Enlarged debate of the Assembly on the activities of OECD in 1995
Doc. 7655
23 September 1996
CONTRIBUTION[1]
by Mr ANTHOPOULOS, Greece, Socialist Group
1. Introduction
1. The need for policy reform in favour of a living countryside has increasingly been the subject of international debate. The present report situates agriculture, aquaculture, forestry and fisheries as important, but not the only, activities where the promotion of efficient enterprises can bring prosperity to rural areas and thus help in achieving better social and economic stability within and among nations. It argues that rural development and food security should benefit from world trade in agricultural commodities. One condition is that food must be safe to eat and its production should not cause serious or irreversible damage to the environment. The report is a new call on governments to implement sustainable resources management policies. This contribution is not a detailed analysis of the OECD's work, but aims at putting forward a few proposals to the OECD member governments and to the Organisation itself for future priority areas in the fields of agriculture, food and rural development.
2. This document is complementary to the main report produced by the Committee on Economic Affairs and Development (Rapporteur: Mr Leers, Netherlands, Doc. 7615)
2. Rural development
3. In April 1996, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe voted a recommendation asking the Committee of Ministers to draw up a framework convention for rural development: a European Charter for Rural Areas (Recommendation 1296 (1996)). The aim of this new political initiative is to give increased attention to the importance of maintaining and developing the economic, ecological and socio-cultural functions of rural areas. The Assembly also provided a model text of such a charter and proposed specific policy guidelines for a comprehensive plan to (re)vitalise the countryside. These guidelines cover a broad range of issues such as spatial planning, infrastructures, transport, education and training, agriculture, forestry and fisheries as well as the promotion of other small and medium-sized rural enterprises, tourism, housing and health, culture, environment and landscapes, decision-making and subsidiarity, etc.
4. Your Rapporteur believes that most of the issues dealt with in the Assembly report will find a positive response also among non-European OECD member countries. The future of rural society and the harmonious relations between cities and the countryside will be crucial for the wellbeing of society as a whole. The Habitat II Conference, organised by the United Nations in Istanbul at the beginning of June 1996, clearly illustrated the importance of giving more emphasis to rural development in order to avoid urban disasters. The Conference estimated that more than one billion urban citizens do not have access to clean drinking water and water-borne diseases kill four million children every year.
5. More attention could be paid to developing specialist niches — goods produced in rural areas (for example, organic farm produce or rugs and carpets) and services with a rural focus (for example, farm holidays, local museums and natural parks) — which offer a means of diversifying sources of income and creating jobs in the countryside. The financing of rural development might benefit from resources freed by reductions in subsidies to the agricultural sector.
6. Special consideration must still be given to the agricultural sector, which is of particular importance to rural areas as it employs about one quarter of the OECD countries' rural population and, together with forestry, occupies most of the land in the countryside. However, agriculture in itself is no longer the only driving force of a dynamic rural economy; there has not been any net increase in agricultural sector employment for several decades since processing activities have been industrialised and centralised.
3. World food security
7. FAO estimates that food production worldwide will have to be increased by more than 75% over the next 30 years in order to adequately feed the world's rapidly growing population. Access to healthy food and clean drinking water, which should be a fundamental human right, is far from achieved.
8. World trade in agricultural commodities plays an increasingly important role for the improvement of this situation. Local agricultural development must, however, also be stimulated to achieve food security. It is therefore important to establish fair trade rules which at the same time will foster international trade and local agricultural and rural development.
9. The spectacular rise in wheat prices in the autumn of 1995, with stocks at their lowest for the past 20 years and food aid diminishing, has raised questions as to what will happen over the next few years, not only with cereals but with all agricultural commodities. The forecasting of commodity markets is full of uncertainties simply because many important variables are difficult or impossible to predict, such as weather or exchange rates. The growing world interdependence for food is making it increasingly important to carefully follow the world food situation in order to adopt policies for the achievement of a balance between production and demand. The publication of an agricultural outlook covering the period 1995 to 2000 responds to a need for better forecasting. For example, the forecast - if reliable - that world prices for cereals in 2000 will be higher than in 1990 but significantly below the peak of 1995, has important economic and policy implications. The work of the OECD on monitoring and outlook of agricultural policies, markets and trade is therefore of particular value and must be strengthened. In this connection, your Rapporteur welcomes the new structure and format of the 1995 report, which includes assessments of relations between agriculture and the environment, agriculture and the rural economy, the effects on agriculture of the Uruguay Round, the possible enlargement of the European Union to include some Central and Eastern European countries, and the achievement of sustainable agriculture. OECD's special effort to assess the effects and policy responsibilities to the agriculture agreement of the Uruguay Round is a valuable contribution to the discussion on fair trade rules for agricultural commodities. Insufficient emphasis has so far been given to social and environmental aspects in this connection. The OECD could certainly become a privileged partner of the World Trade Organisation in this connection.
10. Increased world trade in agricultural commodities must however be based on the principle that food must be safe to eat. The recent incident of Mad Cow disease or BSE (Bovine Spongeform Encephalopathy) which has hit the British beef industry should be taken as a firm warning that food safety must be scrupulously observed. The 64th general session of the International Committee of the World Organisation for Animal Health (meeting in Paris in May 1996) expressed concern that more should be undertaken to control food safety and to elaborate improved standards. Your Rapporteur is of the opinion that such efforts must concern plants as well as animals. The competent organisations working in this field should co-operate more closely to improve quality standards and control methods.
