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.