Zubkov calls for grain trade liberalisation

According to Zubkov, ?it became necessary in conditions of the crisis to remove barriers in world grain trade, which are not needed, and to coordinate approaches to the streamlining of measures of state support for grain production and export.? ?Those who operate on the grain market should concentrate their efforts on problems of the coordination of world grain trade and should outline collective measures, adequate to the new risks and global challenges,? he said. Zubkov pointed to the topicality of the improvement of mechanisms for rendering food assistance. He expressed confidence that the problem ?should be discussed in the setting of the responsibility of grain producing countries for food supply on the world level.? Aside from the above-mentioned problem, the Grain Forum is going to discuss possible approaches to the modernisation of the U.N. structures, specifically, of the U.N. Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) and the World Food Programme, Zubkov continued. He expressed hope that the proposals and conclusions, to be put forward at the Grain Forum, ?would become a basis for intergovernmental cooperation during the formation of mechanisms for ensuring global food security", Kazinform cites Itar-Tass. See www.itar-tass.com for full version.