I move:
That Dáil Éireann approves the terms of the Food Aid Convention, 1986 done at London on 13th March, 1986.
Fundamentally, the approval that is sought is an endorsement of a comprehensive policy of food aid for countries with serious food problems and of a valuable and sound international framework for such vital assistance. We have all been made aware in recent years of how critical the food problems of some developing countries really are and how precarious is the margin between, on the one hand, the basic subsistence level of much of the world's population and, on the other, famine and starvation. The solution to the problem of hunger lies in the attainment of food self-sufficiency by the developing countries and the main priority of international development efforts must be to help the developing countries produce enough food to feed their populations.
In the meantime, however, the reality is that many developing countries do not themselves at present have enough food to feed their populations, nor can they afford to pay for sufficient food imports. In others, sudden disasters or accumulated hardships can give rise, sometimes with little warning, to widespread famine and death, such as we are all witness to in Sub-Saharan Africa in recent times. In these diverse situations, it is food aid that prevents food shortages becoming famines — it is the difference between life and death. In the medium term, food aid, supplied for example through food for work programmes, can be used to support programmess designed to encourage agricultural development.
The Food Aid Convention provides an important framework for international food aid action, which has demonstrated its effectiveness over the years. While the new Food Aid Convention obviously does not provide a complete answer to the problems of hunger and underdevelopment, it represents a step in the right direction.
I would now like to say something on the legal and technical details of the Convention.
The Food Aid Convention is one of two legal instruments, the other being the Wheat Trade Convention, 1986, which together constitute the International Wheat Agreement, 1986. The second instrument, the Wheat Trade Convention, 1986, does not involve contributions directly from the Exchequer and therefore does not require the approval of the Dáil before ratification.
The first International Wheat Agreement was negotiated in 1949. The second International Wheat Agreement come into effect in 1971 and remains in force until 30 June of this year, hence the urgency of this debate. In 1967 the original agreement was extended to include the first Food Aid Convention, which was replaced by the second Food Aid Convention in 1971. Although Ireland did not immediately become a party to the Food Aid Conventions, we did so in 1973 as a result of our accession to the European Communities. Since then Ireland's contribution under the Food Aid Convention, like that of all the other member states, is counted as part of the overall European Community's contribution. The 1971 Food Aid Convention was replaced by the 1980 Convention. This was extended by two protocols, the most recent of which extended the convention from 1 July 1983 to 30 June 1986.
The International Wheat Council met in London on 13-14 March 1986 to negotiate a successor to the 1971 International Wheat Agreement, and finalised the text of the Food Aid Convention, 1986, on 13 March, which is before the House today for approval. Besides the European Community the other parties involved in the negotiations were: Argentina, Australia, Austria, Canada, Finland, Japan, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and the United States.
The objective of the Food Aid Convention is to carry out a food aid programme for the benefit of the peoples of developing countries. The programme's annual target, established in 1974, of ten million metric tonnes of food aid in the form of wheat and other grains, has been maintained in the 1986 Convention. The total minimum contribution agreed by the members of the 1986 Convention has been increased slightly from 7,592,000 tonnes annually under the 1980 Convention to 7,617,000 tonnes annually under the 1986 Convention. The FAO estimate that in fact over 12.3 million tonnes of food aid in cereals was provided during 1984-85, and that 10,996 million tonnes will be provided in 1985-86, including 3.3 million tonnes to Africa. Approximately 2.7 million tonnes of the overall total for 1985-86 was channelled through multilateral agencies, the remainder being provided on a bilateral basis. At present food aid donors provide approximately 22 per cent or 9,700,000 tonnes, of the total cereal import requirements of lowincome food deficit countries; the balance is purchased commercially. In addition, 839,000 tonnes of other commodities such as butteroil, vegetable oil and skin milk powder were provided as food aid during 1985.
The convention is open for signature and ratification or acceptance at the United Nations Headquarters in New York until 30 June 1986. It is proposed that the Community and all the member states will simultaneously sign the convention and deposit their instruments of ratification or declarations of provisional application. Although individual member states are required to sign and ratify the convention, the Community is represented as a single unit for the purposes of the convention.
With Spain's contribution of 20,000 tonnes incorporated into the Community's contribution, the total minimum Community contribution under the new convention is 1,670,000 tonnes, instead of the previous 1,650,000 tonnes. The Community's contribution is met partly from the Community's own resources and partly by national action. Ireland's proposed share of the total is 4,000 tonnes per annum, compared with 4,024 tonnes under the previous convention. At current market prices and including freight charges, the proposed Irish commitment will cost approximately £800,000 this year, with possible minor increases, in the region of 1 per cent, next year. As in the past, Ireland's contribution will be borne by the Vote for the Department of Agriculture and will continue to be channelled through the World Food Programme.
There have been similar motions moved in the past which have received support. I look forward to the support of the House on this occasion.