Sixth APEC Ministerial Meeting on Food Security Joint Ministerial Statement

We, the APEC Ministers responsible for food security, met on 19 August 2021. We welcomed the participation of the Pacific Economic Cooperation Council (PECC), the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) Secretariat, the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC) and private sector representatives.

We acknowledge the continued impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the well-being and safety of all people in the APEC region and especially on food security and supply chains. We support the emphasis that APEC is placing on responding to the immediate global health crisis and the unprecedented economic shock.   As we look to rebuild from the pandemic, we must adapt to change in a way that supports our MSMEs, such as small-scale producers in the food, agriculture and fisheries sectors. We are determined to leave no one behind.

We note the Food Security Roadmap Towards 2030, developed in 2021, focuses on digitalisation and innovation, productivity, inclusivity and sustainability and identifies actions and targets which APEC economies will pursue together to achieve our goal of sufficient, safe, nutritious, accessible and affordable food for all.

We note the Food Security Roadmap Towards 2030 promotes the inclusion of MSMEs, women, youth, Indigenous communities and the elderly in the sector, as integral to maximising our resources, improving rural, remote and coastal livelihoods and unlocking the full potential of the APEC region.

We welcome and endorse the Food Security Roadmap Towards 2030.

We welcome and encourage the private sector’s involvement in implementing the Food Security Roadmap Towards 2030. The private sector is fundamental to helping us achieve food security.

We note the Food Security Roadmap Towards 2030 is coherent with, and will contribute to, achieving the APEC Putrajaya Vision 2040, with its three economic drivers: trade and investment, innovation and digitisation and strong, balanced, secure, sustainable and inclusive growth.

We also reiterate the importance of APEC’s continued engagement with other relevant international and regional organisations, including the United Nations, its specialised agencies and the World Trade Organisation.

In particular, we welcome the forthcoming United Nations Food Systems Summit and its efforts towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, recognising that there is no ‘one size fits all’ pathway to these goals. We highlight APEC’s complementary efforts to support more productive, sustainable and inclusive food systems.

We appreciate ABAC’s ongoing role as Vice Chair of the Policy Partnership for Food Security (PPFS) and encourage continued high-level dialogue between the public and private sector. We instruct officials to undertake a review of the functioning of the PPFS to support this.

We note the outcomes of the meetings of the Policy Partnership on Food Security, the Agricultural Technical Cooperation Working Group, the High-Level Policy Dialogue on Agricultural Biotechnology and the Ocean Fisheries Working Group.

We thank New Zealand for hosting APEC in 2021.

Haumi ē, Hui ē, Tāiki ē.

Join, Work, Grow. Together.