# Council Decision of 13 November 2012 on the conclusion, on behalf of the European Union, of the Food Assistance Convention (2012/738/EU), Article 2: Principles of food assistance


The Parties, in providing and delivering food assistance to the most vulnerable populations, should always adhere to the following principles:
(a) General principles of food assistance:
(i) provide food assistance only when it is the most effective and appropriate means of addressing the food or nutrition needs of the most vulnerable populations;
(ii) provide food assistance, taking into account the long-term rehabilitation and development objectives of the recipient countries, while supporting the broader goal of achieving food security, whenever appropriate;
(iii) provide food assistance in a manner that protects livelihoods and strengthens the self-reliance and resilience of vulnerable populations, and local communities, and that prevents, prepares for, mitigates and responds to food security crises;
(iv) provide food assistance in such a way as to avoid dependency and minimise direct and indirect negative impacts on beneficiaries and others;
(v) provide food assistance in a way that does not adversely affect local production, market conditions, marketing structures and commercial trade or the price of essential goods for vulnerable populations;
(vi) provide food aid in fully grant form, whenever possible;
(b) Principles of food assistance effectiveness:
(i) in order to increase the amount available to spend on food assistance for vulnerable populations and to promote efficiency, minimise associated costs as much as possible;
(ii) actively seek to cooperate, coordinate and share information to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of food assistance programmes, and the coherence between food assistance and related policy areas and instruments;
(iii) purchase food and other components of food assistance locally or regionally, whenever possible and appropriate;
(iv) increasingly provide untied cash-based food assistance, whenever possible and based on needs;
(v) only monetise food aid where there is an identified need to do so, and to improve the food security of vulnerable populations; base monetisation on transparent and objective market analysis and avoid commercial displacement;
(vi) ensure food assistance is not used to promote the market development objectives of the Parties;
(vii) avoid re-exportation of food aid to the maximum extent possible except to prevent or respond to an emergency situation; only re-export food aid in a manner that avoids commercial displacement;
(viii) acknowledge, where appropriate, that relevant authorities or relevant stakeholders have the primary role and responsibility for the organisation, coordination and implementation of food assistance operations;
(c) Principles on the provision of food assistance:
(i) target food assistance according to the food and nutrition needs of the most vulnerable populations;
(ii) involve beneficiaries in the assessment of their needs and in the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of food assistance, as well as other relevant stakeholders, where appropriate;
(iii) provide food assistance that meets applicable safety and quality standards, and that respects cultural and local dietary habits and the nutritional needs of the beneficiaries;
(iv) uphold the dignity of beneficiaries of food assistance;
(d) Principles of food assistance accountability:
(i) take specific and appropriate measures to strengthen the accountability and transparency of food assistance policies, programmes, and operations;
(ii) monitor, evaluate, and communicate, on a regular and transparent basis, the outcomes and the impact of food assistance activities in order to further develop best practices and maximise their effectiveness.

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Source: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/eudn/2012/738/attachment/1/article/2 (the official version)
Page: https://openlegislation.uk/eu-decision-2012-738/attachment-1/article-2
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives.