THE Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), along with partners China, Japan and South Korea are now eyeing to use their joint rice and cash reserves to ensure food security among their members during the novel coronavirus disease (Covid-19) crisis.
In a joint-statement issued on Tuesday after their virtual summit, the group said it is now considering “the utilization of the Asean Plus Three Emergency Rice Reserve [APTERR]” to minimize the threat of Covid-19 on food supplies of the concerned countries.
Established in 2011, the APTERR consists of “Earmarked Emergency Rice Reserves [EERR] and Stockpiled Emergency Rice Reserves [SERR] contributed by each
member-country to aid victims in the time of adversity.”
In its web site, APTERR said ERR are specific quantities of milled rice, which are voluntarily designated and controlled by the government of the earmarking country, while SERR are rice voluntarily donated to the APTERR in the form of cash and/or physical rice stocks.
The APTERR currently has total earmarked stocks of 787,000 tonnes of rice, of which 12,000 metric tons was earmarked by the Philippines.
Open for trade
The global spread of Covid-19 has led many countries to impose quarantines and travel restriction, which caused disruptions in the movement of goods, including food items and medical supplies, in many countries.
To address the situation, Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles said Asean Plus Three (APT) affirmed their commitment “to keep markets open for trade and investment” amid the Covid-19 crisis.
The Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) spokesman said the Economic Ministers and Senior Economic Officials of the APT states were tasked “to explore an arrangement to preserve supply chain connectivity, particularly among Asean member-states.”
“There was universal agreement regarding the need to keep trade open, to keep supply chains moving, and to ensure the unhampered movement of goods. All acknowledged the need to mitigate the economic impact of the outbreak, especially since the member-nations all generate revenues from tourism,” Nograles said.
Coordinated efforts
Health-related issues, Nog-rales said, was also prominently discussed in the meeting as APT members agreed there must be coordination and information sharing among countries as well as use of technology to stop the spread of Covid-19,
“Most emphasized the need to break the chain of infections in each country and to work together to reduce the risk of cross-border infections,” Nograles said.
The group is now also considering setting up a reserve of essential medical supplies, which will function like the APTERR and the bolstering of their own health-care capabilities in preparation for future outbreaks similar to Covid-19.