Mexico Declaration of the World Food Council

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

A Resolution of the General Assembly, under agenda item 64 Food problems : report of the World Food Council, published in 1979.

What subjects does this mandate have?

13 subjects

Agricultural Technical Cooperation Declarations Food Aid Food Production Food Reserves Food Security Food Shortage Hunger Malnutrition Mexico Protectionism Proteins Sudano-Sahelian Region

What’s in this document?

12 operative paragraphs

Expresses its appreciation and thanks to the Government and people of Mexico for the excellent facilities and generous hospitality provided for the World Food Council at its fourth session;

Takes note of the report of the World Food Council;

Adopts the Mexico Declaration of the World Food Council49 concerning the world food situation and implementation of the Manila Communique of the World Food Council: Programme of Action to Eradicate Hunger and Malnutrition; . 4.

1?xpresses its deep concern at the slow progress m solv1~g the fundamental food problems facing the developmg countries, in particular the food priority countnes ~nd other developing countries with large food deficits and whose food production situation is still deteriorating;

Endorses the important recommendations and decisions in the Mexico Declaration concerning urgent necessa~y a~tion and modalities for increasing food production m the developing countries, improving huI?a_n nutrition and reducing hunger and malnutrition, ass1stmg the countries of the Sahelian zone of Africa improving food security, increasing and improving food aid and improving the contribution of trade to the solution of food problems; . 6.

Urges Governments_ and international organizations to co-operate fully with the World Food Council

47 Official Records of the General Assembly Thirty-second Session, Supplement No. 19 (A/32/19), part o~e para. 1.

48 Ibid., Thirty-third Session, Supplement No. '19 (A/33/19 and Corr.I).

49 Ibid., part one, para. 1.

in its efforts to identify the major obstacles to increasing food production, to mobilize greater action in this area and to formulate, in close collaboration with developing countries, donor countries and major international financial and development assistance agencies, proposals to overcome obstacles to the mobilization of internal and external resources for this purpose;

Recommends that the World Food Council, at its fifth session, should give consideration to the impact of trade, including the protectionist measures harming the exports of the developing countries, on the solution of the food problems of the developing countries and put forward specific recommendations thereon;

Urges Governments to implement fully the recommendation to establish the international emergency reserve of 500,000 tons of cereals as a continuing reserve, with yearly replenishment determined by the Committee on Food Aid Policies and Programmes, which would be placed at the disposal of the World Food Programme;

Expresses its deep regret and concern at the suspension of the negotiations to replace the International Wheat Agreement, 1971, 50 and urges that the Governments participating in those negotiations reach, as a matter of urgency, a definitive agreement and reaffirm their commitment to world food security and that they also, inter alia, seek to establish as early as possible an international system of grain reserves of adequate size to provide world food security and reasonable market and price stability;

Urges also that the new food aid convention, directed towards securing at least 10 million tons of cereals as food aid per annum, be concluded and implemented by traditional donor countries and by those in a position to do so as a matter of urgency;

Calls upon traditional donor countries and those in a position to do so, considering the growing need of the developing countries for agricultural inputs and their increasing costs, to increase their assistance for agricultural inputs, especially fertilizer, through the appropriate bilateral and/or multilateral channels, in particular the International Fertilizer Supply Scheme of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations,51 and also to make substantial contributions to the Seed Improvement and Development Programme and the Action Programme for Prevention of Food Losses of the Food and Agriculture Organization, so as to reach the desirable funding level of $20 million for each;

Strongly calls upon donor countries to do their utmost to preserve the nutritional value, in particular the protein element, of their food aid;

Requests the World Food Council, at its fifth session, taking into consideration the various annual assessments made by the Council, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and other bodies and bearing in mind the ongoing preparations for the international development strategy for the third development decade, to undertake a comprehensive mid-decade review and assessment of the progress made in the implementation of the decisions, reso-

50 United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 800, No. 11400, p. 45.

51 Approved by the Council of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations in its resolution 1 /63 of 19 July 1974 (see Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Report of the Council of FAO, Sixtylotions and programmes regarding food adopted since the World Food Conference, to formulate actionoriented recommendations thereon and to report to the

62 Official Records of the General Assembly, Thirty-third Session, Supplement No. 31 (A/33/31). third Session, para. 26).

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

What subjects does this mandate have?

What’s in this document?

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