The problem of wasting food in certain countries

III. RESOLUTIONS ADOPTED ON THE REPORTS OF THE SECOND COMMITTEE
202. The problem of wasting food in certain countries

1. Bearing in mind the resolutions[1] of the General Assembly and of the Economic and Social Council and the reports of the specialized agencies, particularly of the Food and Agriculture Organization,[2] on the question of shortages of foodstuffs,

2. Approves the action taken by the Economic and Social Council at its sixth and seventh sessions, on the initiative of the Food and Agriculture Organization, regarding co-ordinated action to meet the continuing world food crisis; and

3. Considering that

(a) The present under-nourishment of large numbers of people throughout the world is caused, inter alia, by insufficient production of food, by loss of foodstuffs through wastage, by the results of war devastation, by the under-developed character of large areas of the world and by lack of purchasing power, while fear of unstable prices remains an obstacle to the necessary increase of production;

(b) In connexion with this, measures should be taken in the first place, and especially in under-developed countries and in countries devastated by war, to raise the productivity of farms, to avoid losses arising from wastage and to improve the production, marketing and distribution facilities;

(c) The equitable distribution of essential foodstuffs requires, inter alia, that such burdensome fiscal charges as hamper the sale and consumption of such foodstuffs be appreciably reduced;

(d) Wherever profiteering by distributors or speculators is involved in the marketing of essential foodstuffs, such profiteering constitutes an obstacle to the equitable distribution of such foodstuffs;

4. Invites Member States to accord high priority to measures designed to avoid food losses arising from wastage, and to increase food production and improve marketing and distribution facilities so as to raise to a maximum the effective quantity of food available for consumption and export; and, in connexion with the raising of consumption levels, to consider the extent to which existing taxes and other charges on the consumption of essential foodstuffs serve to keep down food consumption; and to take suitable action with a view to the elimination of profiteering in respect of such foodstuffs;

5. Calls upon the Economic and Social Council, in consultation with the Food and Agriculture Organization and the other specialized agencies concerned, to continue to give consideration to the problems of increasing the world's supply of food and of the international trade in food products; and

(a) To give special consideration to technical, financial, supply and other problems involved in providing the production facilities which may be necessary to enable under-developed and war-devastated countries to contribute effectively to the required increase in the world's supply of food; and

(b) To examine any other measures, including measures designed to improve storage, marketing and distribution facilities for basic foodstuffs and measures in regard to the possibility of reducing burdensome taxes, and to give consideration to measures ensuring stability of prices, with a view to raising the levels of nutrition of under-nourished population groups to health standards and to mitigate the effects of the world food crisis.