Ruling on foodstuff shipping slammed
Ruling on foodstuff shipping slammed
SINGAPORE (AFP): The European Union (EU) came under fire
yesterday from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)
for requiring bulk foodstuffs imported from this region to be
transported by dedicated vessels.
"This directive would adversely affect ASEAN exports of
foodstuffs, such as coconut oil, palm oil, and palm kernel oil,
which are important exports of ASEAN to the EU," ASEAN
agriculture ministers said in a joint statement here.
The communique was issued at the end of their two-day meeting,
during which the European Commission Directive on Hygiene of
Foodstuffs to be implemented on Dec. 14 was among the most
debated topics, officials said.
The directive required "bulk foodstuffs in liquid, granular or
powder form from ASEAN to be transported in receptacles,
containers and tankers reserved for the transport of foodstuffs."
"Why issue the directive now when all this while the foodstuff
from us have been found to be safe?" said Sulaiman Daud, the
agriculture minister of Malaysia, the world's leading exporter of
palm oil.
Philippine agriculture undersecretary Manuel Lantin said
coconut farmers in the Philippines, a top coconut oil exporter,
were concerned over the directive because they would have to
incur additional shipping charges.
Lantin said that ASEAN, most of whose members are exporters of
primary commodities, would spare no effort to influence the EU to
overturn the directive. "We are going to lobby for this."
Singapore's national development minister Lim Hng Kiang, who
chaired the meeting, said ASEAN would bring up the issue at its
regular dialogue session with the EU in October.
Concern
The ASEAN agriculture ministers also expressed concern over
the unilateral action taken by some local authorities in the EU
restricting the use of tropical timber.
Some local authorities had also introduced schemes that
required tropical timber and forest products to be labeled and
backed by certificates approving their use, they noted.
"We have worked together with EU and the international
community on certain agreed standards. What we are urging now is
to abide by these agreements and not to have unilateral national
standards as this will be putting things back," Lim said.
The joint statement said that any certification and labeling
scheme proposed by the EU for timber and forest products should
apply to all types of timber, including temperate timber from
Europe itself.
The scheme, they said, should be based on internationally-
agreed criteria and indicators of sustainable forest management.