Private sector pushes Apec for free trade in food

By Yoke Har Lee

The Apec Business Advisory Council (ABAC), representing the private sector, wants the leaders meeting this year to adopt its recommendations for reforming trade in food.

ABAC managed last year in Kuala Lumpur to get leaders to agree to look into the recommendations for an Apec Food System, which includes freeing up trade in the food sector. Current chairman of ABAC, Philip Burdon, said if recommendations for the Apec Food System were absent from the leaders' communique, ABAC would be looking for reasons why.

From New Zealand's point of view, grabbing hold of its opportunity as host nation to push through the food system would represent a coup in making genuine progress on a sector that had been considered a sanctuary from liberalisation, Mr Burdon said.

"It would be very wrong for New Zealand to write off Apec as something not relevant. We have an opportunity to exercise this [to push through the Apec Food System] as a host nation and it is an opportunity we should not squander."

The private sector, Mr Burdon said, had strongly endorsed the Apec Food System, indicated by support from key members such as Japan and the US.

Having Japanese private sector endorsement for an Apec Food System was deemed a landmark achievement as Japan is seen as being responsible for derailing progress on the early voluntary sector liberalisation plan at the last Apec conference.

The Apec Food System, as envisioned by ABAC, is a comprehensive programme to ensure food is available at affordable prices to all consumers as well as to maximise the food sector's benefit to member countries.

Its multi-pronged approach includes tackling rural infrastructure development, harmonisation of food standards, food security issues, and trade and investment liberalisation in food.

One of the proposals is for an export subsidy free zone and a process to track how each member economy would implement its action.