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International Code of Conduct on the Human Right to Adequate Food

September 1997

Draft endorsed by

• FoodFirst Information and Action Network

• International Human Rights Organization for the Right to Feed Oneself

• World Alliance for Nutrition and Human Rights

• Institute Jacques Maritain International

Table of Contents

Preamble

Part I Nature of the Code of Conduct on the Human Right to Adequate Food

Art. 1: Nature and Scope of Application
Art. 2: Objectives
Art. 3: Relationship with other International Instruments

Part II Normative Content of the Right to Adequate Food

Art. 4: Normative Content
Art. 5: Principles

Part III Corresponding Obligations

Art. 6: State Obligations at the National Level
Art. 7: State Obligations at the International Level
Art. 8: Responsibilities of International Organizations
Art. 9: Regulation of Economic Enterprises and other Actors

Part IV Responsibilities of Actors of Civil Society

Part V Means and Methods of Implementation

Part VI National Framework for Monitoring and Recourse Procedures

Part VII International Reporting and Support Mechanisms

Preamble

Recognizing the intolerable situation that more than 800 million people throughout the world, and particularly in developing countries, do not have enough food to meet their basic nutritional needs, heads of states and governments gathered at the World Food Summit in Rome in November 1996 to adopt the "Rome Declaration on World Food Security", reaffirming "the right of everyone to have access to safe and nutritious food, consistent with the right to adequate food and the fundamental right of everyone to be free from hunger". The promotion and implementation of the right to adequate food must be a central objective of all states and other relevant actors in order to end hunger and malnutrition.

This Code of Conduct renews the commitment of states and the support of every actor relevant to guaranteeing the right to adequate food and to strengthening the implementation of this right. In the center of this commitment must be the poor and hungry in the rapidly changing economic environment of our times.

The right to adequate food is a fundamental human right firmly established in international law. This right flows from the Charter of the United Nations, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) of 1966 and has been reaffirmed in many pronouncements of the international community over the last fifty years.

The right to adequate food was reaffirmed in many international documents, inter alia the Universal Declaration on the Eradication of Hunger and Malnutrition of 1974, recalling "that every man, woman and child has the inalienable right to be free from hunger and malnutrition in order to develop fully and maintain their physical and mental faculties", while considering that society today already possesses sufficient resources, organizational ability and technology and hence the capacity to achieve this objective. The right to adequate food was also reaffirmed in the Declaration on the Rights of Disabled Persons of 1975, the provisions of the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women of 1979 and the Declaration on the Right to Development of 1986. Furthermore, the Declaration of the Rights of the Child of 1959 and the Convention on the Rights of the Child of 1989 recognized the right of every child to a standard of living adequate for the child's physical, mental, spiritual, moral and social development. The ILO Convention No. 169 concerning Indigenous and Tribal Peoples in Independent Countries also affirms the right to adequate food.

The right to adequate food - or aspects of it - was also recognized and reaffirmed at many international gatherings and summits and in their final documents, including: the World Food Conference of 1974, the Declaration of Principles and Programme of Action of the World Conference on Agrarian Reform and Rural Development of 1979, the World Summit on Children of 1990, the International Conference on Nutrition of 1992, the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action of the World Conference on Human Rights of 1993, the Copenhagen Declaration and Programme of Action of the World Summit for Social Development of 1995, the Beijing Conference on Women of 1995, and the Rome Declaration on World Food Security and the World Food Summit Plan of Action of 1996.

While the right to adequate food is firmly established as a fundamental human right, it needs to be further elaborated to facilitate its implementation. The Rome Declaration and the Plan of Action adopted by the World Food Summit offer a milestone opportunity for this endeavour. In commitment 7, objective 7.4 of the Plan of Action "invites the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, in consultation with relevant treaty bodies, and in collaboration with relevant specialized agencies and programmes of the UN system and appropriate intergovernmental mechanisms, to better define the rights related to food in Article 11 of the Covenant [on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights] and to propose ways to implement and realize these rights as a means of achieving the commitments and objectives of the World Food Summit, taking into account the possibility of formulating voluntary guidelines for food security for all."

This Code of Conduct starts from the recognition that there are more than enough resources available to eradicate hunger and malnutrition and that hunger and malnutrition are almost always the result of poverty. Therefore, the right to adequate food means, first of all, the right to feed oneself or to social safety-nets for those who are unable to do so, underlining the importance of access to productive resources.

