Mexico Declaration of the World Food Council.

33. RESOLUTIONS ADOPTED ON THE REPORTS OF THE SECOND COMMITTEE*
90. Mexico Declaration of the World Food Council

The General Assembly, Recalling its resolutions 3201 (S-VI) and 3202 (S-VI) of 1 May 1974 containing the Declaration and the Programme of Action on the Establishment of a New International Economic Order, 3281 (XXIX) of 12 December 1974 containing the Charter of Economic Rights and Duties of States and 3362 (S-VII) of 16 September 1975 on development and international economic co-operation, Recalling also its resolution 3348 (XXIX) of 17 December 1974, by which it established the World Food Council to serve as a co-ordinating mechanism to provide over-all integrated and continuing attention to the successful co-ordination and follow-up of policies concerning food production, nutrition, food security, food trade and food aid, as well as other related matters, by all organizations of the United Nations system, Further recalling its resolution 32/52 of 8 December 1977, in which it decided to review, at its thirty-third session, the implementation of the Programme of Action to Eradicate Hunger and Malnutrition contained in the Manila Communiqué of the World Food Council,[1] Having considered the report of the World Food Council on the work of its fourth session, held at Mexico City from 12 to 15 June 1978,[2] Bearing in mind Economic and Social Council resolution 1978/69 of 4 August 1978,

1. 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;

2. Takes note of the report of the World Food Council;

3. Adapts the Mexico Declaration of the World Food Council[3] concerning the world food situation and implementation of the Manila Communiqué of the World Food Council: Programme of Action to Eradicate Hunger and Malnutrition;

4. Expresses its deep concern at the slow progress in solving the fundamental food problems facing the developing countries, in particular the food priority countries and other developing countries with large food deficits and whose food production situation is still deteriorating;

5. Endorses the important recommendations and decisions in the Mexico Declaration concerning urgent necessary action and modalities for increasing food production in the developing countries, improving human nutrition and reducing hunger and malnutrition, assisting 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 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;

7. 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;

8. 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;

9. Expresses its deep regret and concern at the suspension of the negotiations to replace the International Wheat Agreement, 1971,[4] 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;

10. 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;

11. 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,[5] 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;

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

13. 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, resolutions and programmes regarding food adopted since the World Food Conference, to formulate action-oriented recommendations thereon and to report to General Assembly at its thirty-fourth session.

85th plenary meeting
15 December 197

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[1] Official Records of the General Assembly, Thirty-second Session, Supplement No. 19 (A/32/19), part one, para. 1. [2] Ibid., Thiny-third Session, Supplement No. 19 (A/33/19 and Corr.1). [3] Ibid., part one, para. 1. [4] United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 800, No. 11400, p. 45 [5] 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, Sixty-third Session, para. 26).