asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs to what extent and by what means the 1978 UNCTAD International Agreement on Wheat will encourage the distribution of wheat and other cereals as food aid to less developed countries and prevent the destruction of food needed by hungry people in poor countries.
Written Answers. - International Wheat Agreement.
446.
The International Wheat Agreement 1971 as extended by various Protocols, which expires on 30 June 1978, consists of two separate legal instruments: The Wheat Trade Convention and the Food Aid Convention. The former is administered by the International Wheat Council and the latter by the Food Aid Committee.
An international wheat conference was held in Geneva from 13 February to 23 March 1978 in order to negotiate a new agreement to replace the 1971 International Wheat Agreement. This conference ended without agreement. However, the International Wheat Council and the Food Aid Committee decided on 23 March 1978 that the Wheat Trade Convention and the Food Aid Convention should be further extended by Protocol to 30 June 1979.
A conference for the extension of both conventions was duly convened at Geneva on 23 March 1978 and it established the texts of the 1978 Protocols for the Fourth Extension of the Wheat Trade Convention, 1971 and the Food Aid Convention, 1971.
It is likely that the International Wheat Conference will be reconvened later this year in a further attempt to negotiate a new agreement to replace the existing International Wheat Agreement.
The Food Aid Convention is designed to ensure supplies of food aid in the form of cereals to developing countries. Under this convention donor countries undertake to make minimum annual contributions either in cash or in kind, wheat, coarse grains or derivative products suitable for human consumption. For the 1977-78 wheat year, total contributions from donor countries, including the EEC, amounted to almost 9 million tonnes.
Together, the Wheat Trade Convention and the Food Aid Convention constitute a significant international attempt to stabilise the world cereals market. By attempting to ensure both continuity of supply and reasonable price stability these conventions benefit producers and consumers alike while protecting developing countries from short-term fluctuations in food supplies.