Agence-France Presse, Kuala Lumpur<\/p>\n
East Asian agriculture ministers Friday agreed to speed up
\nplans to set up an emergency rice reserve system to cope with
\ncrises and strengthen food security.<\/p>\n
A steady supply of rice -- the staple diet in East Asia -- is
\nkey to regional food security, ministers from the 10-member
\nAssociation of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), China, Japan and
\nSouth Korea said in a joint statement after a two-day meeting
\nhere.<\/p>\n
\"The ministers noted that a management team would be
\nestablished early next year to carry out the pilot project of the
\nEast Asian Emergency Rice Reserve and called for accelerated
\nprogress,\" the statement said.<\/p>\n
Azmi Mat Akhir, a director with the Jakarta-based ASEAN
\nsecretariat, said East Asian ministers \"agreed in principle\" to
\ncarry out the pilot scheme and implementation would be on a
\nvoluntary basis.<\/p>\n
Although the region produces 90 percent of rice in the world,
\nonly four countries -- China, Thailand, Vietnam and Myanmar --
\nare rice exporters, he said.<\/p>\n
\"We want to ensure there is enough of rice for our needs, that
\nin times of emergency there is ready stock. The basic idea is to
\nprovide rice for a friend in need,\" he told reporters.<\/p>\n
He said for instance that floods were a major problem
\naffecting crops in Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam.<\/p>\n
Azmi said creating a buffer stock was unlikely because it
\nwould be too expensive.<\/p>\n
But each country could keep surplus stock to cope with crises
\nwhile more advanced members such as Singapore could provide
\nfinancial assistance to buy rice to help those in need, he said.<\/p>\n
Details would be worked out by the management team, headed by
\nThailand, and the pilot scheme would be conducted as soon as
\npossible, he added.<\/p>\n
The ministers expressed full support for Cambodia's accession
\nto the World Trade Organization at the next ministerial meeting
\nin September.<\/p>\n
In a separate statement, ASEAN ministers said they would form
\na special taskforce to collectively address the problem of unfair
\ntrade affecting their food, agriculture and forestry products.<\/p>\n
Malaysia's Agriculture Minister Mohamad Effendi Norwawi said
\nASEAN products were at a disadvantage because of high
\nagricultural subsidies, to the tune of nearly US$1 billion a day,
\nby rich countries.<\/p>\n
\"This makes our products uncompetitive and there is a
\npossibility of their products coming to our countries and
\ndisplacing our local products because they are highly
\nsubsidised,\" he said.<\/p>\n
\"It is time for ASEAN to come out with common plans on how to
\ndeal with this in a more organized way.\"<\/p>\n
Ministers also agreed to set up an ASEAN food safety network,
\nheaded by Thailand, to coordinate efforts to resolve problems of
\nnon-tariff barriers that shackled the region's agricultural
\nexports.<\/p>\n
Myanmar will host the next meeting in 2004.<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/agence-france-presse-kuala-lumpur-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }