asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if he proposes to take any action to ensure that the basis of EEC aid in food to the Third World will not be altered by merely cutting down on the food surpluses produced by CAP but rather will meet the real needs of those countries.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - EEC Aid to Third World.
18.
Community food aid is provided on humanitarian grounds with the overall objectives of raising the standard of nutrition of the recipient peoples, of helping in emergencies, and of contributing toward the balanced economic and social development of the recipient countries. Food aid is supplied to developing countries on the basis of these criteria irrespective of whether they are associated or non-associated with the Community.
Community member states are currently examining the framework of food aid policy with a view to establishing it as one of the pillars of the Community's development co-operation policies. The Government fully support this objective. The proposed framework includes such basic features as the building up of food stocks in developing countries, financing of stocks of foodstuffs for use in emergency operations and possible purchase outside the Community, notably in developing countries, of the products to be supplied if they are unavailable on Community markets.