Foreign Relations of the United States, 1961–1963, Volume IX, Foreign Economic Policy

107. Memorandum From the Director of the International Cooperation Administration (Labouisse) to President Kennedy⁰

Washington, May 12, 1961.

SUBJECT

• The Food for Peace Program

The Foreign Aid message calls for the creation of a single Aid Agency equipped with a flexible set of tools including the Food for Peace Program.¹ In order to carry out these basic concepts, the Task Force recommends that an Office of Food for Peace be established in the new Agency with primary responsibility for the over-all Food for Peace Program.²

This office would, among other things, formulate and negotiate sales agreements with other nations for agricultural commodities under Titles I and IV of PL 480. This would be done after consultation with the appropriate elements of the State Department and other interested agencies. The availability and composition of specific commodities for these sales and their possible effect on usual dollar marketings would continue to be determined by the Department of Agriculture. The necessary authority for putting this function in the Aid Agency is provided for in the omnibus farm bill now before Congress which will amend PL 480 so as to transfer from the Secretary of Agriculture to the President the authority to determine which nations are eligible for Title I and Title IV Sales Agreements.

USDA objects to placing these functions in the new Aid Agency on the grounds that it would subordinate the USDA sales program to the Aid Agency.³ It argues that the Congress is more likely to support a reasonably high level for these programs if the present arrangements remain essentially undisturbed. This would leave the initiative for the formulation of sales agreements in the USDA and the power of final decision in the present interagency committee.

The Task Force recommends against the USDA proposals because they are inconsistent with the decisions already made by you as set forth in the Foreign Aid message and because they would seriously undermine the country programming concepts fundamental to the new approach set forth in the message.

We also believe that the integration of the PL 480 program into the assistance effort will enhance, rather than hinder, the utilization of agricultural commodities overseas. The decision-making process will be streamlined under the Task Force recommendation and the Director of the Office of Food for Peace will have the opportunity and responsibility for developing new techniques for increasing the use of these products in our assistance programs.

The above arrangements recommended by the Task Force would assure protection of the interests of both agencies and any dispute between USDA and the Aid Agency which could not be reconciled by them would require Presidential decision.

Henry R. Labouisse⁴

0. Source: Washington National Records Center,RG 286, AID Administrator Files: FRC 65 A 481, Agriculture, FY 1962. No classification marking.
1. Reference is presumably to the President’s March 22 message on foreign assistance; see Document 100.
2. Attached to the source text but not printed is a task force paper titled “Working Group III, Organization and Administration, Document No. 1,” dated May 8.
3. The specific arguments advanced by the Department of Agriculture have not been found.
4. Printed from a copy that bears this typed signature.