26 July 1991

31st plenary meeting

1991/53. Food and agriculture

The Economic and Social Council,

Recalling General Assembly resolution 45/207 of 21 December 1990,

Recalling that in the International Development Strategy for the Fourth United Nations Development Decade, agriculture is cited as one of the sectors that will provide a means of reactivating economic growth and development in the 1990s, and that the eradication of hunger and poverty is one of the priority aspects of development,

Taking note with appreciation of the conclusions and recommendations of the World Food Council at its seventeenth ministerial session, and the Message from the Ministers of the United Nations World Food Council to the Multilateral Trade Negotiators of the Uruguay Round,

Also taking note with appreciation of the economic declaration from the Summit of the seven major industrialized nations, held in London in July 1991, in which the importance of a successful conclusion to the Uruguay Round of multilateral trade negotiations was stressed,

Stressing the importance of an adequate scientific and technological basis for increased food production and the existing linkage between agricultural research, technology transfer/extension and on-farm applications,

Welcoming the World Food Council/United Nations Development Programme Interregional Consultation on Meeting the Developing Countries' Food Production Challenges of the 1990s and Beyond, held at Cairo from 22 to 24 April 1991,

Welcoming the Conference on Agriculture and the Environment, held at Hertogenbosch, Netherlands, from 5 to 19 April 1991, organized by the Government of the Netherlands and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, and the Den Bosch Declaration and Agenda for Action on Sustainable Agriculture and Rural Development,

Stressing the importance of the assessments of food needs made by the Global Information and Early Warning System on Food and Agriculture,

Taking note of the report of the Secretary-General on trends in the international market for agricultural and tropical products and developments in the liberalization of international trade in agricultural and tropical products,

1. Recognizes that if the challenges of increasing food production and productivity and food security are to be met in developing countries, sustainable agricultural development in all countries should be promoted by new initiatives and sound national policies;

2. Stresses the importance to food security of sustainable agricultural development and a fair and more free system of agricultural trade, taking into account the particular interests of net food importing countries, and the necessity of ensuring that environmental protection concerns do not generate unjustified barriers to trade, thereby creating a new form of hidden protectionism;

3. Urges the continuation and strengthening of cooperative arrangements to facilitate the enhancement of early warning of food shortages and assessment of food needs within the framework of the Global Information and Early Warning System on Food and Agriculture;

4. Also urges an early, comprehensive and balanced conclusion of the Uruguay Round of multilateral trade negotiations, including the negotiations on agricultural and tropical products, in line with the Ministerial Declaration on the Uruguay Round and the Mid-Term Agreements;

5. Endorses the Message from the Ministers of the United Nations World Food Council to the Multilateral Trade Negotiators of the Uruguay Round and the call from representatives of the seven major industrialized nations at the Summit held in London in July 1991 for all contracting parties to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade to aim at completing the Uruguay Round before the end of 1991;

6. Requests the Secretary-General, in consultation with the World Food Council, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, to submit to the General Assembly at its forty-seventh session, for consideration under the sub-item of the agenda entitled "Food and agricultural development", an updated comprehensive report on trends in the international market for agricultural and tropical products and developments in the liberalization of international trade in agricultural and tropical products, taking into account the share of developing countries in such trade and the possible adverse short-term effects on net food importing developing countries, and on the follow-up to the section on agriculture of the International Development Strategy for the Fourth United Nations Development Decade.