Among the hordes of French and Spanish tourists in Hanoi in March, a steady stream of black as well as grey suits (even a white one!) were spotted filing into the Melia Hotel in the quaint capital. ASEAN ministers, European Commission representatives and their policymakers mingled with business leaders and senior executives from a variety of industries to discuss the biggest challenges in the region at the ASEAN-EU Business Summit.
The two-day meeting concluded with the private sector providing some key recommendations to ASEAN ministers as to how to improve the business environment and help contribute to an ASEAN economic community by 2015 and beyond.
Various sectoral groups split up to give keynote presentations and then encourage debate through panelists Q&A’s from participants that ranged from corporate executives to trade representatives through to policymakers and embassy officials.
The agri-food sector was the most diverse ranging from agri-business through to food, beverage and alcohol and supply chain standards. Despite some obvious differences, there was a lot of common ground. Although a lot of it focused on challenges. Outdated or inappropriate regulatory practices, custom clearance issues, import/export trade barriers, inconsistent sanitary and phytosanitary measures (commonly known as SPS), lax intellectual property protection and traceability issues were common identified barriers.
It was pretty clear among the participants the ASEAN regulatory environment had struggled to keep pace with the strong growth of the agri-food industry as result of demand. But outdated and dusty regulations have a bad habit of constraining the private sectors development and growth.
No one is suggesting that private enterprise should be totally free to operate but a licence to operate is critical. We all have to work within some rules and boundaries but they should allow business to flourish and contribute to economic growth, not derail it.
If ASEAN ministers are serious about a robust economic block, and they are, then harmonization is a key driver for multiple sectors. While there are notable challenges in terms of different social and economic levels of development these should not be used cynically as problems or barriers to achieving an economic community.
An economic community or pact is on shaky ground without agriculture as it can be really hard to get things moving, creating frustration and cynicism. Delaying discussions around agriculture isn’t helpful and solves nothing.
Instead, action is needed and this has come in the form of multiple initiatives and projects which demonstrate the value of integration across ASEAN. The agri-business sector has contributed to a variety of projects. For example, CropLife Asia has contributed to an expert working group on harmonising pesticide residue limits.
The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) under the UN also has produced some excellent work to assist countries in Southeast Asia towards achieving a harmonized regulatory environment through a comprehensive set of guidelines to support countries in their efforts to harmonize their pesticide registration systems.
The knowledge, technical assistance and drive from the private sector, and IGOs – is there but ASEAN leaders will need a strong political will to drive harmonization related to critical components that contribute to agriculture in the region.
Matt Kovac is Director of Advocacy at CropLife Asia based in Singapore.
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