B- The FAO Consultative Subcommittee on Surplus
Disposal (CSSD)
The origin of the FAO Consultative Subcommittee on Surplus
Disposal (CSSD) harks back to 1954. Unlike the FAC the CSSD includes both donor
and recipient developing country governments among its members, with a number
of international organizations and NGOs, notably the International Federation
of Agricultural Producers (IFAP), being admitted.
The CSSD constructed what are known as the FAO's
«Principles of Surplus Disposal»19 (the
Principles). It should be stated upfront that this is a non-binding code of
good practice for food aid transactions. According to the FAO these Principles
look to ensure that agricultural commodities which are exported on
concessionary20 terms result in additional consumption for the
recipient country and do not displace normal commercial imports. Likewise
domestic production should not be discouraged or otherwise adversely affected.
The Principles are not a binding instrument and they do not represent a
commitment but only intent by signatory countries. They assist governments to
focus on their responsibilities as parties to concessionary transactions and to
avoid the potential for disagreements. The interests of food aid recipients are
safeguarded by the Principles which emphasize the importance of increasing
consumption rather than restricting supplies. The interests of exporting
countries are protected by the undertaking that such disposals should be made
without harmful interference with normal patterns of production and
international trade; by assurances against resale or transhipment of
commodities supplied on concessionary terms.
It is notable that the Principles are specifically referred to
in Article 10.4 of the WTO Agreement on Agriculture together with the reference
to the FAC. In practice, the CSSD addresses programme food aid where aid is
given
19 FAO, (2000) A Guide for Members of the FAO Consultative
Subcommittee on Surplus Disposal, Rome, p. 7. The description is
paraphrased from this source.
20 «Concessional»: Terms relating to price or to
other conditions of sale or payment more favourable than those obtainable in
the open market.
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through untargeted government to government transfers. In
contrast, project and emergency food aid (usually targeted to vulnerable
groups, linked to humanitarian or development activities, and carried out by
NGOs or the WFP) are generally regarded as additional to commercial exports.
Because it operates under the umbrella of the FAO's Committee on Commodity
Problems it is able to draw on the FAO's expertise on agricultural trade, food
aid, and food security. However, the Principles of Surplus Disposal are
non-binding commitments and, like the FAC, the CSSD has no enforcement
powers.
A further concept of the FAO's CSSD to consider here are the
«Usual Marketing Requirements» (UMR's). The UMR is a
commitment by the recipient country of food aid to maintain a normal level of
commercial imports of the same commodity and is based on a rolling average of
the last five years of commercial imports. Its aim is to ensure that food aid
results in additional consumption and that there is no adverse impact on
commercial trade. UMRs are thus required to be negotiated between the supplying
and recipient countries and included as part of their contractual arrangement
in any case in point involving these concessionary transactions. The UMR
concept primarily safeguards the interest of donor countries. It is interesting
that the FAC, post 1995, ceased to mention the UMRs. The provision addressing
the issue simply provides that food aid transactions must be carried out
consistently with the FAO «Principles of Surplus Disposal and
Consultative Obligations»21. Thus the inclusion of UMR
provisions in food aid agreements between donor and receiving countries is not
a requirement under international law, however it is not prohibited either.
21 See Article IX (e) (ii) of
the FAC 1999.
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Some are criticizing the FAO CSSD action, such as Frederic
Mousseau. For him,
The CSSD is based in Washington D.C. rather than at the FAO
Headquarters in Rome. Its location, its name and its focus on surplus proposal
clearly reflect the concerns of competing food exporting countries around the
use of food aid in an open economy rather than on hunger in recipient
countries. Its main function is to avoid the displacement of commercial imports
by food aid and it does not
constitute an instrument favouring an adequate use of food aid
to fight hunger.22
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