The food industry is calling on ASEAN Member States to speed up the harmonisation of food standards across ASEAN to unlock the economic potential of the agri-food sector and accelerate progress towards a single economic community by 2015.
The ASEAN Food and Beverage Alliance (AFBA), has published a White Paper entitled ASEAN Harmonisation in the Food Sector.The paper, which was released this week ahead of the Senior Economic Officials Meeting (SEOM) in Myanmar, highlights five key areas where harmonisation or 'mutual recognition' of food standards would greatly enhance overall food trade for the benefit of businesses and consumers in all ten member states.
Principal Advisor to AFBA and former Deputy-Secretary General of ASEAN, Mr Pushpanathan Sundram said, "ASEAN nations rely upon the agri-food industry for economic growth, trade and investment and around 38% of ASEAN's population is employed by the sector. However the sector still only contributes 4.3% of the value of total ASEAN exports and only 2.5% of total intra-regional trade.
"The value of ASEAN agri-food exports has grown steadily since 2008, rising from US$38.2 billion to US$53.25 billion in 2011, but there remains significant untapped potential. With rising populations, an emerging middle class and a growing industry, we could greatly increase both intra and extra-regional trade and exports from the region," he said.
AFBA Chairman for Myanmar, Mr Wai Phyo, who is Vice President of the Myanmar Food Processors and Exporters Association said that ASEAN Member States have made great progress in several areas relating to the food industry, such as developing guidelines for food hygiene, labelling for pre-packaged goods and food control systems as well as setting up an ASEAN Food Reference Laboratory for the region.
"One of the greatest impediments to trade today is differing food standards across ASEAN which act as a technical barrier to the free flow of food products. ASEAN as a region needs to work towards a mutually acceptable set of food standards to encourage a single market approach to the food industry.
"The food industry is committed to supporting this process with the ASEAN Secretariat and other ASEAN task forces to build on their work."
The AFBA White Paper outlines how common approaches to standards on nutrition labelling; pre-market registration; import and export certification; authorisation of food ingredients and additives; and contaminant limits and analytical methods[1] will open up the flow of food trade around the region. While the paper acknowledges the challenges of achieving full harmonised food standards by 2015, it recommends ASEAN Member States consider Mutual Recognition Agreements (MRAs), which are commonly use in sectors such as electronics, manufacturing and cosmetics.
MRAs typically allow countries to recognise and accept each other's standards, allowing products to be freely traded around the region. AFBA believes they offer a valuable stepping stone towards the harmonisation of food standards in ASEAN.
AFBA also calls on the Senior Economic Officers to create an enabling environment within ASEAN to facilitate greater public-private collaboration and enhanced cross-sectoral cooperation between the various committees and technical working groups. The paper highlights the importance of greater industry collaboration with ASEAN institutions and urges all parties to adhere to Good Regulatory Practice (GRP) guidelines.
