Block Warns Against U.S. Intervention in Farming

Secretary of Agriculture John R. Block said today that “excessive government intervention in agriculture” must be reduced or “we will find ourselves in a trade war that would be destructive for all.”

Block issued the warning in a speech to the 23rd biennial conference of the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization at its Rome headquarters. Block was replaced as chairman of the conference by Cameroon Agriculture Minister Jean Baptiste Yonke at the opening session of the 156-nation conference Saturday.

Speaking as head of the U.S. delegation, Block said that beyond food aid, technical assistance and training, in order to bolster the economies of Africa and other developing regions, “We must take action against protectionism in trade.”

Hurting Trade

“The import barriers, export subsidies and other distortions that are hurting international trade are often symptoms of excessive government intervention in agriculture,” Block said.

“No nation is blameless when it comes to protectionism and the United States does not pretend to be,” he said. “But even with our own trade deficit problems, we remain committed to work through GATT (the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade) to bring an end to protectionism.”

Block said that in developed countries, government intervention “has created mountains of grain and dairy surpluses by boosting production incentives beyond all reason.”

“In developing nations, the same interventionist mentality has led to cheap food policies that give farmers little incentive to produce.”

Production Doubled

Block said that in the 40 years since the FAO was founded, “farmers have more than doubled food production, feeding over 2 billion more people than they did when World War II came to a close.

“What must have seemed an unattainable and idealistic goal back in 1945--the eradication of hunger--is now clearly within our reach,” he said.

Yet, he said, “In 1985 world agriculture has reached a critical point, a crossroads. “On the one hand, a half billion people still do not have enough to eat,” he said. “On the other hand, some of the world’s most productive farmers--in my own country, Europe and other developed nations--are finding it hard to make a decent living.”

Block said the famine in Africa “has demonstrated how badly we need new approaches to agricultural development.”