A/HRC/12/31* page 15 production, impose high tariffs and mandate consumption of agrofuels had led to the rapid expansion of biofuel production from food crops, such as maize and vegetable oils, and had contributed to higher food prices as well as to environmental degradation.16 Apart from certain voluntary schemes, however, no progress has since been made on disciplining agrofuels, despite these well-documented effects and the fewer opportunities that such policies afford to lower-cost developing-country producers to expand their production and exports. 24. Instead, unilateral measures have been taken. The European Union and Switzerland, for instance, have developed sustainability criteria, based on environmental and social concerns, for the use and import of agrofuels. Certain voluntary schemes are also being put in place. These measures are welcome, but they fail to address adequately the potential impact of the development of agrofuel production on food security. Such an impact would be felt both in the price of food and the structure of revenues in the agricultural sector of developing countries. In principle, developing countries have a strong comparative advantage in the production of agrofuels. As a rule, however, crops for fuel are grown by large agricultural producers or by multinational companies that own or rent land in developing countries; small-scale farmers are not involved in that production. Unless affirmative action is taken to ensure that smallholders are included in the production of agrofuels in a way that is beneficial to them, the development of agrofuels can only lead to greater inequality within developing countries. As stated in the preliminary conclusions of the International Conference on Biofuels, held in São Paulo from 17 to 21 November 2008, there is a need for a “positive discrimination” for family agriculture, in order to encourage the increased inclusion of smallholder farmers in the market. In this regard, capacity-building, technical assistance and access to land and credit should be promoted. 25. Much of the current debate on the need for a new “green revolution” in Africa and on large-scale acquisitions or leases of land are a mimicry of the debate launched in 2008 on the development of agrofuels. In all these areas, unilateralism needs to give way to an agreement, at the multilateral level, on certain parameters or guidelines. Improvements to global governance are vital, because consensus needs to be reached on how sustainability and development can go hand in hand. Rules related to trade and investment must be reconciled with the requirements of human rights and with the need to slow down climate change. While developing countries should take into account these requirements as they move towards a more responsible governance of their land and other natural resources, industrialized countries should facilitate this through capacity-building and transfers of technologies and by controlling their investors and companies operating abroad, consistent with their obligation to protect human rights. In this section below, the Special Rapporteur argues that a reformed Committee on World Food Security is the appropriate forum where multilateralism can make progress on these issues. 16 World Bank, Global Economic Prospects, op. cit, p. 97.