Africa: Ban Proposed On Export Restrictions That Undermine Food Security
After Egypt's democratic uprising earlier this year, food security has become a main aim in its quest to achieve social justice. Therefore, Cairo has initiated a proposal at the WTO to ban export restrictions of agricultural products to net food importing developing countries (NFIDC).
Some 77 WTO members are regarded as NFIDCs. They comprise all least developed countries (LDCs) plus another 26 developing countries that rely primarily on the import of agricultural products for food security. The proposal was introduced by the NFIDCs, with the support of the African group and the LDCs group.
A recent meeting on food price volatility, organised by the Geneva-based global think tank the International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development (ICTSD), discussed the proposal of banning export restrictions on food to countries with vulnerable populations.
Food producers sometimes limit their food exports in favour of serving domestic consumption needs and to keep local prices low.
According to the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO), global prices of wheat surged by 60 to 80 percent from Jul. to Sep. 2010 following the export ban by Russia, which is not a WTO member but should become one by the end of 2011.
Export restrictions on foodstuffs were one of the key drivers of the food crisis and price spikes during 2007 - 2011. At the beginning of 2011, 21 countries had imposed export control measures. Recently, Ukraine, Macedonia, Moldova and the Kyrgyz Republic, for example, placed export restrictions on different types of grains.
The WTO does not prohibit such measures, but it tries to curb them. "You cannot deprive very vulnerable countries from sustenance by banning exports of food to them," Hisham Badr, ambassador of Egypt to the WTO, argued in an interview with IPS - especially, he said, "given the international food crisis, the energy crisis, the economic and financial crisis and the fact that the Doha Round seems to be in intensive care".
Since Jun. 2010, as a result of price increases, the number of extreme poor people has increased by 44 million in low and middle-income countries.
Concretely, Egypt's proposal foresees exempting NFIDCs from export restrictions on foodstuffs by both developing and industrialised countries. NFIDCs, however, would still be allowed to use such restrictions for their own food security.
The proposal also foresees the ban of export restrictions on food destined for humanitarian assistance delivered by the World Food Programme (WFP).
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