international food reserve

international food reserve Sec. 604. (a) The Congress finds that— (1) half a billion people suffer regularly from malnutrition or undernutrition; (2) even very modest shortfalls in crop production can result in greatly increased human suffering, and undercut the benefits of bilateral and multilateral assistance programs, in poor developing countries with chronic food deficits; (3) increasing variability in world food production and trade presents a serious threat not only to consumers but also to producers; (4) the World Food Conference recognized the urgent need for an international undertaking to achieve a system of world food security based largely upon strategic food reserves: (5) the Congress through legislation has repeatedly urged the President to negotiate with other nations to establish such a system of reserves; (6) although the nations of the world have agreed to begin discussions on a system of grain reserves to regulate food availability, agreement on a global network of nationally held reserves still eludes the international community; (7) while some progress has taken place in the United States in creating domestic farmer held reserves, the scale of such reserves does not insure adequate protection against fluctuations in world production and price; and (8) the United States, as the world’s leading producer of foodstuffs, remains in a unique position to provide the leadership necessary to make world food security a reality. (b) It is therefore the sense of the Congress that the President should continue his efforts directed toward achievement of an agreement establishing an international network of nationally held grain reserves which provides for supply assurance to consumers and income security to producers.