Foreign Relations of the United States, 1969–1976, Volume XXXVIII, Part 2, Organization and Management of Foreign Policy; Public Diplomacy, 1973–1976

177. Memorandum From the Director of the Policy Planning Staff (Lord) to the Deputy Under Secretary of State for Management (Brown)¹

Washington, November 13, 1974.

SUBJECT

• Food Policy Organization

The Secretary has directed that international follow-up to the initiatives he launched at the World Food Conference be managed by the Department of State. We anticipate a NSDM which will formalize that directive in the near future.² Regardless of what interagency mechanism is finally chosen for this purpose, I agree that the Department needs to be organized internally in the most effective way to carry out our responsibilities in this crucial area.

The problem, as I see it, contains two main requirements: 1) leadership of an interagency mechanism to prepare US positions and recommendations through the Secretary to the President and 2) implementation of the Secretary’s WFC program through the various international coordinating groups which he proposed.

Since action is required immediately on both fronts, I recommend that initial responsibility be assigned to Tom Enders who should coordinate closely with AID and IO internally.

However, while we were in Rome, the Secretary indicated that he would in the future look primarily to Under Secretary Robinson as well as his Special Assistant (currently Ed Martin) for Departmental leadership in this field. Therefore, I believe we have essentially two options for organizational arrangements as we move into the coming year:

1) Leave it to Robinson to determine how responsibilities for interagency coordination and international negotiation should be divided up within the Department and between the Department and AID. I would assume he would look mainly to Enders and EB staff (working with IO and AID) for his primary support, but I would encourage him to continue to call on S/P for appropriate help as well.³

While this approach is the cleanest, it may not be the most effective, since Enders (and I assume, Robinson) will be simultaneously and deeply involved in the Secretary’s other main international economic concern: oil and recycling, not to mention other pressing issues in the trade, aid and monetary fields.

2) The other alternative is to appoint a Special Food Policy Coordinator of Ambassadorial rank, in effect to pick up where Ed Martin will have left off if he retires at the end of this month. The Coordinator should normally take his policy guidance from Robinson. But he should also be able to present his views directly to the Secretary if there are differences. Though he may need a small staff of his own (as Martin has had), he would rely primarily on Enders, Buffum and Parker and their staffs for most of the work.

A Special Coordinator would relieve both Robinson and Enders of much of the time-consuming effort that will be needed, both within the government and in international negotiations. However, the exact status of the position and the specific division of responsibilities may well turn on the personal strengths and weaknesses of the individuals concerned. We should stay flexible at least until Robinson comes on board. If this proposal commends itself to you, Robinson, Enders and the Secretary, we should discuss potential candidates for the post. We have a few names in mind.

Whichever route we choose, I believe Enders must continue to play a central role, both within the Department and in the international negotiation area, to ensure effective coordination both between our oil and food strategies (which are intimately linked) and between those areas and the more traditional issues of commodity, PL 480, trade and financial policies which are the tools with which we must implement the main strategies. It is for this reason that I have not included any recommendation that would result in a basic reorganization of EB (e.g., splitting the Food Policy Division out of the Bureau and putting it in a separate status).

1. Source: National Archives, RG 59, General Administrative Correspondence Files of the Deputy Under Secretary for Management, 1968–75: Lot 78 D 295, Box 1, M Chron November 1974. No classification marking. Drafted by Robert J. Morris (S/P).
2. No NSDM was issued. This is apparently a reference to Document 176.
3. In a November 25 memorandum to Ingersoll, Deputy Director of the Policy Planning Staff Reginald Bartholomew also argued in favor of giving Robinson the responsibility for “general guidance and coordination” of the Department’s food policy. Bartholomew also recommended that OES and AID take responsibility for the “population/food/nutrition relationship,” with EB providing staff support. (National Archives, RG 59, General Administrative Correspondence Files of the Deputy Under Secretary for Management, 1968–75: Lot 78 D 295, Box 1, M Chron November 1974)