Asean urged to enact flexible policies for agri sector

Consumer group Asia-Pacific Network for Food Sovereignty (APNFS) and its local counterpart called on the governments in Southeast Asia to enact flexible policies for the agriculture sector and denounced the region’s economic integration, in response to the conclusion of the recent ASEAN summit.

The APNFS and its counterpart National Movement for Food Sovereignty (NMFS) urged the region’s leader to enact and implement policies that would increase support to small-scale farmers and independent producers through adequate input subsidies, price and marketing support, credit assistance, irrigation, and post-harvest.

“ASEAN should recognize the right of countries and their people to determine their own food and agriculture policies and to achieve food sovereignty and food self-sufficiency through increased investments in farm productivity enhancing programs and the regulation of imports to protect their producers from the practice of dumping by major agricultural exporters and to desist from entering into mega trade deals,” APNFS co-convenor Arze Glipo said.

Furthermore, the network denounced the aggressive liberalization of trade, capital, investments and services committed by its members under a single ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) as it has increasingly demolished livelihoods and economic opportunities of smallscale farmers and independent producers.

The group said cheap food imports such as onions, cassava, corn, chicken and rice coming from neighboring ASEAN countries have unduly competed with local products, with disastrous consequences on farmers’ incomes and livelihood.

Agriculture tariffs for products coming from ASEAN countries have been increasingly reduced since early 2000 through the ASEAN Free Trade Area.

“Clearly ASEAN’s ambitious economic integration target is setting the pace for its country members to strip down whatever remaining protection they have for their agriculture sector,” Glipo said.