This Code of Conduct is intended to clarify the content of the Right to Adequate Food and the responsibilities of all actors involved in ensuring its full realization. The Code is written in the context of the changing situation with regard to hunger and nutrition that is emerging from the new risks, opportunities and challenges presented by the unprecedented advances in technology, by the changing role of institutions at the national and international levels, and by the opening of borders in an increasingly globalized world. The Code of Conduct on the Right to Adequate Food will provide a guide for the conduct of the international community, states and all relevant actors in civil society to better focus their policies and action on those persons and groups vulnerable to hunger. The Code is intended to provide guidance for legislation at both national and international levels.

Moreover, the Code of Conduct will strengthen the follow-up of the Plan of Action adopted by the World Food Summit in Rome by providing an ethical foundation and legal guidance for its implementation.
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PART I

Nature of the Code of Conduct on the Human Right to Adequate Food

Article 1

According to international law, this Code provides general principles and guidelines for domestic and international implementation of the right to adequate food. In this regard this code is directed to the states and other relevant actors that are responsible for securing this right.

Article 2

This Code of Conduct develops provisions already enshrined in general international law as reflected in many international treaties including Article 11 in the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (refered to below as the Covenant), and the Convention on the Right of the Child. In so far as general guidelines are concerned, this Code serves as an instrument of reference to help states and international organizations to adopt appropriate legal instruments to realize the right to adequate food or to improve the implementation of existing ones.

Article 3

Nothing in this Code shall be interpreted as allowing a state to suppress or to limit other obligations that it may have and that are relevant to the right to adequate food, deriving from treaties or other commitments made, whether at the national or at the international level. This Code is to be interpreted and applied in conformity with the relevant rules of general international law that have established the right to adequate food, and in the spirit of the Rome Declaration on World Food Security. Nothing in this Code prejudices the rights and duties of states under the provisions of general international law concerning the right to adequate food.
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PART II

Normative Content of the Right to Adequate Food

 

Article 4

The right to adequate food means that every man, woman and child alone and in community with others must have physical and economic access at all times to adequate food or by using a resource base appropriate for its procurement in ways consistent with human dignity. The right to adequate food is a distinct part of the right to an adequate standard of living.

The realization of the right to adequate food requires
(1) a) the availability of food, free from adverse substances and culturally acceptable, in a quantity and quality which will satisfy the nutritional and dietary needs of individuals;
b) the accessibility of such food in ways that do not interfere with the enjoyment of other human rights and that is sustainable.

(2) The ultimate objective of the right to adequate food is to achieve nutritional well-being. Nutritional well-being is dependent on parallel measures in the fields of education, health and care. In this broader sense, the right to adequate food is to be understood as the right to adequate food and nutrition.

(3) The realization of the right to adequate food is inseparable from social justice, requiring the adoption of appropriate economic, environmental and social policies, both at the national and international level, oriented to the eradication of poverty and the satisfaction of basic needs.

Article 5

5.1 In accordance with Articles 55 and 56 of the Charter of the United Nations it is incumbant upon States to take joint and separate action to advance the respect and observance of human rights including the right to adequate food.

5.2 All States Parties to the Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights are under the obligation to take immediate steps to fulfill their obligations under the Covenant. The obligation to achieve progressively the full realization of the right to adequate food requires State Parties to move as expeditiously as possible towards its realization.

5.3 As is true of all other human rights, the right to adequate food imposes three different types of obligations on States: the obligation to respect, to protect, and to facilitate and fulfill. Failure to perform any one of these three obligations constitutes a violation of human rights.

5.4 The human right to adequate food must be guaranteed without discrimination as to national or social origin, property, race, gender, language, religion, political or other opinion.

5.5 Food should never be used as an instrument for political and economic pressure.
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PART III

Corresponding Obligations

Section A: State Obligations at the National Level

Article 6

6.1 In recognition of their obligation to respect the right to adequate food under all circumstances for everyone under their jurisdiction, states will respect physical and economic access to adequate food or to a resource base appropriate for its acquisition. The obligation to respect means that the state must not take political or other measures destroying existing access by vulnerable populations, and must respect ancestral land rights particularly of indigenous peoples. The state must also respect the right of women to breastfeed their babies for at least six months of life.

6.2 States will protect everyone under their jurisdiction from having their access to food being undermined by a third party. The obligation to protect includes the State's responsibility to ensure that private entities or individuals, including transnational corporations over which they exercise jurisdiction, do not deprive individuals of their access to adequate food. This involves the protection of the freedom to feed oneself and the use of resources to regulate other actors, through, inter alia the adoption of legislation and administrative measures that protect the access to adequate food.

