BRIC nations sign global food security pact

 

 

In a significant development, BRIC nations – Brazil, Russia, India and China – have agreed to combat hunger and boost efforts to promote food security.

 

Agriculture ministers of BRIC on Friday (March 26) signed a global food security declaration and also agreed to pool resources to combat famine that affects more than a billion people globally.

 

The Doha round of negotiations, which started in 2001, is aimed at lowering trade barriers. The talks were stalled in 2008 over disagreements between developed and developing countries on measures that would allow poorer countries to levy tariffs on certain agricultural goods.

 

The countries, known collectively as BRIC, agreed to establish an agricultural information database that would help countries compute supply and demand and establish grain reserves.

 

In addition, the ministers agreed to reduce the effects of global climate change on food security and cooperate in the field of agricultural technology and innovation.

 

An expert working group was set up to implement these measures, and it will meet on a regular basis, the statement said.

 

The four agriculture ministers, Russia's Yelena Skrynnik, China's Han Changfu, Brazil's Guilherme Cassel and India's Sharad Pawar also made signs of boosting trade within the group.

 

The countries are home to 42% of the world's population and 32% of its arable land, the Russian Agriculture Ministry said in a statement ahead of the meeting.

 

Combined, the BRIC countries produce about 40% of the world's wheat, 50% of its pork, more than 30% of its poultry and 30% of its beef, the statement said.

 

Skrynnik said that Russia had made its first shipment of grain, 24,000 tonnes, to Brazil. The country already accounts for 65% of Russia's meat imports (US$2.1 billion) and 12.4% of total agriculture imports.

 

He also said poultry from India could help replace US imports of the meat, which were frozen when long-planned regulations went into effect that forbid the import of poultry treated with chlorine -- a production method used by many US producers. In exchange, Russia hopes to secure India as a buyer for its grain and oilseeds.

 

However, Russia is not very interested in increasing its agriculture imports from other countries. Earlier this year, President Dmitry Medvedev signed a new food security doctrine, calling for 85% of all meat consumed in the country to be produced domestically.

 

Instead, it is trying to position itself as a major regional agriculture supplier, hoping to double its exports of grain within 15 years.