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

176. Memorandum by the President’s Assistant for National Security Affairs (Kissinger)¹

Washington, November 12, 1974.

MEMORANDUM FOR

• The Secretary of the Treasury
• The Secretary of Agriculture
• The Deputy Secretary of State
• Director, Office of Management and Budget
• The Chairman, Council of Economic Advisors
• The President’s Special Representative for Trade Negotiations
• Executive Director, Economic Policy Board
• Executive Director, Council on International Economic Policy

SUBJECT

• Follow-Up Group to World Food Conference

The President has directed that an International Food Review Group, comprising the addressees of this memorandum, be established to coordinate the implementation of United States’ decisions and initiatives stemming from the World Food Conference.² It should, as appropriate, make recommendations on further actions to be taken to implement the measures announced at the Conference. The Secretary of State and the Secretary of Agriculture are to be Chairman and Vice Chairman respectively.

The Group should coordinate its recommendations, as they relate to U.S. agriculture and trade policy, with the Executive Committee of the President’s Economic Policy Board.³

The International Food Review Group should create a working group chaired by the representative of the Secretary of State with the representative of the Secretary of Agriculture as Vice Chairman. Other members of the working group should include representatives of the Secretary of the Treasury, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, the Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs, the Executive Director of the Council on International Economic Policy, the President’s Special Representative for Trade Negotiations and other agencies as appropriate. The working group should coordinate its activities with U.S. Government efforts in multilateral trade negotiations.

Henry A. Kissinger

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. Also published in Foreign Relations, 1969–1976, vol. E–14, Part 1, Documents on the United Nations, 1973–1976, Document 151.
2. The World Food Conference was held in Rome November 5–16. For a summary of the negotiations and results of the Conference, see ibid., vol. XXXVIII, Part 1, Foundations of Foreign Policy, 1973–1976, Document 47, and ibid., vol. E–14, Part 1, Documents on the United Nations, 1973–1976, Documents 153 and 154. On November 6, Kissinger sent a memorandum to Ford recommending the creation of a World Food Conference follow-up group. (Ford Library, Paul C. Leach Files, Box 10, World Food, Nov. 1–22, 1974) Kissinger’s memorandum is Document 273, Foreign Relations, 1969–1976, vol. XXXI, Foreign Economic Policy, 1973–1976.
3. In a November 8 memorandum to President Ford, Seidman argued, on behalf of Simon, Ash, Greenspan, Eberle, and Cole, that the major issues of the World Food Conference were primarily the responsibility of the EPB and therefore should be handled by the EPB instead of Kissinger’s proposed International Food Review Group. (Ford Library, Paul C. Leach Files, Box 10, World Food, Nov. 1–22, 1974) Seidman’s memorandum is Document 274, Foreign Relations, 1969–1976, vol. XXXI, Foreign Economic Policy, 1973–1976.