WTO Food Security Working Group Looks Over Report on Food Crisis Response
The World Trade Organization's Committee on Agriculture Working Group on Sept. 21 reviewed the food security coordinatory's report in a bid to advance talks on the food crises and gather consensus on recommendations to be issued by November, the WTO said.
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The report centered on four areas: "access to international food markets; financing of food imports; agricultural and production resilience of least-developed and net food-importing developing countries (LDCs and NFIDCs); and horizontal issues." While some members stated their support for the report, others said it "lacked sufficient emphasis on flexibilities for developing economies" to handle the more short-term issues stemming from the food crisis, the WTO said.
Some members expressed concerns about the scope of the working group's work, saying it should look at "all issues relating to food security challenges" and should not be stopped from floating proposed actions to other bodies. Other nations said the scope of the group's work "should be aligned to the work of the WTO and the mandate of the Committee on Agriculture in particular," the WTO said.