Decreto n.º 6/2005

TEXTO :

Decreto n.º 6/2005

de 22 de Fevereiro

No âmbito da revisão da Convenção Relativa à Ajuda Alimentar de 1995, os Governos dos Estados membros confirmaram a vontade de prosseguir a cooperação internacional no domínio da ajuda alimentar, com vista a alcançar a segurança alimentar para todos e a realizar um esforço permanente de erradicação da fome.

Cumpre assegurar mecanismos para responder eficazmente às situações de urgência alimentar, através da garantia de fornecimentos de ajuda alimentar, independentemente dos preços mundiais dos alimentos e das flutuações dos fornecimentos.

Assim:

Nos termos da alínea c) do n.º 1 do artigo 197.º da Constituição, o Governo aprova, para adesão, a Convenção Relativa à Ajuda Alimentar de 1999, entre a Comunidade Europeia e os seus Estados membros, a Argentina, a Austrália, o Canadá, os Estados Unidos da América, o Japão, a Noruega e a Suíça, feita em Londres em 13 de Abril de 1999, cujo texto, na versão autenticada em línguas inglesa, francesa, russa e espanhola e respectiva tradução em língua portuguesa, se publica em anexo.

Visto e aprovado em Conselho de Ministros de 2 de Dezembro de 2004. - Pedro Miguel de Santana Lopes - António Victor Martins Monteiro - Carlos Henrique da Costa Neves.

Assinado em 7 de Janeiro de 2005.

Publique-se.

O Presidente da República, JORGE SAMPAIO.

Referendado em 11 de Janeiro de 2005.

O Primeiro-Ministro, Pedro Miguel de Santana Lopes.

FOOD AID CONVENTION, 1999

Preamble

The Parties to this Convention:

Having reviewed the Food Aid Convention, 1995, and its objective of securing at least 10 million tonnes of food aid annually in the form of grain suitable for human consumption, and wishing to confirm their desire to maintain international co-operation on food aid matters among member governments;

Recalling the Declaration on World Food Security and the World Food Summit Plan of Action adopted in Rome in 1996, in particular the commitment to achieve food security for all and to an ongoing effort to eradicate hunger;

Desiring to enhance the capacity of the international community to respond to food emergency situations and to improve world food security, through the assurance of supplies of food aid irrespective of world food price and supply fluctuations;

Recalling that, in their 1994 Marrakesh decision on measures concerning least-developed countries and net food-importing developing countries, Ministers of WTO member countries agreed to review the level of food aid established under the Food Aid Convention as further elaborated at the 1996 Singapore Ministerial Conference;

Recognising that the recipients and members have their own policies on food aid and related matters, and that the ultimate objective of food aid is the elimination of the need for food aid itself;

Desiring to improve the effectiveness and quality of food aid as a tool in support of food security in developing countries, particularly to alleviate poverty and hunger of the most vulnerable groups, and to improve member co-ordination and co-operation in the field of food aid;

have agreed on the following:

PART I

Objectives and definitions

Article I

Objectives

The objectives of this Convention are to contribute to world food security and to improve the ability of the international community to respond to emergency food situations and other food needs of developing countries by:

Article II

Definitions

ii) "Commitment» means the minimum amount of food aid to be provided annually by a member under article III, e);

iii) "Committee» means the Food Aid Committee referred to in article XV;

iv) "Contribution» means the amount of food aid provided and reported to the Committee by a member annually in accordance with the provisions of this Convention;

vi) "DAC» means the Development Assistance Committee of OECD;

vii) "Developing country» means any country or territory eligible to receive food aid under article VII;

viii) "Eligible product» means a product, referred to in article IV, which may be provided as food aid by a member as its contribution under this Convention;

ix) "Executive Director» means the Executive Director of the International Grains Council;

xi) "Food» or "food aid» includes, as appropriate, a reference to seed for food crops;

xii) "Member» means a party to this Convention;

xiii) "Micronutrients» means vitamins and minerals used to fortify or complement food aid products which are eligible, under article IV, c), to be counted as a member's contribution;

xiv) "OECD» means the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development;

xv) "Products of primary processing» include:

