§ Mr. MichaelTo ask the Prime Minister (1) if he will seek to ensure that the European Commission places a higher priority on humanitarian considerations than cost-effectiveness in deciding allocation of food aid to Africa;
(2) if he will list the surplus commodities held in the intervention stocks of the European Commission, the quantity of each commodity currently held or held on the latest date for which the information is available and the amount of each commodity that has been used within the programme of food aid for Africa which was agreed in May;
(3) if he will list the surplus commodities held in the intervention stocks of the European Commission and indicate, for each item on the list, the steps he has taken to find ways that items might be used to combat starvation and poverty in Africa and elsewhere as an alternative to remaining in store;
(4) if he will list the surplus commodities held in the intervention stocks of the European Commission and indicate, for each item on that list, his assessment of ways in which that commodity could be used (a) as immediate emergency food aid for Africa and elsewhere and (b) as part of long-term programmes to prevent starvation;
(5) further to his answer of 22 July, if he will (a) indicate the quantity of grain being drawn from intervention stocks of the European Commission, (b) indicate the quantity of grain that would meet the needs of the special programme of food aid for Africa and (c) indicate whether additional quantities of grain could make a contribution to meeting the needs of people facing starvation in Africa over and above the needs of the special programme;
782W(6) further to his answer of 22 July, if he will indicate the measurements of cost-effectiveness currently being used by the European Commission to cost the special programme of food aid for Africa;
(7) further to his answer dated 22 July, if he will seek to persuade the European Commission to increase the use of grain from intervention stocks to meet the needs of people currently facing starvation in Africa.
§ The Prime MinisterI am satisfied that humanitarian considerations, in particular the need to ensure that the right product reaches the right people at the right time, are given high priority by the European Commission. However, the very substantial cost of transport from Europe to the more remote parts of Africa has to be taken into account when determining the source of grain for relief purposes; for that reason we encourage the Commission to buy food in nearby countries with exportable surpluses whenever appropriate.
Significant intervention stocks are held of cereals (particularly common wheat, durum wheat, barley and rye), milk products, beef and wine. Of these only common wheat and, to a limited extent, rice are suitable for use as emergency food aid. So far in 1991 262,000 tonnes of common wheat held in intervention have been used in this way. In addition substantial quantities of wheat have been purchased on the European Commission open market by the Commision and member states for food aid purposes; some 90 per cent. of the food provided under Community action programmes (1.7 million tonnes of cereals, and smaller quantities of other products this year) is obtained from within the Community. Tables showing the amounts of the various products held in intervention are deposited regularly in the Libraries of the House.
The main priority now in combating famine in Africa is to encourage donors to deliver quickly pledges already made and to find ways of speeding up distribution within the affected countries to the people most in need. We shall continue to take every opportunity to pursue these issues with other donors, including the European Commission, and with the international organisations and recipient countries. My right hon. Friend the Minister for Overseas Development will be discussing them with the main British non-governmental organisations on 25 July.