PARIS (Reuters) - France, the United States and G20 president Mexico will hold a conference call at the end of August to discuss whether an emergency international meeting is required to tackle soaring grain prices caused by the worst U.S. drought in half a century.
A French farm ministry official said the call would decide whether to convene the first meeting of the G20's Rapid Response Forum. The body was created last year to promote early discussion among decision-level officials about abnormal international market conditions.
"If the situation requires it, a meeting of the Rapid Response Forum could be called as soon as the start of September. It depends on the urgency," the official said.
"The aim is to talk about the situation and avoid measures like export embargoes which would be damaging for everyone."
(Reporting by Gus Trompiz; writing by Daniel Flynn; editing by Jason Neely)
