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(e) To maintain an equilibrium in balances of payments, and to achieve fclie orderly management of currencies and exchange ; (/) To improve the methods and reduce the cost of distribution in international trade ; (g) As an integral part of this programme, to reduce barriers of every kind to international trade and to eliminate all forms of discriminatory restrictions thereon, including inequitable policies in international transportation, as effectively and as rapidly as possible ; 2. That these Governments and authorities take, individually and in concert, whether by conference or otherwise, all necessary measures, both domestic and international, to secure the application of this principle and the achievement of these objectives. XXV. INTERNATIONAL COMMODITY ARRANGEMENTS Whereas : 1. Excessive short-term movements in the prices of food and agricultural commodities are an obstacle to the orderly conduct of their production and distribution ; 2. Extreme fluctuations of the prices of food and agricultural products aggravate general deflationary and inflationary tendencies, which are injurious to producers and consumers alike ; 3. The mitigation of these influences would promote the objectives of an expansionist policy ; 4. Changes in the scale and character of production to meet more effectively the world's need for food and agricultural products may in certain instances require a period of transition and international co-operation to aid producers in making necessary readjustments in their productive organization ; 5. International commodity arrangements may play a useful part in the advancement of these ends, but further study is necessary to establish the precise forms which these arrangements should take and whether and to what extent regulation of production may be needed ; The United Nations Conference on Food and Agriculture Recommends— 1. That international commodity arrangements should be designed so as to promote the expansion of an orderly world economy ; 2. That, to this end, a body of broad principles should, through further international discussion be agreed upon regarding the formulation, the provisions, and the administration of such international commodity arrangements as may be deemed feasible and desirable and should include assurance that — (a) Such arrangements will include effective representation of consumers as well as producers ; (b) Increasing opportunities will be afforded for supplying consumption needs from the most elficient sources of production at prices fair to both consumers and producers and with due regard to such transitional adjustments in production as may be required to prevent serious economic and social dislocations ; (c) Adequate reserves will be maintained to meet all consumption needs ; (d) Provision will be made, when applicable, for the orderly disposal of surpluses ; 3. That international organization should be created at an early date to study the feasibility and desirability of such arrangements with reference to individual commodities and, in appropriate cases, to initiate or review such arrangements to be entered into between Governments, and to guide and co-ordinate the operations of such arrangements in accordance with agreed principles, maintaining close relations with such programmes as may be undertaken in other fields of international economic activity to the end that the objective of raising consumption levels of all peoples may be most effectively served. XXVI. SPECIAL NATIONAL MEASURES FOR WIDER FOOD DISTRIBUTION Whereas : 1. Even in the most prosperous countries there are many families which cannot afford to buy enough good food ; 2. In some countries, and at some times, hunger and semi-starvation have been widespread ; 3. This situation has existed even when agricultural prices have been low and when large supplies of food have piled up in warehouses or rotted in the fields, and the problem will not be fully met by general economic measures to stimulate production and trade ; The United Nations Conference on Food and Agriculture Recommends— 1. That the Governments and authorities here represented accept the responsibility of making it possible, so far as it is within their power, for each person in their respective countries who is without an adequate diet, to improve his diet in the direction of obtaining the physiological requirements of health, adopting such of the following, or other, measures as are designed to fit local conditions and institutions — (a) Adequate social-security measures, such as family allowances, social insurance, and minimum wages ; (b) Some form of direct action to make protective foods available free, or at low prices, to groups with inadequate diets ; (c) Special attention to assisting such groups as pregnant women, nursing mothers, infants, children, aged persons, invalids, and low-paid persons ; 2. That the diets provided under these programmes be based upon the best scientific information on nutritional needs ; 3. That food-distribution measures be co-ordinated with programmes to increase food-production and to bring about adjustments in agriculture and fishing which will, on the one hand, encourage the production and distribution of those foods most lacking in the diets of the country, and adapted to the soils and climates ; and will, on the other hand, provide an adequate level of living to persons engaged in farming and fishing ; 4. That the permanent organization recommended in Resolution II assist the several Governments and authorities in making surveys of nutritional needs, in helping develop now food-distribution programmes, in disseminating information concerning those programmes, and in aiding to co-ordinate efforts in this field.

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