From "El Nuevo Diario," Managua, Nicaragua, Nov. 18, 1996
Translated by Toby Mailman

U.S. Denies Right to Food; Refuses to sign on to aim of the FOA meeting in Rome

Reuters. 18 November, 1996

ROME, NOV 18 (Reuter) -- The U.S. said Sunday that to achieve the right to adequate food is "an aim or an aspiration" and not an international obligation of governments.

In a document written as a reservation to the statement on hunger adopted by the FOA food summit, Washington added that it did not sign on to the aim of the summit, according to which the countries must allocate 0.7 per cent of their annual economic wealth to help development.

The five-day summit, which ended Sunday, adopted by consensus a document which affirmed "the right of all to have access to adequate food and the basic right of all not to be hungry."

"The United States believes that this is an aim or an aspiration to be realized in a progressive manner but which does not propose any international obligation or reduce the responsibilities of national governments toward their citizens," the United States said.

The text is one of the reservations and intepretations of the summit's document presented by 15 countries, the organizers said.

Others, including the Vatican, Argentina and various Muslim countries, voiced strong objections to references in the summit's statement to population and family planning policies.