The agriculture ministers of the G20 member countries called on Tuesday (21.04.2020) to avoid "unjustified" restrictive measures to combat the coronavirus pandemic that could affect food supplies on world markets.
"We will avoid any unjustified restrictive measures that could lead to excessive volatility of food prices on international markets, as well as threaten food security (…) of the world's population," the ministers said in a statement. release set issued at the end of the meeting.
Likewise, they pointed out that the measures taken by countries have to be proportionate and transparent so that they "do not create barriers unnecessary to trade or the disruption of global food supply chains."
In this regard, they stressed the need to protect food security throughout the world, especially in the most vulnerable countries, and They reaffirmed their commitment not to impose restrictions on exports of food and agricultural products for humanitarian purposes. to be purchased by the World Food Programme (WFP) and other agencies.
The G20 mechanism ministers also stressed the importance of "avoiding food loss and waste caused by disruptions in supply chains, which could increase food insecurity and nutritional risks, as well as economic losses."
They also called for strengthening the sustainability of food systems to deal with future disease outbreaks.
According to a new report from the Global Network Against Food Crises released today, some 135 million people in 55 countries suffered from extreme food insecurity in 2019, a number that could increase this year due to the coronavirus.
Last week, G20 health ministers held a long meeting to address the challenges facing global health systems and urged countries to "share knowledge" to better respond to this crisis at a global level.
As part of a series of extraordinary meetings of leaders and ministers from different portfolios of the group, the G20 leaders already met last month and agreed to develop a package of "urgent" measures to act together against COVID-19.
An extraordinary meeting of the labour ministers of this mechanism is scheduled for next Thursday.
Source: Reuters
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