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BERNE - International organisations on Tuesday urged countries not to use food export bans to deal with the global food crisis, saying that restrictions would only fuel inflation.
Speaking after leaders of 27 key international agencies met in Berne to hammer out emergency measures to counter food shortages, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon said he had urged all governments to consider "immediately lifting" such restrictions.
World Bank head Robert Zoellick, who was also at the press conference, added: "We urge countries not to use export bans. These controls encourage hoarding, drive up prices and hurt the poorest people around the world."
Zoellick welcomed Ukraine's moves in lifting such a restriction on wheat, noting that it resulted in an immediate lowering of prices.
World Trade Organisation head Pascal Lamy also described such restrictions on exports as "not good economic solutions" in the short-term.
"It's obvious that such measures would result in a further increase of prices," he told AFP.
Large food-producing countries such as Brazil have recently moved to halt certain food exports to deal with sharp increases in food prices in their domestic markets.
Rising populations, strong demand from developing countries, increased cultivation of crops for biofuels and increasing floods and droughts have sent food prices soaring across the globe.
- AFP /ls
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