PROPOSAL ON AGRICULTURE EXPORT PROHIBITIONS OR RESTRICTIONS
RELATING TO THE WORLD FOOD PROGRAMME

COMMUNICATION from Singapore

The following communication, dated 3 December 2020, is being circulated at the request of the delegation of Singapore to provide the background and explain WT/GC/W/810; TN/AG/46.

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Hunger on the rise

1.       The World Food Programme (WFP) is the leading humanitarian organization delivering food assistance in emergencies to save lives and working with communities to improve nutrition, build resilience and change lives for the better. Each year, WFP assists almost 100 million people in more than 80 countries across Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Middle-East.

2.       As stated by WFP, with the adoption of the Global Agenda, the international community has committed to end hunger, achieve food security and improve nutrition by 2030. Unfortunately, SDG2 is not on track and one in nine people worldwide still do not have enough to eat.

3.       WFP estimates that the number of acute food insecure people in its countries of operation could also increase to 270 million before the end of the year, representing an 82 percent increase from pre-COVID-19 food insecurity. The crisis unfolds at a time when the number of severely food insecure people in the world had already risen nearly 70 percent over the past four years, compounding the effects of climate change, conflict and socio-economic shocks in regions of the world that had previously escaped severe levels of food insecurity.

4.       Notably, in WFP Executive Director's Opening Remarks at the 2020 Second Regular Session of the WFP Executive Board (see remarks at Annex A), he states: "I think the Nobel Peace Prize (awarded to the WFP in 2020) recognizes that 2021 is going to be tough and the WFP has its most difficult work ahead of it and so I think they were sending a message to the world, to wake up, and please understand that we are facing a hunger pandemic as well as a health pandemic. We have had over a million people die from COVID-19 so far. About seven to eight million people have already died this year from hunger. That number could double, triple or quadruple if we do not get the funds that we need."

Impact of export restrictions on WFP's work

5.       However, export restrictions put in place by some countries affect the WFP's life-saving work, by ultimately eroding the value of its humanitarian assistance. Some examples highlighted by the WFP are below:

·        Delays and, in some cases, cancellation of procurement contracts to support vulnerable people;

·        Increased risk of food waste and losses due to longer transportation times and changes to the supply chain;

·        Delays in the delivery of life saving food to beneficiaries; and

·        Higher procurement, transportation and distribution costs. As WFP is a voluntary-funded organization, more money spent on administration means less food for the beneficiaries.

More details are in WFP's Inputs to the WTO, September 2020 at Annex B.

6.       WFP's Executive Director thus drew attention to the Proposal on Agriculture Export Prohibitions or Restrictions Relating to the WFP (WT/GC/W/810; TN/AG/46) in his Opening Remarks at the 2020 Second Regular Session of the WFP Executive Board. He states: "If this is passed, this will help us save both time and money in reaching the most destitute people. So, please, urge your governments to support this important exemption. As you can imagine, when we are moving foods, commodities and other supplies in so many countries around the world, when a country ends up with a logistics breakdown, or a port shutdown, or an export ban, the ripple effect can really be devastating. We have been working with governments as these issues come up but this will help us move things forward, because, again, we are talking about people's lives which are at stake. If you go a few weeks without food, you are going to die."

WFP's Procurement Policies, including a "do no harm" principle

7.       In ongoing discussions with Members and the WFP, the WFP also explained that it strives to procure food as close as possible to the place where it is needed. The WFP has a Procurement Policy (WFP/EB.2/2019/4-C, at Annex C), adopted by WFP's Executive Board, that sets forth a "do no harm" principle while carrying out food purchases, ensuring that potential negative impacts of local or other procurement on markets and value chains are carefully considered. Partnerships with national and local governments are also a key component of this policy.

8.       As such, WFP has stated that it carries out a continuous market monitoring exercise and carefully considers the multidimensional nature of the potential impacts of procurement: to this end, WFP will not purchase a specific food commodity from countries presenting a shortage of it.

9.       Resulting from these principles, and in line with its mandate, WFP will not initiate any food procurement that could lead to an increase in local prices and therefore potentially endanger the supplying country's food security.

10.    At the same time, WFP will support countries experiencing a severe food insecurity, collaborating with their Governments on a set of measures - including the import of food commodities - to address people's vulnerabilities and curb food and nutrition insecurity. More details are in WFP's briefing to the WTO of 10 November 2020 (see slides at Annex D).

Conclusion

11.    The challenges faced by WFP due to export restrictions on its foodstuffs purchased for non-commercial humanitarian purposes have been discussed by WTO Members from as early as 2011. In this context, we recall and reaffirm Article 12 of the Agreement on Agriculture and Article XI of GATT 1994. We further note ongoing discussions on issues such as the impact of COVID-19, effective and transparent humanitarian assistance, WTO provisions applicable to agriculture, etc.

12.      We believe the Proposal on Agriculture Export Prohibitions or Restrictions Relating to the WFP will help support the 690 million hungry people in the world today to achieve SDG2 on zero hunger by boosting WFP's capacity to deliver humanitarian assistance and allow more lives to be saved, while in no circumstances jeopardize the food security of the country where food commodities are sourced. We understand that the proposal is not the panacea for eradicating hunger, but it is an important step forward.