Cereal flours;

Cereal groats and cereal meal;

Other worked cereal grains (e.g. rolled, flaked, polished, pearled and kibbled, but not further prepared) except husked, glazed, polished or broken rice;

Germ of cereals, whole, rolled, flaked or ground;

Bulgur; and

Any other similar grain product which the Committee may decide;

xvi) "Products of secondary processing» include:

Macaroni, spaghetti and similar products; and

Any other product, whose manufacture involves the use of a product of primary processing, which the Committee may decide;

xvii) "Rice» includes husked, glazed, polished or broken rice;

xviii) "Secretariat» means the Secretariat of the International Grains Council;

xix) "Tonne» means a metric ton of 1,000 kilograms;

xx) "Transport and other operational costs», as listed in annex A, mean costs beyond the f.o.b. stage or, in the case of local purchases, beyond the point of purchase, associated with a food aid operation, which may be counted in whole or in part towards a member's contribution;

xxi) "Value» means the commitment of a member in a convertible currency;

xxii) "Wheat equivalent» means the amount of a member's commitment or contribution as evaluated in accordance with article V;

xxiii) "WTO» means the World Trade Organization;

xxiv) "Year» means the period from 1 July to the following 30 June, unless otherwise stated.

Accordingly, any reference in this Convention to "signature» or to the "deposit of instruments of ratification, acceptance, or approval» or "an instrument of accession» or "a declaration of provisional application» by a Government shall, in the case of the EC, be construed as including signature or declaration of provisional application on behalf of the EC by its competent authority and the deposit of the instrument required by the institutional procedures of the EC to be deposited for the conclusion of an international agreement.

PART II

Contributions and needs

Article III

Quantities and quality

(ver tabela no documento original)

This will normally apply in full starting in the first year during which the country is deemed by the Committee to have acceded to the Convention. However, to facilitate the accession of Governments other than those referred to in paragraph e) of this article, the Committee may agree that an acceding member's commitment should be phased in over a period of not more than three years, provided that the commitment is at least 10,000 tonnes or an appropriate value in the first year, and increases by at least 5,000 tonnes a year or an appropriate value in each succeeding year.

Article IV

Products

ii) Grain and rice products of primary or secondary processing;

iii) Pulses;

iv) Edible oil;

vi) Skimmed milk powder;

vii) Sugar;

viii) Seed for eligible products; and

ix) Within the limits of paragraph b) below, products which are a component of the traditional diet of vulnerable groups, or a component of supplementary feeding programmes, and which meet the requirements set out in article III j) of this Convention.

ii) All products included in paragraph a), ix), of this article shall not together exceed 5%, and no product may individually exceed 3%, of its commitment excluding transport and other operational costs;

iii) In the case of commitments expressed as a combination of tonnage and value, the percentages in sub-paragraphs i) and ii) above shall be calculated separately for tonnage and value, excluding transport and other operational costs.

Article V

Equivalence

ii) Rice shall be determined by the international export price relationship between rice and wheat, in accordance with the methods set out in the Rules of Procedure;

iii) Products of primary or secondary processing of grains or of rice shall be determined by their respective grain or rice content, in accordance with the specifications set out in the Rules of Procedure;

iv) Pulses, seed of grain, rice or other food crops, and all other eligible products, shall be based on the costs of acquisition in accordance with the methods set out in the Rules of Procedure.

Article VI

Carryover and carryforward

Article VII

Eligible recipients

ii) Low-income countries;

iii) Lower middle-income countries, and other countries included in the WTO list of Net Food-Importing Developing Countries at the time of negotiation of this Convention, when experiencing food emergencies or internationally recognised financial crises leading to food shortage emergencies, or when food aid operations are targeted on vulnerable groups.