Report of the Special Rapporteur on the right to food on her mission to Poland, A/HRC/34/48/Add.1
Note by the Secretariat
The Secretariat has the honour to transmit to the Human Rights Council the report of the Special Rapporteur on the right to food on her visit to Poland from 18 to 25 April 2016. This report was presented to the Human Rights Council during its thirty-fourth session and is available in six languages here.
Conclusions and Recommendations
72. As a major agricultural country in Europe, Poland has adopted a wide range of policies and programmes to ensure the effective enjoyment of the right to food, as part of the right to an adequate standard of living. Those policies also protect family farmers and support the Polish agricultural sector in adjusting to emerging competition. However, as identified in the present report, the legislative structure remains inadequate for providing the right to food for all as a fundamental human right, in accordance with article 11 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. Legislation and policy on food in Poland are focused primarily on food adequacy and food safety, and some social programmes and policies on specific vulnerable populations are not enough to mainstream the issue of food accessibility. By recognizing access to sufficient and adequate food as a legal entitlement, the right to food provides an important tool to protect the rights of people to live with dignity and ensures that all have either the resources required to produce enough food for themselves, or purchasing power sufficient to procure food from the market. It also imposes obligations on the State, requiring transparency, avoidance of discrimination and participation in decision-making mechanisms to provide individuals with access to recourse mechanisms when these obligations are not met.
73. The Special Rapporteur recommends that the Government:
(a) Ratify the Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on a communications procedure;
(b) Create a master plan for a national policy focused on the right to food, with the participation of all stakeholders, including smallholders and consumers at every level;
(c) Devise and adopt a national law on the right to adequate food, including a stronger overall legislative framework on the protection of that right. The framework should also include the necessary budgetary and fiscal measures;
(d) Establish a centralized institutional or coordinating body to implement legislation related to the right to adequate food and policy initiatives. The authorities and agencies responsible for implementation should be identified and appropriate monitoring and accountability mechanisms established to ensure proper implementation of existing laws;
(e) Highlight and mainstream all aspects of the right to adequate food as a pillar in national social assistance programmes;
(f) Collect disaggregated data to monitor the situation of all marginalized groups and those in vulnerable situations, including women, by conducting surveys and studies;
(g) Strengthen the integration of a gender perspective into institutional, legal and policy frameworks on the right to adequate food and nutritional security strategies, as well as rural development programmes, and support women farmers with additional incentives and access to credit and other agricultural resources;
(h) Ensure that the new land transaction law adheres to the principles of human rights and that individuals are guaranteed adequate access to appeal the administrative proceedings;
(i) Establish regulatory frameworks and national policies to control the advertising of unhealthy foods, in particular to reduce the exposure of children;
(j) Implement and monitor environmental regulations that protect soil degradation and water pollution from excessive farming, especially in relation to livestock;
(k) Enhance control and monitoring systems against the excessive use of pesticides;
(l) Promote organic agriculture and agroecology, including by providing support, such as financial mechanisms and training programmes for ecological farming;
(m) Continue to implement the FAO voluntary guidelines for domestic agricultural policymaking activities, specifically the Voluntary Guidelines to Support the Progressive Realization of the Right to Adequate Food in the Context of National Food Security; the Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests in the Context of National Food Security; and the Principles for Responsible Investment in Agriculture and Food Systems endorsed by the Committee on World Food Security;
(n) Continue to make efforts towards implementing the Sustainable Development Goals, especially Goal No. 2 to end hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture, and establish a national monitoring system.