U.N. Food Summit Facing Rough Going Over Biofuels, Food Exports Curb

By Kyodo News International, Tokyo

Jun. 5–ROME — A U.N. food summit faced rough going on the second day of three-day talks Wednesday in coordinating views over biofuels and food export controls as part of efforts to deal with the global food crisis for the adoption of a declaration at its closing, participants said.

While the day’s plenary session of the summit, convened by the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization, engaged in item-by-item discussions on such issues as rising food prices and climate change, working groups tried to coordinate views to reflect in the declaration to be adopted Thursday, with gaps remaining over biofuels and food export regulations.

Advocates of biofuels such as the United States and Brazil said they cannot accept any declaration intended to contain biofuels, with U.S. Agriculture Secretary Ed Schafer telling reporters that he doubts any “positive agreement” will be reached over biofuels.

Coordination is under way for the declaration, based on a compromise centering on international dialogue or thorough research into biofuels, conference sources said.

U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki Moon said at a press conference that further study and research is necessary to work out international guidelines for biofuels.

Some food-producing countries are opposed to the declaration that calls on governments “not to institute trade actions, such as export limits or bans that could threaten stability of food supply,” as stated in a revised draft, according to the participants.

The revised text, a copy of which was obtained by Kyodo News, calls attention to soaring food prices, biofuel production and climate change as factors that could undermine food security.

As short-term remedial steps, the draft declaration calls on governments to provide food and financial aid to countries facing food shortages.

As for medium- to long-term measures, the draft calls on governments to step up international cooperation to expand investments in the agricultural sector and to bolster agricultural production.

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