Background

Since the First APEC Ministerial Meeting on Food Security inNiigatain 2010, the situation in the field of food security has remained an issue of high importance. In Kazan Declaration on Food Security our ministers reaffirmed that APEC member economies would collectively pursue the shared goals of (i) sustainable development of the agricultural sector, (ii) facilitation of investment, trade and markets in the Niigata Declaration on Food Security, and agreed that to strengthen food security at the present stage, it is necessary, inter alia, to focus on increasing agricultural production and productivity and so on.

To strengthen food security in APEC region, we have steadily implemented the Niigata Action Plan on Food Security, including elaborating and launching the Asia-Pacific Information Platform on Food Security (APIP on Food Security) and further action would be required based on Niigata Declaration and Kazan Declaration.

Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries of Japan therefore hold an APEC Workshop on Food Security 2012. 

Summary Report

The Workshop was held by Japan from September 25th (Tuesday) to 27th (Thursday) 2012 in Tokyo. In addition to the information sharing, the workshop also provided an opportunity for a general peer review of each APEC economy’s activities to follow up the Action Plan, and in particular, aimed at;

1) Protection of intellectual property rights in new plant varieties;
2) Further actions for strengthening food security;
3) Asia-Pacific  Information Platform on Food Security (APIP on Food Security);

This workshop attracted about 70 participants from all 21 APEC economies, related international organizations, private sectors and so forth. It was concluded with great success with an active discussion and sharing issues and challenges and better understanding on food security among participants. MAFF would like to present sincerest appreciation for kind cooperation from all related stakeholders to this workshop. As a consequence of this workshop, Japan, is going to make further efforts to contribute to global food security issues.

   Download Summary Report   Summary Report-APEC Workshop on Food Security 25-27 Sep 2012

Workshop Program

Day 1: September 25(Tuesday), 2012

Day 2: September 26(Wednesday), 2012

Day 3: September 27(Thursday), 2012

     Download Agenda  APECWorkshop on FoodSecurity 25-27 Sep 2012Agenda Final

I. Protection of Intellectual Property Rights in New Plant Varieties

Sharing experiences on regulatory approaches of new plant varieties is an essential factor in order to ensure legitimate protection for plant breeders’ right in APEC region. This session is of No. 57 of Niigata Action Plan. Based on the APEC common recognition that plant breeding is the one of the most important means to solve the food supply-demand issue caused by the growth of population and the climate change, the session was to exchange the information and discuss policies and system of Plant Variety Protection (PVP) of each economy, which secures investments by breeders by giving legal protection.

  Wrap up by the facilitator

• Activities of international harmonization of EAPVP were reported by the member economies of the EAPVP forum. Plant breeding and PVP should be encouraged to improve agricultural productivity which is crucial for food security.
• There are mainly three advantages of regional harmonization of PVP: increasing the efficiency of variety registration; reducing the cost for variety registration; and preventing disputes in connection with Intellectual Property Rights (IPR). It is important to cooperate not only between international organizations and each member economy but also multilaterally.
• As private companies cannot invest in plant breeding in the member economies which do not protect PVP, it is necessary to promote the cooperation between the public and private sectors.
• Support byJapantowards the activities for improving the regional system of PVP was appreciated by the member economies of the EAPVP forum.

II. Further Actions for Strengthening Food Security

Based on Kazan Declaration as well as Niigata Declaration on Food Security, to exchange a view of food security among stakeholders in order to consider further action for strengthen food security would contribute to discussion toward to Indonesian year 2013 APEC. In this regard, several experts from various filed and economies made presentation and discuss the related policies and activities under the instable global food production, market, price, and growing population.

  Wrap up by the facilitator

• Cooperation between the public and private sector should be promoted.
• Policy Partnership on Food Security (PPFS) meeting should be held coincident with APEC Business Advice Counsel (ABAC) to have more effective engagement of private sectors.
• Sharing information is essential for all member economy and all of the presentation materials are uploaded and available at APIP on Food Security website.
• As a consensus of the participants of this workshop, the facilitator suggested sharing results and discussion of the APIP on Food Security workshop and proposed to the participants to participate in PPFS in order for PPFS meeting in the next year to be fruitful.

III. Asia-Pacific Information Platform on Food Security (APIP on Food Security)

APIP on Food Security, as a common tool of Niigata Action Plan, has been launched March 2012 and it is expected to further enhancement in Kazan Declaration. Russian initiative on agricultural statistics of No. 48 of the Niigata Action Plan and linkage to other information database such as ASEAN Food Security Information System (AFSIS), G20 Agricultural Market Information System (AMIS), Faostat, USDA and so on was also discussed. 

  Wrap up by the facilitator

• Statistical databases of agricultural information including APIP on Food Security, USDA National Agricultural Statistics Services (NASS), ASEAN Food Security Information System (AFSIS) and Agricultural Market Information System (AMIS) were introduced.
• Duplication of data in informational systems and platforms should be minimized and ideally all information systems will be integrated at some point.

IV. Excursion to the Food Security Facilities

Participants visited to the food security related facilities of Japan, such as Tsukiji-Market, the biggest wholesale market in the world, and Urban Farm Pasona Group Headquarters.

Presentation Materials