FAO fails in its mission

FAO fails in its mission

The summit held by the United Nations' Food and Agricultural
Organization (FAO) in Rome, which opened early this week, seems
to be the place where Indonesia's President, Megawati
Soekarnoputri, can air her grievances.

Hard work to expand agricultural land, encouragement for
intensified research and development in agricultural
technologies, the introduction of high-yield seedlings,
counseling on new planting techniques and other efforts useful to
increase food production have yet to produce the desired results.

Things have changed. At the previous food summit, which was
attended by then president Soeharto, Soeharto could proudly show
Indonesia's success in reaching rice self-sufficiency. Hence, a
special citation for Soeharto from FAO.

This achievement is now just a memory. A good question to ask
now is what can Indonesia and the FAO do at this year's World
Food Summit?

For Indonesia, the liberalized market promoted by the
International Monetary Fund has claimed victims, as various
imported products have requested that they be exempted from
import duties or excluded from the prevailing trading system. A
number of superior local products are now under the threat of
being set aside by the presence of foreign products.

In this context, support must be given to the courage of
President Megawati to impose high import duties on imported
agricultural products. The basis of this policy is very strong.
The World Trade Organization still allows special treatment for
agricultural products.

This policy, if correctly implemented, is expected to help the
agricultural sector better develop.

-- Bisnis Indonesia, Jakarta