VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Member economies of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) have been advised, in a new policy brief to adopt an open trade policy to safeguard food security, in the region amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The brief has been drafted by the APEC Policy Support Unit, according to a press release issued by the unit, which was received here on Thursday. As quoted by Antara, the recent policy brief on export restrictions and food security in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, shows that the variety of movement restrictions implemented across borders have affected the supply of food, especially perishables such as fruits, vegetables, dairy, seafood, and meat.

Carlos Kuriyama, senior analyst with the APEC Policy Support Unit said, some governments have reacted to episodes of panic buying, by implementing export bans or restrictions on certain food products, hoping to secure the availability of food. Kuriyama, who is the author of the policy brief, explained that those measures (bans and restrictions on food trade) could threaten food security and increase food prices, which would be detrimental to citizens, especially the poorest households. The APEC region’s food security environment is in better shape today compared to the global food crisis of 2007–2008//Ant