International co-operation in the establishment of national food reserves

XI. RESOLUTIONS ADOPTED ON THE REPORTS OF THE SECOND COMMITTEE
1025. International co-operation in the establishment of national food reserves

The General Assembly, Having in mind the desirability of achieving the objectives set forth in its resolution 827 (IX) of 14 December 1954, Considering that one of these objectives is the possible use of food reserves for relieving famine and other emergency situations, Considering further that many countries may need to establish or increase national reserves for this purpose, and recognizing that many countries which are in the early stages of economic development are faced with special difficulties in establishing adequate reserves, such as the fact that levels of consumption in the less developed countries are generally relatively low, Noting that Economic and Social Council resolution 621 (XXII) of 6 August 1956 requests the Secretary-General, in consultation with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, to report to the Council at its twenty-fourth session inter alia, on the feasibility, and if feasible the manner, of using food reserves for meeting unforeseeable food shortages, Noting further that the Food and Agriculture Organization is engaged at the present time in a special study of the question of the establishment of national reserves against emergencies,

1. Requests the Secretary-General, in preparing his report pursuant to Economic and Social Council resolution 621 (XXII) of 6 August 1956, to include, on the basis of his consultations with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, an analysis of the possibilities and desirability of promoting, by means of consultations between importing and exporting Member States, the use of surplus foodstuffs in building up national reserves to be used in accordance with internationally agreed principles:

(a) To meet emergency situations;

(b) To prevent excessive price increases arising as a result of a failure in local food supplies;

(c) To prevent excessive price increases resulting from increased demand due to economic development programmes, thus facilitating the economic development of less developed countries;

2. Further requests the Secretary-General, in his analysis of the possibilities and desirability of the use of surplus foodstuffs for the above purpose, to examine whether such use may lead to displacement of markets for those commodities and what effects it may have on the economic and financial position of those countries which depend primarily on the export of similar commodities;

3. Requests the Economic and Social Council to consider the possibility of postponing until its twenty-fifth session its examination of the report of the Secretary-General, in order to be in a position to take fully into account the discussions and the expert technical studies being undertaken by the Food and Agriculture Organization concerning the establishment of national food reserves;

4. Invites both importing and exporting Member States to continue to consult, through the appropriate bodies established by the Food and Agriculture Organization, with a view to facilitating the establishment of national food reserves, with due regard for the principles of surplus disposal recommended by the Food and Agriculture Organization,[1] particularly the need to avoid harmful interference with normal patterns of production and international trade and to ensure that the use of surplus reserves will result in genuine additional consumption as defined in the principles of the Food and Agriculture Organization.

656th plenary meeting,
20 February 1957.

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[1] Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Commodity Policy Studies, No. 10 Functions of a World Food Reserve-Scope and Limitations (Rome, 1956), annex III.