11. The consequence of these concerns is that an analysis must be made on the role and responsibilities of the different players along the food chain. The economic aspects and product-quality aspects are of interest as well as their relation to rural and farm economies. The enhanced interest in consumer-safety issues and the environment would need to find expression in policy reform regarding food as well as non-food production (animal feed).
4. Agriculture and the environment
12. The work of OECD to study concepts, issues and policies for sustainable agriculture and forestry is highly relevant and this work should help member States to improve their performance in this field. The global environmental degradation is a problem and agriculture has been in part responsible, but if sustainable methods are used agriculture and forestry could again become sectors of major importance for the preservation of the natural and man-made environment. The multiple functions of farmers in this respect must be recognised and rewarded. The Seminar on the Environmental Benefits from Sustainable Agriculture, held in Helsinki on 10-13 September 1996, provided useful insight on this issue.
13. OECD should follow up this work by trying to relate environmental "costs" to production methods. Such issues should also increasingly be taken into consideration when establishing international trade rules. The work undertaken by OECD for the development of a set of agri-environmental indicators providing information on agri-environmental relationships to policy-makers could be most useful.
5. East-West economic relations in agriculture
14. Agriculture is of considerable importance for most countries of Central and Eastern Europe. These countries are faced with privatisation of land and agro-industries, restructuring of the agro-food sector and the challenges linked to the intensification of trade. OECD's analysis of agricultural policy developments in Central and Eastern European countries and the main new independent States of the former Soviet Union, in co-operation with experts from these countries, is therefore a valuable assistance that should be continued. In-depth analyses of agro-food policies on a country basis, such as those undertaken on the Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, are particularly useful when introducing new policy reforms. Seminars on the same theme can also be most helpful for understanding the major motives for such policy reforms and for their implementation. The need to improve statistical and methodological instruments and to develop agricultural indicators to evaluate and monitor policy reforms is another problem area where OECD should continue its close co-operation with Central and Eastern European countries as well as the new independent States of the former Soviet Union. Your Rapporteur notes with pleasure that the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland have become members of the OECD.
6. Fisheries
15. The problems of over-fishing, resulting in a threat of depletion of many fish stocks, and the consequences for coastal communities depending on fishing, require a new approach to fisheries management in order to obtain responsible and sustainable fishing. Experience has shown that there are no universal solutions to the fisheries management problems and that the necessary policy reforms could be difficult. The Parliamentary Assembly, in a recent resolution (Resolution 1091 (1996)) called on member States, the European Union, the OECD and other international organisations to adopt a strategy to achieve a rational and sustainable use of living marine resources and to involve all parties concerned in the implementation and monitoring of this policy. Your Rapporteur is also of the opinion that increased international co-ordinated action is needed to achieve this goal. OECD is just about to conclude a unique study on the economic aspects of the management of living marine resources to assist decision-makers in arriving at the correct conclusions. The decision to follow up this study by looking at fisheries from an integrated approach, i.e. from the supply side as well as the demand side, is a useful initiative that could favourably contribute to other ongoing international and national studies and policy analysis in this area.
7. Text for possible inclusion in the draft resolution to be adopted at the enlarged debate of the Assembly
1. Recognising that the long term objective of substantial progressive reductions in support and protection resulting in fundamental reform is an ongoing process, the Enlarged Assembly calls on the OECD and its member countries to work actively in support of this objective.
2. The enlarged Assembly considers that more emphasis needs to be given to policies favouring diversified rural development with a view to improving social and economic stability.
3. It is of the opinion that special efforts are needed to achieve better monitoring and forecasting of agricultural policies, markets and trade, taking account of the fluctuations in prices and food stocks and the need for systematic measures to combat the increasing level of world poverty.
4. The Enlarged Assembly is concerned that food safety standards must be upheld to ensure consumer safety and confidence.
5. It is also concerned at the long-term consequences of the continued degradation of air, soil and water quality and considers that this must increasingly find an expression in commodities policies and prices as well as in trade rules.
6. The enlarged Assembly believes that a far greater effort should be made to achieve a sustainable harvesting of fish stocks.
7. Consequently, the enlarged Assembly calls on governments of OECD member countries and, where appropriate, OECD itself:
i. to continue and broaden work for diversified rural development and, in this connection, to seek inspiration in the proposed European Charter for Rural Areas; such development might benefit from resources freed by reductions in subsidies to agriculture;
ii. to increase efforts and improve the instruments for the monitoring and forecasting of agricultural policies, markets and trade;
iii. to improve food quality standards and controls of these;
iv. to increasingly include environmental "costs" in agricultural commodities prices (the "polluter pays" principle), to take due account of environmental parameters in trade rules and to develop work on the relations between agriculture and environment, in particular agri-environmental indicators;
v. to continue the close co-operation with Central and Eastern European countries and the new independent States of the former Soviet Union on matters related to the design and monitoring of policy reform in the agro-food sector;
vi. to continue their efforts with regard to the monitoring of fisheries policies and broaden their work on the management of living marine resources in order to achieve a sustainable management of fisheries using a multi-species approach.
Reporting committee: Committee on Economic Affairs and Development (Doc. 7615).
This contribution was approved by the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development at its meeting on 23 September 1996.
Secretary to the committee: Mr Lervik.
[1]. By the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development.