APEC Food System - Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation
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APEC Food System

  

Compliance with food safety issues are becoming an increasingly important determinant in market access. The fall-out from health scares related to food can have global and long-lasting negative consequences. It is therefore important to enhance cooperation in food safety and create the confidence for increased trade.

Hence, in 1998 the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC) called for APEC Leaders to commit to building an APEC Food System as a comprehensive approach to action in the food sector.

In 1999 in Auckland, New Zealand, APEC Ministers agreed that the overriding objective in building the AFS would be "to efficiently link together food production, food processing and consumption to meet the food needs of our people as an essential part of achieving sustainable growth, equitable development and stability in the APEC region." That same year, Leaders adopted the ABAC report on the APEC Food System proposed by ABAC and endorsed its key recommendations to:
  • address rural infrastructure development;
  • disseminate technological advances in food production and processing, and
  • promote trade in food products.
Since then, APEC has recognized that the underlying objective of ABAC's original proposal for AFS is the widening of markets into a single regional market. The desired result is to improve the efficiency of food production and trade for the benefit of APEC Member Economies. Progress on these goals is reported annually through the AFS chapter on the Individual Action Plan (IAP). In addition, all Working Groups and sub-fora include activities relevant to the APEC Food System in their SCE reports.

Achievements

Priority actions of the APEC Fora on the Food System include:

Recommendation A) Rural Infrastructure Development
The HRDWG is making it a high priority to address the issue of rural education.

Recommendation B) Promotion of Trade in Food Products
The CTI has continued work on promoting a more open environment to facilitate the flow of goods within the region. The SCSC has provided support for promotion of trade in food products with these major objectives (a) align APEC members' domestic standards with international standards; (b) achieve recognition of conformity assessment including mutual recognition arrangements in regulated and voluntary sectors; (c) promote cooperation for technical infrastructure development; and (d) ensure the transparency of the standards and conformity assessment of APEC economies.

Recommendation C) Dissemination of Technological Advances in Food Production and Processing
The ATCWG is implementing the recommendations of the AFS and acknowledges the importance of efficiency in agricultural production, supply and trade, including the importance of technology, adding value to agricultural production and improving infrastructure. The ATCWG has played a key role in the implementing the AFS.

Recommendation D) Individual APEC Actions and other related actions noted above:
Pursuant to the SOM decision to include member economies' reports on the AFS as a separate chapter of the IAPs, some member economies have submitted an AFS Chapter as part of their IAPs.

Current Activities

In its recommendations to the Ministers Responsible for Trade meeting on 31 May - 1 June 2008, ABAC noted widespread concern among regional business over the impacts of shortages in the supply of basic food products and increases in prices. ABAC recognized that short-term programs are needed to cope with immediate problems. However, it emphasized that the underlying long-term problems are addressed and support the established framework for policy guidance - the APEC Food System (AFS). ABAC will put special emphasis on the AFS and food issues from now through the 2009 Leaders Meeting - a thorough review of the AFS.

The meeting of the Ministers Responsible for Trade in Arequipa, Peru, on 31 May - 1 June 2008 noted the dramatic increases in prices of many food products including wheat, rice and maize. The Ministers agreed that this could undermine the fight against poverty and create economic and social problems in the region. Ministers agreed that APEC economies can play an important role in the global response to this crisis by maintaining our commitment to open markets and trade and investment liberalization. Ministers also noted the importance of sufficient levels of investment in agricultural technologies, as well as economic and technical cooperation to increase agricultural productivity. They welcomed ABAC's proposal to review the APEC Food System and update it in the light of the food challenges facing the region.

There has also been an increasing focus on the broader issues of food security and ensuring that this is managed so as to facilitate, and not be a barrier to trade. Other recent APEC initiatives include development of a framework to strengthen cooperation in food safety activities across member economies, as well as to share information and build capacity in the region to harmonize food safety regulatory frameworks with existing international food standards.

The Joint Leader's Statement on 9 September 2007 in Sydney, Australia, emphasized the importance of food safety and agreed to "develop a more robust approach to strengthening food and consumer product safety standards, using a scientific risk-based approach, and without creating unnecessary impediments to trade".

Moreover, the Leaders agreed that "additional capacity building in this area is a priority".

Key AFS activities for 2007/2008 include a focus on food safety which requires cross-cutting action among APEC fora. These fora comprise Agricultural Technical Cooperation Working Group (ATCWG), Human Resources Development Working Group (HRDWG), The Small and Medium Enterprises Working Group (SMEWG) , Fisheries Working Group (FWG), Transportation Working Group (TPTWG), the High Level Policy Dialogue on Agricultural Biotechnology (HLPDAB) Sub-Committee on Standards and Conformance (SCSC) and the recently established Food Safety Cooperation Forum.

The first meeting of the Food Safety Cooperation Forum was held in April 2007 in the Hunter Valley with some 60 regulators from 16 economies participating. A strategy for capacity building in the region was developed by the Forum and endorsed by SCSC 2.

In response to the rise in regional food prices, the APEC Senior Officials initiated a process to review APEC activities in the area of food and agriculture which resulted in the APEC Food Security Work Plan, which was endorsed by APEC Ministers and welcomed by APEC Leaders at the November 2008 meetings in Peru.

APEC Food System - - Key Contacts

APEC Secretariat
Mr. Phanpob Plangprayoon
Director (Program)
E-mail: pp@apec.org