VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and World Health Organization (WHO) marked the first-ever World Food Safety Day on June 7, with emphasis on saving lives through safer food.

The FAO and WHO, in a joint press release received in Jakarta, Saturday, reiterated that safe food can contribute to economic prosperity and boost agriculture, market access, tourism, and sustainable development.

Adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in December 2018, the UN has designated two of its agencies -- FAO and WHO -- to lead and back efforts to promote food safety worldwide, and the first World Food Safety Day, themed "Food Safety, everyone's business," was celebrated on June 7.

Food safety is the nonexistence of any hazardous agents in food that might be harmful to the health of consumers. Food-borne hazards can be microbiological, chemical, or physical in nature and are many times not visible to the naked eye. Bacteria, viruses, and pesticide residues are some common examples of food-borne hazards.

As a middle-income nation, with a rising population of 260 million, Indonesian consumers constitute a huge market for an already large and swiftly-growing food industry comprising "ready-to-eat" food businesses, restaurants, supermarkets, catering, and large numbers of street food vendors.

The Indonesian food chain's key elements range from domestic agricultural producers and food importers through distributors to the various points of sale and ultimately to consumers.

The intricate and quickly evolving ways in which food is available and accessed by consumers present major challenges to policymakers to ascertain food safety across all steps of the food chain.

"The FAO is committed to realizing a world without hunger. Ensuring that food is safe is very important in our agenda. The industry has a critical role in assuring that food stays safe at every stage, from production to consumer," Stephen Rudgard, the FAO representative in Indonesia, remarked while celebrating World Food Safety Day.

With an estimated 600 million cases of food-borne ailments globally every year, unsafe food poses a threat to human health and to economies, disproportionally affecting vulnerable and marginalized people, especially women and children, populations affected by conflict, and migrants. Annually, food and waterborne diseases claim the lives of an estimated three million people worldwide, in both developed and developing nations.

According to data of the Directorate of Environmental Health and the Public Health Emergency Operation Center (PHEOC) of the Ministry of Health, 163 outbreaks of food-borne diseases were reported throughout Indonesia in 2017. This indicates that food poisoning outbreaks are a serious public health problem in Indonesia.

Nationwide, food safety roles and responsibilities are segregated among several Indonesian ministries and institutions that cover fresh, processed, and ready-to-eat food.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries are tasked with regulating fresh food; the Food and Drug Monitoring Agency (BPOM) chiefly controls processed food; the Ministry of Health and local health authorities are in charge of overseeing the safety of ready-to-eat food; and the Ministries of Trade, Industry, and others also have their respective roles in food systems.

The FAO and WHO have emphasized that access to safe food is a basic human necessity and paramount to achieving food and nutrition security.

Food security can be achieved when all people, at all times, have physical, social, and economic access to sufficient, safe, and nutritious food to fulfill their dietary requirements and food preferences for leading an active and healthy life.

However, the FAO and WHO pointed out that poor sanitation and hygiene practices, such as unsafe food, have been the chief reason behind malnutrition in Indonesia.

Consumption of unsafe food results in food-borne illnesses that lead to malnutrition owing to loss of nutrients and low absorption capacity. Infants and young children are particularly susceptible to suffering from food-borne diseases.

The BPOM and Ministry of Health, supported by the FAO and WHO, have built the capacity of competent authorities in the area of food safety for conducting self-assessment on their food control systems.

WHO Representative for Indonesia, Dr. N. Paranietharan, echoed the significance of prioritizing safe food and stressed that access to sufficient safe and nutritious food is instrumental to leading a healthier and more productive life.

"We can achieve this by ensuring that quality and consistently safe food is readily available for everyone," he added. (ant)

The 21 economies of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) are expected to witness a 21 percent surge in energy demand over the subsequent three decades, partially owing to population and economic growth in Southeast Asia.

It was cited in a new APEC report issued by the APEC Energy Working Group and received here on Saturday.

Whilst industry continues to be the largest energy-consuming sector, two sectors – transport and building – will trigger increased energy demand, according to the APEC Energy Demand and Supply Outlook.

"Demand in the transport and building sectors is estimated to rise by some 30 percent, partially due to increasing incomes. Efficient policies will be critical to softening this growth in demand," Dr Jyuung-Shiauu Chern, the lead shepherd for the APEC Energy Working Group, stated.

Fossil fuels are projected to continue to constitute over 60 percent of the energy mix for the next three decades in the Asia-Pacific region, which comprises almost two-thirds of the global demand. Increased production and trade in natural gas and lower prices can facilitate its broader use as a substitute for coal.

"Significant progress is required to increase energy efficiency and the use of renewable energy and carbon capture and storage. This will help reduce the region’s greenhouse gas emissions to 8.5 gigatonnes by the year 2050 – a level consistent with the 2015 Paris Agreement ambitions," Dr. Kazutomo Irie, president of the Asia Pacific Energy Research Centre (APERC), who prepared the report, stated.

