Jim O'Keeffe
Ceist:76 Mr. J. O'Keeffe asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if he will outline the Government's position in relation to EC food aid for the Soviet Union.
Written Answers. - EC Food Aid for Soviet Union.
The present grave economic situation in the Soviet Union has resulted in a need for several forms of assistance, dealing with emergency needs on the one hand and with the short and medium term transformation of the economy on the other. Overall production has fallen by 25 per cent in the Soviet Union in the past year. The decline in production in the food sector has been particularly acute. Bad harvests, lower food production, distribution and market failures have all contributed to shortages which are likely to become more serious in the coming months.
The European Community is already disbursing aid agreed by the European Council in Rome in December 1990. A 250 million ECU programme of food aid in the form of grants is now under way, directed towards particularly needy groups in given locations. The Community is also providing credit guarantees of 500 million ECU for the import of food by the Soviet Union. Part of this credit may be used for the purchase of food products in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe including the Baltic States and part of the purchase of food directly from Community stocks.
In early September, the Soviet authorities sought food aid totalling $14.7 billion, subsequently reduced to $10.2 billion, from the European Community and the G7 countries. The Community has been asked to provide about half of this, equivalent to six billion ECU, in a mixture of grants, credit guarantees and loans for imports of cereals, meat, sugar, vegetable-oil, butter and flour. The Commission and G7 representatives are currently analysing the Soviet Union's real food needs as well as their absorptive capacity and food distributing networks. A commitment to the effective distribution and allocation of food and medical supplies throughout the Soviet Union is a precondition for large scale aid.
In response to the most recent Soviet requests EC Finance Ministers already agreed in principle on 7 October to grant a further 1.25 billion ECU in credits to assist the Soviet Union with imports of food and pharmaceutical supplies. This Community aid will be split 50/50 as between products sourced in the EC and in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe including the Baltic States.
I believe that a positive response by the Community at this time is essential to help ensure the development of democracy and stability in the Soviet Union. In that spirit Ireland has participated actively and constructively in the community's consideration of the type and amount of aid required. We have supported the use of EC financial assistance to the Soviet Union to purchase product from Central and Eastern Europe countries as a means of addressing both the Soviet food problem and the East European search for markets, while at the same time emphasising the importance of making maximum use of EC intervention stocks. We look forward to receiving detailed proposals from the Commission as soon as its study of real needs in regard to food aid is completed.