Attached is a draft Policy Determination entitled “Using PL 480 Title II
Food Aid for Emergency or Refugee Relief.” We have circulated the paper
to the regional and central bureaus for comment. These comments are
reflected in the present draft.
We are now circulating the paper for formal bureau clearance. We would
appreciate any additional comments and/or clearance by COB Friday, May
25, 1984.2
Attachment
Paper Prepared in the Agency for International
Development3
A.I.D.
POLICY DETERMINATION
USING PL 480 TITLE II FOOD AID FOR EMERGENCY OR REFUGEE
RELIEF
I. Introduction
PL 480 Title II authorizes the President to determine requirements
and provide agricultural commodities, on behalf of the people of the
United States of America, “. . . to [inter
alia]4 meet famine or other urgent or extraordinary
relief requirements . . . and for needy persons . . . outside the
United States.”5 The Act further
states that the President may furnish the commodities through
friendly governments and private or public agencies, including
multilateral organizations. In addition, the legislation
specifically prohibits furnishing Title II assistance to one
country—Vietnam.
The United States historically has shared its bountiful food supplies
with victims of natural disasters (such as floods, droughts,
earthquakes and hurricanes) and has helped to avert starvation for
victims of man-made problems (such as refugees from civil
disturbances or armed conflict). This humanitarian food assistance
has been provided as emergency or refugee relief without regard to
the political philosophy of the government whose people receive the
food aid.
Like all forms of PL 480 food aid, requests for emergency or refugee
relief are reviewed and approved under established procedures set
forth by the inter-agency Development Coordination Committee.
II. A.I.D. Policy
It continues to be A.I.D. policy to provide food aid for emergency or
refugee relief requirements of needy persons without regard to the
political philosophy of their government. The guiding principle
underlying this policy is that a hungry child knows no politics. The
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desire is to mount a
concerted effort quickly and decisively in response to a
humanitarian need.
In determining the appropriate response to a request for such food
aid, A.I.D. must take into consideration several factors: (a) the
nature of the disaster or other requirement—including the need to
provide food as quickly as possible; (b) the nutritional needs of
the population affected; (c) the amount and type of food assistance
provided by other international donors; (d) the logistical
requirements of delivering the food to those in need; (e) whether or
not there is reasonable assurance that the food deliveries will be
monitored, including, but not limited to, on-site inspection by
A.I.D. or an intermediary; (f) a determination that adequate storage
facilities are available in the recipient country to avoid commodity
spoilage or waste; (g) a determination that the distribution of the
food aid will not result in a substantial disincentive to or
interference with domestic production or marketing; and (h) other
relevant factors considered necessary to determine an appropriate
response.
In reviewing emergency or refugee food aid requests, A.I.D. must be
sensitive to the enormous complexities associated with mounting an
effective and timely response to urgent needs under uncertain
circumstances that frequently require hard choices and immediate
judgements. A.I.D. will review such requests to assure that the
assistance is not perceived as a substitute for action which a
responsible recipient government may need to take to assure adequate
food supplies for its people, and that it will not create a
dependency on further food aid shipments. At the same time, in
deciding whether or not, or to what extent, to provide such food
assistance, A.I.D. will endeavor not to penalize those in need of
assistance for the inadequate action or inappropriate policies of
their government.
The following additional factors will also be taken into account.
1. Emergency Situations. A.I.D. is reluctant
to provide “emergency” food aid to help alleviate a chronic
food-deficit situation that occurs year after year in the same
country which in substantial measure is brought about by
inappropriate government policies, since this reduces the resources
available to respond to those emergency situations that are sudden
and unanticipated. In such cases, the provision of emergency food
aid should be linked to (but not necessarily conditioned on) a
policy dialogue with the recipient country with the view to
correcting the policies which bear significant responsibility for
the chronic deficit. Emergency food aid provided in this fashion can
help to assure adequate availability of food in the future. Should
efforts to start such a dialogue fail, consideration should be given
to providing aid through an intermediary such as a PVO or multilateral organization with
a proven ability to deliver food to those in actual need of
assistance.
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In cases where the chronic food deficit is related to weather or
natural resource constraints (in contrast to policy constraints),
the provision of emergency food aid should be linked to a dialogue
concerning measures that might help to mitigate or ameliorate the
problem.
2. Situations Involving Refugees or Displaced
Persons. Under these circumstances, A.I.D. may provide food
aid to those in need under government-to-government programs and/or
non-government programs, whichever is appropriate.
Persons requiring emergency food aid may reside in a country which,
while their own, is controlled by a government unsympathetic to
their legitimate need for food aid. Provision of food aid on a
government-to-government basis under these circumstances should only
be considered where A.I.D. can be assured that the food will
actually be delivered to those in need. A.I.D. normally does not
provide emergency food aid to persons in a country if the government
of that country opposes such assistance. A decision to do so (for
example, providing food aid through a PVO or multilateral organization) should be made by the
A.I.D. Administrator.6