"Some 16 economies are projected to store 22 gigatonnes of carbon, mostly from the electricity sector, starting in 2030," Kazutomo remarked.

To meet this rising demand for electricity, APEC economies will require over 3,200 gigawatts of new power plant capacity. As use of renewable energy rises, economies should support variable production through quickly dispatchable thermal capacity and energy storage.

In 12 economies, including China, Japan, and the United States, pumped hydro storage is projected to enable support of variable renewables.

Even as growth of transport use is driving demand, the sector is projected to witness a shift towards electrification. China is expected to increase its adoption of electric vehicles by 17 percent yearly. However, electricity is projected to represent only five percent of the transport fuel demand.

In the building sector, implementation of the Minimum Energy Performance Standards can complement endeavors to label appliances in accordance with their efficiency capacity, including for air conditioning systems.

Broader application and enforcement of these regulations will bring the region nearer to its energy intensity reduction target of 35 percent for 2035 as compared to 2005.  (ant)

"Indonesia together with ASEAN has an interest in continuing to maintain and ensure that the current geo-strategic dynamics do not interfere with peace and stability in the region. The aim is to make the Indo-Pacific region a peaceful, stable and prosperous region ", said the Director of ASEAN External Cooperation / Chair of the Indonesian Delegation, Benny YP Siahaan at the 34th ASEAN-Japan Forum Meeting in Hanoi, Vietnam, 3-4 June 2019.

This was revealed by Benny during a discussion on the Regional Architecture including Indo-Pacific Cooperation agenda. "ASEAN and Japan have the same goal that peace, security, stability and prosperity depend on openness, inclusiveness and stability in the Indo-Pacific region", continued Benny.

Senior Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Japan Takeo Mori as Chair of the Japanese Delegation, expressed his appreciation to ASEAN in determining attitudes in the midst of competition and the struggle for influence of major powers today. Japan is seen by Japan as being able to bridge and improve stability and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region.

In addition, on the Regional and International Security Issues agenda, Indonesia expressed concern over several issues that were developing in the region. "Indonesia encourages the parties involved to dialogue and remain committed to achieving the Korean Peninsula which is peaceful and free from nuclear weapons. Regarding the situation in the South China Sea, Indonesia underlines the importance of relevant parties to respect and continue to support the process pursued by ASEAN, "Benny said.

The ASEAN-Japan Forum is an annual meeting at the level of Senior Officials (SOM) between ASEAN and Japan. The 34th ASEAN-Japan Forum meeting was chaired jointly by Ambassador Nguyen Quoc Dzung Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs / Chairperson of ASEAN-Vietnam SOM and Ambassador Takeo Mori Senior Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs / Chair of Japan's SOM. The meeting also discussed various matters of mutual interest, namely the development and direction of future ASEAN-Japan cooperation, among others in the field of maritime security, eradication of terrorism, cyber security, trade and investment including MSMEs, business to business linkages, regional connectivity, science and technology and innovation , disaster management, health, community relations, education and human resources and so forth.

ASEAN-Japan trade relations have reached 217.9 billion USD and put Japan as ASEAN's 4th largest trading partner. Japan was also recorded as the second largest source of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in ASEAN with a figure of 13.2 billion USD.

In the socio-cultural field, ASEAN-Japan also pays attention to inter-community relations, especially through youth and student exchanges. Through the Japan East-Asia Network of Exchange for Students and Youths (JENESYS), ASEAN and Japan succeeded in increasing the understanding of youth and students of friendship and cooperation between the two. In the period of 2007-2018, there were 31,542 youth and students both ASEAN and Japan who had participated in the JENESYS exchange program.

ASEAN-Japan informal cooperation began in 1973 and increased to formal relations in March 1977. The ASEAN-Japan partnership then reached the Strategic Partnership level in 2011.

(Source: ASEAN External Cooperation Directorate, Ministry of Foreign Affairs)

The return flow of Eid al-Fitr in 2019 will begin today, Friday (7/6), and the peak of the backflow is expected on June 8-9, 2019, especially through the Trans Java toll road.

For this reason, the Ministry of Public Works and Public Housing (PUPR) through the Toll Road Regulatory Agency (BPJT) has asked Toll Road Business Entities (BUJT) to take a number of steps.

Steps taken by BUJT such as adding toll booths and alerting reserve transaction officers using a mobile reader, as well as adding signs and facilities in the rest area.

"From the results of the homecoming to H-3 evaluations and the preparation of the backflow on June 3, 2019 led by Director General of Land Transportation Budi Setyadi and attended by the National Police Chief of Correctional Inspector Refdi Andri, BUJT representatives, Indonesian Rest Area Association Managers, Head and BPJT ranks, has issued instructions for BUJT to be followed up, "said BPJT Head Danang Parikesit. (setkab-pkp pupr)