| Hakim Hayat |
BRUNEI Darussalam continuously gives full support in efforts made by ASEAN and its member countries in ensuring food security and sustainable management of forests by continuously enhancing food, agriculture and forestry mechanisms and cooperation in these sectors, Minister of Primary Resources and Tourism Dato Seri Setia Awang Haji Ali bin Haji Apong said.
The minister made the remark during the 40th Meeting of the Asean Ministers on Agriculture and Forestry (AMAF) in Hanoi, Vietnam recently where they exchanged views on regional development relating to the implementation of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) Blueprint 2025 and the progress made in the food, agriculture and forestry sector in 2017-2018.
During the meeting chaired by Vietnam’s Minister for Agriculture and Rural Development Dr Nguyen Xuan Chong, all the Asean ministers in a joint statement expressed their satisfaction with the successful implementation of the initiatives related to food, agriculture and forestry cooperation in supporting the Vision and Strategic Plan for Asean Cooperation in Food, Agriculture and Forestry (SP-FAF) 2016-2025.
Dato Seri Setia Awang Haji Ali also relayed Brunei’s support to various efforts towards the implementation of the Asean Integrated Food Security Framework and also the Food Ingredient Assistance Programme for countries affected by natural disasters through the Asean Plus Three Emergency Rice Reserved (APTERR).
The minister also expressed Brunei’s support with other Asean plus three members to alter Annex 2 of the APTERR agreement.
Dato Seri Setia Awang Haji Ali also highlighted that the harmonisation of existing ASEAN standards and procedures in horticulture is one of the matters noted by Brunei for cooperation in the agricultural sector, which he said will enhance trade facilitation for horticultural commodities.
He also relayed Brunei’s full support of the proposal by the Senior Officials Meeting for Asean Ministers for Agriculture and Forestry (SOM-AMAF) Chair and also Brunei’s support for the coordination for Asean standards for Maximum Residue Limits (MRLs) as well as standards for a number of selected horticulture products. Touching on cooperation in farming, the minister highlighted Brunei’s concern on the re-emergence of zoonotic diseases that threaten the growth and trade of farming products in Asean and pledged Brunei’s support in validating the agreement for an ASEAN Coordinating Centre on Animal Health and Zoonoses (ACCAHZ).
In the fisheries sector, the ASEAN Ministers noted and concurred with the proposal for the establishment of the ASEAN Good Aquaculture Practices (GAqP) to support the implementation of GAqP ASEAN and ASEAN Shrimp GAqP.
Meanwhile in the forestry sector, Brunei supported SOM-AMAF’s drive towards encouraging ASEAN member countries to enhance Sustainable Forestry Management Practices; raising joint initiatives as well as enhancing research and joint development in the forestry sector and capacity-building with other institutions related to the forestry sector.
On Asean cooperation with its growth partners, the minister also shared that Brunei will join ASEAN member countries in signing the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Asean and China for cooperation in the food and agriculture sector.
He also said that Brunei is supporting the Report and Recommendations of the Chair of SOM-AMAF to the 40th AMAF and expressed his hope that it will enhance cooperation in the food, agriculture and forestry sector between Asean member countries.
The 40th AMAF was preceded with a senior official meeting attended by Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Primary Resources and Tourism (MPRT) Pengiran Haji Kamalrudzaman bin Pengiran Haji Mohd Ishak with other MPRT officials. The next AMAF meeting will be held in Brunei in 2019.