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exporting countries of curtailing production
or diverting surplus food products to non-food
uses." 10 Special price sales, although ne
gotiated between pairs of countries, would be
brought within the framework of commodity
control agreements. Provision for the possi
bility of such sales was made in the draft
international wheat agreement discussed last
April in London. The Geneva Conference may
wish to aek FAO and its council to give this
subject further study particularly in respect
to any products which may become the subject
of commodity agreement negotiations during
the ensuing year.
6. THE PROGRAMME REVIEW AND THE COUNCIL OF FAO
The state of food and agriculture in 1947
calls for an all-out effort to increase supplies.
It requires short-term programmes to be put
in hand immediately, but as the only final
answer it requires for all countries and conti
nents long-term expansion programmes, and
these should include as an appendage machi
nery for dealing with such local surpluses as
may arise.
The state of food and agriculture calls for
more frequent intergovernmental consultation
and over a wider range of problems than
heretofore. Co-operation is wanted not merely
for such tasks as the allocation o f foods in
short supply or the estimation o f needs of
particular war-damaged regions — important
as these are — but equally to mobilize sup
plies for the next harvest and to make a
start on the longer-term answers to today’s
shortages.
For this to come about and be effective it
will be necessary to have : (1) better sources
of information provided by Governments to
FAO in regular communication of statistics
and in periodic reports ; (2) reliable analyses
of the available facts which FAO should
increasingly be able to provide ; and (3) a
forum in which Governments can discuss the
evidence and decide on action.
It was the need for such a forum which
the Preparatory Commission had in mind
when it recommended the annual programme
review and the establishment of a council
o f FAO,
World Food Council.
In the words of
the Commission11, the purpose of the pro
gramme review would be to consider :
“ (1) The situation and outlook fo r produc
tion, trade in and consumption of
those agricultural commodities which
widely affect the interests of produ
cers and consumers.
10 FAO, Report о /
the FAO Preparatory
Commission on World Food Proposals,
p. vii.
11
Ibid.,
p. 57.
“ (2) The domestic policies and programmes
which member nations have adopted
or intend to adopt and their effects
upon the economies of other nations.
“ (3) Requests submitted for initiation of
special-price programmes and in all
matters relevant thereto.
“ The great merit of this annual review
will be that it will enable responsible offi
cials of the member nations
(a )
to consi
der how well their respective national pro
grammes fit together into a coherent world
picture, and
( b)
to form an appreciation of
how far changes might be needed in natio
nal programmes or intergovernmental
commodity operations to make them more
consistent with one another. ”
The Preparatory Commission felt, however,
that, in the present unsettled state of econo
mic affairs, it would not be sufficient to
review the world’s food and agriculture pro
blems merely once a year. It recognized
the necessity for more frequent intergovern
mental consultation and consequently proposed
the establishment of a council of FAO to
serve as a connecting-link between policy
discussions at the annual programme reviews.
The Commission described the purposes of
such a council as being “ to keep under
constant review matters within the compe
tence of the annual programme review, and
to tender advice on such matters to member
Governments of FAO, to intergovernmental
commodity councils, and to other specialized
international agencies. ” In particular, the
council should :
“ (1) Examine current developments in pro
posed and existing intergovernmental
agricultural commodity arrangements,
particularly those developments affect
ing adequacy of food supplies, utiliza
tion of food reserves, famine relief,
changes in producing or pricing
policies, and special food programmes
for undernourished groups ;
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