§ Mr. Spearingasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what is the nature of United Kingdom representations on the EEC Food Aid Group; and what information he now possesses concerning reports of inefficient distribution of EEC food aid to the Sahelian drought areas.
§ Mr. WoodMeetings of the group are attended by officials of my Department and the office of the United Kingdom Permanent Representative to the European Communities, according to the needs of the occasion.
I have no evidence of inefficient distribution of food aid by the EEC. In the early stages, all organisations supplying relief aid met logistical difficulties. Reports which I received in July showed that there were difficulties in the distribution of food aid, including that from the EEC, caused mainly by the problems of moving supplies from the west coast ports.
Steps were taken to overcome these difficulties and later reports showed that the flow of outside supplies into the Sahelian Zone countries was maintained at a satisfactory rate throughout August with no breakdown in food distribution and no major problems in moving it from ports by the traditional means of road and rail transport. The food available during the critical month of September should have been sufficient for the immediate requirements of the area. Information from our embassies shows that the distribution of EEC and other food aid is going ahead satisfactorily.