6.3 Whenever an individual or group is unable to enjoy the right to adequate food, states have the obligation to fulfill that right. This requires that States identify, and provide for, vulnerable populations within their jurisdiction, using strategies which ensure the long-term ability of people to realize this right for themselves. This obligation also applies to persons who are victims of natural or other disasters.

6.4 Even in the case where a state faces severe resource constraints, whether caused by a process of economic adjustment, economic recession or other factors, vulnerable persons are entitled to be protected through social programs directed to facilitate their access to adequate food and fulfill their nutritional needs. All states have the duty to satisfy a minimum core obligation, which means that everyone is, as a minimum, free from hunger. Additionally governments should devise policies and programmes oriented to the full realization of the right to adequate food. Priority should be given, as far as possible, to local and regional sources of food in planning food security policies, including under emergency conditions.

Section B: State Obligations at the International Level

Article 7

7.1 In the spirit of article 56 of the UN Charter, the Rome Declaration of the World Food Summit and the specific provisions contained in articles 2 (1), 11, 15, 22 and 23 of the ICESCR, states recognize the essential role of international cooperation, and reaffirm their commitment to take joint and separate action to achieve the full realization of the right to adequate food.

7.2 In meeting their obligations derived from general international law, states will not violate, nor assist in violating the right to adequate food of persons who are not under their jurisdiction.

7.3 States should, in international agreements, whenever relevant ensure that right to adequate to food be given due attention, and consider the development of further international legal instruments to that end.

7.4 States´ international policies and programmes must respect the full realization of people´s right to adequate food. This has implications for their trade and finance policies, and for technology tranfers. It also requires states to consider the international implications of their domestic agricultural policies and use of technology.

7.5 In cases of emergency, states shall provide disaster relief and humanitarian assistance to any country that may need it. Food should, as appropriate, be mobilized from the nearest available sources. Assistance as necessary for its distribution to the most vulnerable people will be provided.

7.6 Food aid should at all times be organized in ways that facilitate the return to food self-reliance of the beneficiaries.

Section C: Responsibilities of International Organizations

Article 8

8.1 An international organization must never pressurize a state or other international organizations to violate the human right to adequate food.

8.2 International organizations are accountable under the international provisions relevant to the human right to adequate food and should submit to similar standards of transparency, public control and freedom of information as individual states. International organizations must not take any measure which would presuppose a violation of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights by any of its member states duty-bound under the this Covenant. People´s access to adequate food must be respected and protected by international organizations. Moreover, international organizations must support states in protecting and fulfilling people´s access to adequate food.

8.3 Nothing in the international treaties establishing international organizations or regarding other international matters such as international finance and trade, shall be construed to override the obligations of international organizations under the right to adequate food.

Section D: Regulation of Economic Enterprises and other Actors

Article 9

9.1 States shall refrain from assisting or tolerating action by individuals, corporations or other non-state actors depriving persons both in and outside their jurisdiction of their access to adequate food. States will take all necessary steps to prevent individuals, corporations or other non-state actors from obtaining pecuniary benefits or advantages of any sort by interfering with the enjoyment of the right to adequate food, even if that action has taken place in another country. States are under the duty to prohibit such acts and prosecute those responsible for them. Economic enterprises, including transnational corporations, must be subject to regulations both at the national and international levels, ensuring that their activities do not adversely affect access to food, the means to acquire food, or food production resources. Economic enterprises themselves must respect the right to adequate food.

9.2 States should respect and actively promote the space needed by civil society, including individuals, families, people´s community based organizations, social movements and non-governmental organizations, to fulfill their role in realizing the right to adequate food. States shall respect and protect the work of human rights advocates and prevent all forms of discrimination of civil society.
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PART IV

Responsibilities of Actors of Civil Society

Article 10

This code applies to all actors in civil society, whether they act as individuals, families, local communities or non-governmental organizations. For the full realization of the right to adequate food the active participation of all these actors is essential; this includes mechanisms of social mobilization as well as participation in planning, executing, monitoring and evaluating public policies relevant to the right to adequate food, while maintaining their autonomy in their relationship with the state. No actor of civil society shall contribute through personal or organized behaviour and programmes to violations of the right to adequate food.

Article 11

Every individual, having duties to other individuals and to the community to which he/she belongs, is under a responsibility to strive for the promotion and observance of the right to adequate food.
Every individual and organisation in civil society shall strive, by teaching and education, to promote respect for the right to adequate food, helping to secure the universal and effective recognition, implementation and observance of this right, both among individuals and communities.

