WRITTEN QUESTION E-0145/04 by José Ribeiro e Castro (UEN) to the Commission. International Rice Year.
Date: 2004-01-26
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: FAO, cooperation policy, public awareness campaign, rice

3.4.2004

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 84 E/317

criminals have taken a hold on this area, creating a veritable world market which very often uses cheap
child workers who are immigrants, and therefore more easily exploitable.

Furthermore, it seems that industries such as the film, audio-visual and fashion industries, which have a
certain allure, are using increasingly sophisticated techniques to attract child workers, and so use teenagers
of school age who under the legislation in force would not be permitted to work in other sectors.
Unfortunately (cid:1) and this is the most repugnant aspect of this phenomenon (cid:1) it has been proved that
some of the agencies concerned are a cover for operations linked to drugs, prostitution and paedophilia.

Can the Commission therefore indicate:

1. whether an enquiry has been conducted to verify the true scale in Europe of this phenomenon which,
even in the best-case scenarios where there is no violence, can clearly be seen to profoundly effect
teenagers’ development by depriving them of some of their basic rights;

2. what initiatives it will take to identify new methods of combating child labour, with particular
reference to industries such as the fashion, film and audio-visual industries, which call for regulation
of a type that lays down transparency criteria for the granting of licences to agencies and limits
children’s activities to tasks corresponding to their age.

Answer given by Mrs Wallström on behalf of the Commission

(8 March 2004)

Council Directive 94/33/EC of 22 June 1994 on the protection of young people at work (1) prohibits work
by children under 15 years or who are still subject to compulsory schooling. It obliges Member States to
ensure that young people under 18 years are protected against economic exploitation and against any
work likely to harm their safety, health or physical, mental, moral or social development or to jeopardize
their education.

Member States may authorize employment of children for the purposes of performance in cultural, artistic,
sports, or advertising activities on condition that the activities are not likely to be harmful to the safety,
health or development of children, and are not such as to be harmful to their attendance at school, their
participation in vocational guidance or training programmes or their capacity to benefit
from the
instruction received.

The Directive has been transposed in all Member States. Even though the legislative measures may be
satisfactory, there are indications that the monitoring is not always sufficient. The Commission therefore
envisages an exchange of best practices regarding monitoring young workers.

(1) OJ L 216, 20.8.1994.

(2004/C 84 E/0365)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0145/04

by José Ribeiro e Castro (UEN) to the Commission

(26 January 2004)

Subject: International Rice Year

Resolution 2/2001 of the Food and Agriculture Organisation Conference meant that at the 57th sitting of
the UN General Assembly, on 16 December 2002, 2004 was declared to be International Rice Year.

The resolution highlights the fact that rice is the basic food of half the earth’s population, proclaims the
need to increase collective awareness of its role in the fight against poverty, under-nutrition and food
safety, and invites the FAO to promote the marking of International Rice Year in collaboration with
government and other bodies.

The slogan is ‘Rice is Life’, which takes rice as its starting point and seeks to tackle issues concerning
production, nutrition, agro-biodiversity, soil and water management, employment and income, as well as
social issues affecting rice-based systems.

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Official Journal of the European Union

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3.4.2004

Over 2 000 million people derive 60 to 70 % of their energies from rice and its derivatives, and rice is the
fastest-growing source of food in Africa.

The European Union is one of the partners in this initiative.

The Commission:

(cid:1) In what ways and in which events will it be participating the International Rice Year?

(cid:1) Has it planned an information campaign about the importance of rice?

(cid:1) From a European perspective, which of the objective set out by the FAO does the Commission think
possess most interest and practical scope for producers, processors and consumers? What initiatives
has it taken or does it intend to take in this connection in respect of European rice producing
countries?

(cid:1) At international level, as part of EU cooperation and development policies, is there any specific action
scheduled as part of International Rice Year, in the shape of Community aid work in the developing
countries?

Answer given by Mr Fischler on behalf of the Commission

(17 March 2004)

The Community supported the resolution at the 57th United Nations General Assembly making 2004 the
International year of rice. In this respect, the Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) was asked to
promote the marking of the International year of rice (IYR) 2004 and has indeed already arranged several
events to celebrate and mark the IYR 2004.

The Commission will of course participate, to the extent possible, in the different events, conferences and
meetings arranged by, and in cooperation with, the FAO and other international organisations. In this
respect the Commission has not envisaged its own information campaign and has participated at the FAO
rice conference on 12/13 February 2004.

In its Concept Paper for the IYR 2004, the FAO has set out a number of objectives to reach the
overarching goal:
‘to promote and guide the sustainable development of rice and rice-based production
systems’. It is difficult to single out one objective over the other. They should be seen together as a whole
since producers, processors and consumers do not always require the same approach and therefore do not
have the same objective. European rice producers should, therefore, also be able to benefit and take part in
the different conferences and meetings arranged to increase the awareness of rice production, its diversities
and complexities and the possibility of ensuring a sustainable development of rice and rice-based systems
globally, nationally and locally.

The importance of rice to producers, processors and consumers around the world has never escaped the
Commission’s attention. Rice is in many cases, directly or indirectly, part of numerous development
projects annually financed by the Commission and Member States to, among other things, support
agricultural development, increase food security and reduce hunger and poverty. These are in one way or
another inextricably linked to rice production, rice trade and rice consumption for a large number of
people around the world. Many of these development projects will go well beyond 2004. Some examples
of programmes and projects specifically supporting the rice sector are: a programme in support of the
competitiveness of the rice sector in the Caribbean, which will start in 2004, on-going programmes in
support of the rice chain in Mali and in Niger. Other programmes, for example in Madagascar and
Northern Ghana, target the agricultural sector in general, but have a significant component aimed at the
rice sector.

In terms of research, the Commission financially supports two rice-focussed centres of the Consultative
Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), namely the International Rice Research Institute
(IRRI), based in The Philippines and the West African Rice Development Association (WARDA), based in
the Ivory Coast.