G20 Farm Ministers take steps to control food prices

Absolute need to fight against world hunger in focus:

FRANCE: The world’s top 20 economic powers agreed Thursday on measures aimed at controlling high and volatile food prices.

Farm ministers from the G20 group of leading and emerging economies met for the first time in Paris Wednesday and Thursday.

Following nearly a year of difficult negotiations, French agriculture minister Bruno Le Maire described the agreement as a remarkable accomplishment.

“It was not just based on the questions of national interest of the countries concerned. It took into account the absolute necessity to fight against world hunger and to put an end to this scandal which is world hunger for hundreds of thousands of people,” he said.

The agriculture ministers called for more regulation of financial markets. Many experts say an increase in speculation in these markets has contributed to dramatic price swings in recent years. But there were few details in the agreement. G20 finance ministers will likely have more to say about this.

Farm ministers also agreed to set up a new system to share information on global food stocks and usage. World Bank President Robert Zoellick says this is a lesson learned from the previous price spike three years ago.

“What we saw — when prices started to surge in 2008 — was that a lack of information about stocks, about availability, can lead to panic in markets. And panic is what leads to price spikes. So uncertainty feeds volatility,” he said. The Paris agreement includes plans for small, regional emergency food reserves to be managed by the UN World Food Program.

And the ministers agreed to exempt food aid from export restrictions like those imposed by Russia and other countries last year following a major drought.

Experts say export restrictions aimed at protecting one nation’s food security worsen global price spikes.

A new rapid response forum is to meet when crises occur that threaten food supplies. But there is no agreement to end export bans.

Shenggen Fan, head of the International Food Policy Research Institute, says with high food prices creating global instability, it was important for the agriculture ministers to find common ground.

“They have achieved that common position. But I wanted to see more meat, more commitment, more concrete actions,” Fan said. Press TV