiod of250days .
B. Requirements
This request should beseen inthecontext ofthedifficult food
situation inSyria .According toinformation transmitted bytheFA0 ,
themost recent harvest ofwheat -the cereal which isthe staple food –
yielded only -1.2million tonnes asagainst 1.8million tonnes in1976*' .
Inthecircumstances ,commercial imports ofwheat (267000tonnes in
1976/77)have hadtobevastly increased (300000tonnes were imported
inOctober andbetween then andJuly 1978 afurther 225000tonnes ofwheat
will beimported ,atarate of25000tonnes offlour each month ).
However ,this increase inwheat imports (+95approximately )isnot
sufficient tomeet thecountry 'scereal deficit .
Moreover ,thesituation oftheexternal finances ,asshown inrecent
IMFfigures ,isextremely unfavourable (/US772million deficit inthe
balance ofpayments oncurrent account ),andconsequently restricts the
country 1simport capacity .
Inthis context ,theSyrian Government hasrequested emergency food aid
tofeed 200000needy people ,inparticular displaced persons inthe
south ofthecountry ,for250days ,atarate of300grams ofcereals
perperson perday ,namely atotal requirement of15000tonnes .
Theharvest ofcoarse grains (barley )fell byaneven greater proportion ,
from 1million tonnes in1976 "to300000tonnes in1977 .

TheCommissionthereforefeelsthat"theCommunityshoulddecideto
grantemergencyfoodaidtoSyriaforfreedistribution toneedypeople.
Theamountshouldbesufficienttocoverabouttwomonths'requirements
thatis,3500tonnesofcereals–untilthenextharvestisin
(June-July). , ■
Thisquantitywouldbedeliveredtotheportofunloading.The.
operationwouldbechargedagainstthereserveofthe1978programme"'.
•» • ! 1
Thecostoftheoperation,whichcanbeputataround367000u.a.,
wouldnotentailadditionalexpenditurefortheCommunityotherthan
2thatalreadyprovidedforinthe1978Budget•
1
CONCLUSION ?
Inviewoftheforegoingconsiderations ,itisproposedthattheCouncil
decidetosupplySyriawithemergencyfoodaidinvolvingtheallocation
of3500tonnesofcerealstobedeliveredtotheportofunloadingand
tobechargedagainstthereserveofthe197°cerealsprogramme.
1...... .... -Afterthisoperation,the197°cerealsreservewouldstandat
41200tonnes.
2SeeFinancialAnnex.

Financial Annex
1.Number ofrelevant "budget heading
Article 920-Item 9201 of1978 Budget ,
2.Title of "budget heading
Item 9201 "Pood aidincereals -1978 programme ".
3.Legal "basis
*
Council Decision of30January 1978 .
4.Description ,objective and .justification oftheproject
Allocation of3500tonnes ofcereals totheSyrian Government .
5.Appropriât ions
51Method ofcalculation
.Raw materials
3500x75.14 u.a . = 262 990u.a .
•Transport (oncifbasis )
3500x30u.a . = 105000u.a .
Total \67__990 _ju
being :4II.854 E.U.A.
52Implications inrespect ofexpenditure
This measure would not entail any expenditure ,additional to
that already envisaged forthe 1978 programme .
6.Type ofcontrol tobeapplied
Financial Regulation of21December 1977 applicable tothegeneral
budget ofthe Communities . *