SHARING PLAN SUGGESTED

Press, Volume LXXXVI, Issue 26127, 1 June 1950, Page 5

SHARING PLAN SUGGESTED

The forma.ion of a plan to share out food surpluses was suggested by Dr. H. H. Hannam. of Canada, president of the federation, when addressing its fourth annual meeting, which has opened at Stockholm. Dr. Hannam began by saying that while the I.F.A.P. shared the ideals and objective.' of the Food and Agriculture Organisation to raise nutritional levels and assure equitable and stable returns to food producers, the conference must record disappointment at the negligible pro Tess made by the member .''overaments af the F.A.O. since the Hot Springs Con-'eren-e. in translating into action the principles which held out so much hope for people everywhere, whether oencurner s or producers. For producers, tht* future was anything hut reassuring. Dr. Hannam con'inued. The spectre of uncertainty hu’'g over them. In spite of the strides m"de in evolving marketing pric° stabilisation programmes in differen' coun'r es. no effective interna-machin'-ry had yet been devised to cushion the impact of such programmes on international trade Farmer’’ surpluses had alr.oadv reached the burdensome stage in some co’ ntri 0 ' and threatened to do so in others. All producers, wbe'her in siirnlus producing or importing countries, stood to lore heavily in any orev of competitive dumping. If surpluses were to be given away, he sug-

gested that they should be given through an international agency uud-'r international supervision only to '.hoM» who could not otherwise procure them. Farmers wanted Io produce for plenty, and delegates to mr '•I.F.A.r. conference would renew the«r determination to get member governments of the F. GO. to show more progress in ’r.-'.ivlating into action heir decla 'iti< s o'* faith Writing on the 1949 survey of th" state o food and agriculture. Mr Norris E. Dohd D .- -(■ ■ tei I • F.jA.O.. see- G m n r trouble alicd end warns govenn'ents th'fl they rru’t r sol ilciy lace the problem of surpluses. “’t should be ro~sihlp to bu'ld a bridge be weo- the dolLa- and the non-dollar world over ” hich certain additional q ’antities of fam ■ ro'3v , 'tfi ceu'd move." he states. In ’he moi? adv: n i'-d count"’w. containing about a quarter of the v.-orld po^u lnt inn. Ihe individual consumer c .n buy rar than h’s fp’hcr con’d bu v in 1900. hut people in Dm urdeve’oped counti-ie” live as poorly ‘o-day es lheir parents and grandparents lived.’’ Mr Dodd Felimms that through inter-govnrnm c 'ntpl commodity a~roemen's. and the technical 'nr* pro-rimr'e sronsored bv the F.A.0.. ’'reductive resources could be re-du-ec*ed with a minimum of hardship and much benefit to all.