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