Article 12

The essential role civil society should play in the realization of the right to adequate food shall in no way diminish the primary importance of the obligations of States in this respect.
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PART V

Means and Methods of Implementation

Article 13

All actors mentioned in this Code of Conduct: States, international organizations and the civil society including individuals, families, local communities and non-governmental organizations, and economic enterprises should contribute to the realization of the objectives and principles contained in this Code.

13.1 The implementation of the right to adequate food requires steps to be taken by all appropriate means, including in particular the adoption of legislative measures, supported by the necessary administrative capacity.

13.2 These measures shall address all aspects of the food system, including the production, processing, distribution and consumption of food, as well as parallel measures in the fields of health, care and education. To be effective, the all these measures shall strengthen communal organisations and the empowerment of civil society.

13.3 Steps to ensure access to food producing resources require establishing and maintaining of land registries, respecting the usage of ancestral lands particularly by indigenous peoples, and preventing forced eviction or resettlement. Agrarian reforms must provide vulnerable smallholders and landless peasants with access to land. Change and innovation in farming systems must give due respect to traditional farming practices. Measures must be adopted to ensure sustainable patterns of production, preventing soil and water pollution and protecting the fertility of the soil, the biodiversity of genetic resources and the climate. Local food producers must be ensured access to markets for their products. Local food storage and distribution should be promoted and enhanced. The development of local and regional agro-industries stimulating the rural economy is an important step towards the realisation of the right to adequate food. Dumping of food products from other countries which undermine market opportunities for local producers must be prevented.

13.4 Steps to ensure satisfactory distribution of access to food should include measures to respect and protect self-employment, to promote access without discrimination to work with remuneration which provides for a decent living for wage earners and their families, and to ensure women full and equal access to economic resources, including the right to inheritance and the ownership of land and other property, credit, natural resources and appropriate technology, if necessary by legislative and administrative reforms.

13.5 Steps to ensure adequate consumption of food should include measures to respect and promote traditional food patterns, and to establish and implement legislation for food safety control and for the protecting of consumers from nutritional disinformation and commercial fraud. Products included in international food aid programs must be nutritionally safe and culturally acceptable to the recipient population.

13.6 States should abstain at all times from trade embargoes or similar measures which endanger necessary access to food in other countries. States should also not prevent access to humanitarian food aid in internal conflicts.
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PART VI

National Framework for Monitoring and Recourse Procedures

Article 14

14.1 States shall develop and maintain mechanisms to monitor progress towards the realisation of the right to adequate food for all, to identify the factors and difficulties affecting the degree of fulfillment of their obligations, and to facilitate the adoption of corrective legislative and administrative measures.

14.2 States shall develop and maintain effective and accessible recourse procedures including national human rights commissions and national ombudsman institutions, and ensure that these are made effective and accessible with regard to allegations made by individuals or groups on non-fulfilment or violations of their right to adequate food.

14.3 Furthermore, States shall monitor the impact of their external activities (agricultural, developmental, financial, trade etc.) and the activities of private actors under their jurisdicion, on the enjoyment of the right to adequate food in other countries, with a view to take corrective measures to prevent or redress possible negative consequences of these activities.
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PART VII

International Reporting, Monitoring and Support Mechanisms

Article 15

15.1 States should fully comply with their reporting obligations under relevant international treaties, including the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women, and the Convention of the Rights of the Child. In doing so, States shall encourage the participation of non-governmental organisations and other non state actors in the preparation of these reports.

15.2 The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the Convention of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, the Committee on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women, and the Committee on the Convention of the Rights of the Child and other treaty bodies are called upon to strengthen their capacities for assessing the realisation of the right to adequate food in the context of examining country reports on the realisation of economic, social and cultural rights.

15.3 Specialised UN agencies, programmes, and funds as well as the international financial institutions and the World Trade Organisation, shall, within the sphere of their mandates, assess the impact of their activities in member countries on the realisation of the right to adequate food and take corrective measures as required.

15.4 The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights shall facilitate coordination among the United Nations bodies concerned with the right to adequate food, and to this end facilitate the exchange of reports and other relevant information among these bodies. The High Commissioner will report regularly to the Commission on Human Rights, to the FAO Committee on Food Security, and to the UN Administrative Committee on Coordination on progress made towards the realisation of the right to adequate food for all.

15.5 The High Commissioner for Human Rights shall consult with the relevant UN bodies, specialised agencies, programmes and funds on the practical follow-up and potential monitoring of the present Code of Conduct. The involvement of non-governmental organisations in such monitoring should be ensured.

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