APEC ministers clear vax borders
We know nobody is safe until everybody is safe from Covid-19, and we know that our region prospers economically by keeping our markets open to one another rather than closing ourselves off
Ministers of Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) have agreed to expedite cross-border flow of Covid-19 vaccines and other related goods to fight the current contagion.
This followed the completion of the APEC Ministers Responsible for Trade Meeting chaired by Minister for Trade and Export Growth Damien O’Connor on 7 June (Philippine time).
In an official statement, O’Connor stated: “As we face the biggest health and economic crisis of our lifetimes, I was greatly heartened to see how we united to make progress. We represent half of global GDP (gross domestic product) and wanted to use trade as a force for good.”
“We know nobody is safe until everybody is safe from Covid-19, and we know that our region prospers economically by keeping our markets open to one another rather than closing ourselves off,” he added.
It is encouraging to see APEC trade ministers working together to respond in practical, concrete terms to the Covid pandemic and rebuild our economies.
The outcome of APEC’s Trade Ministers include swift and timely action to speed the flow of vaccines and vaccine-related goods by eliminating trade restrictions that increase the cost of vaccines and the goods that support them; a set of guidelines for members Customs authorities to ensure vaccines flow through ports and airports as quickly as possible so they are not sitting idle, and removal of barriers to freight and logistics services to support trade-in vaccines and vaccine-related goods to help fight the pandemic.
“It is encouraging to see APEC trade ministers working together to respond in practical, concrete terms to the Covid pandemic and rebuild our economies,” O’Connor said.
Minister of State for Trade and Export Growth Phil Twyford, who represented New Zealand at the meeting, said APEC had returned to its traditional role of championing multilateralism by revitalizing the World Trade Organization and injecting momentum into a series of trade negotiations with the aim of concluding these by the end of this year.
“I would also like to acknowledge the important work led by Minister of Customs Meka Whaitiri and the New Zealand Customs Service to publish the Best Practice Guidelines for APEC Customs Administrations. This was a New Zealand-led APEC initiative, which is intended to help fast track the delivery of Covid-19 vaccines so they aren’t held up at borders and are distributed to people in a safe and timely manner,” Twyford said.
Including the Philippines, the 21 nation APEC is a regional economic forum established in 1989 to leverage the growing interdependence of the Asia-Pacific.