Statement by IFAP at the COAG meeting

IFAP Statement at the COAG Meeting, FAO

31 March-4 April 2003, Rome

Mr. Chairman,

The International Federation of Agricultural Producers (IFAP) representing farmers all over the world is grateful to the FAO for having been given the possibility to address this important meeting.

The Federation brings together 100 national farmers' organizations from 71 countries throughout the world, representing 500 million farm families.

IFAP congratulates COAG to the excellent document on "FAO's Strategy towards a Food Chain Approach on Food Safety and Quality" which will be of great value to us in our work in this field. As a matter of fact, IFAP is now more and more carrying out work in the field of food safety. We will be happy to submit to the Secretariat our recent position paper on food safety.

In connection with the food chain approach, I would like to say a few words about the news FAO/WHO document on diet, nutrition and chronic diseases called WHO Technical report series 916.

Our observations are brief and concern mainly the effects of the document on agriculture and food trade.

In our opinion, the report is too much centered on the developed world and over-nutrition. It is stated in the report that under-nutrition, which hits around 806 to 850 million people according to FAO estimates, carries with it great risk for chronic diseases. Therefore, the report should have given more attention to under-nutrition. When reading the recommendations in the report one gets the impression that everybody has the possibility to choose amongst a wide range of foods. For many people in the world, including many of our farmers, there is no choice. It is only to take what is there in order to survive.

We are not the right people to comment on scientific details. But we understand that many scientists question the fact that the report 916 presents in several respects findings which are contrary to the research findings presented in reports from other recent FAO/WHO Expert Consultations on nutrition matters.

We also understand that the research behind the report 916, and especially the conclusions from the research, has met with criticism by a great many submissions to the report secretariat. However, it is to be deplored that these submissions have only marginally been taken into account.

In spite of heavy criticism against the use of population nutrition goals in the report 797, which has been replaced by report 916, such goals have been included also in the present Report. We can not see the value of such goals. They are not seen as relevant for most nations and can only cause confusion. Countries are so different and individuals build up their own diets without following the population nutrition goals.

By concluding, the IFAP has the opinion that the report 916, built on debated research and conclusions from that research, will cause economic hardships for many of the world's farmers. Products hit will for example be meat, dairy products, oils and sugar. We think that this is very unfortunate.

We believe that it would be important for many parties concerned, not least our farmers, if the FAO moved work on the substantiation of the nutrition recommendations and on the evaluation of the agricultural and international trade economic impacts.

Once again, Mr. Chairman, many thanks for having given us the floor.