G20 Summit in Los Cabos, Mexico on 18-19 June
(Brussels, 14 June) FoodDrinkEurope today called for both agriculture and food production to continue to be at the forefront of the discussions on the occasion of the Mexican Presidency of the G20 on 18-19 June.
Europe’s food industry calls for a continuation of the momentum created by the “Action Plan on Food Price Volatility and Agriculture”, put forward by the G20 agriculture Ministers in Cannes in June 2011. It is hoped that the outcome of the Cannes Summit will not be lost, and that the Los Cabos Declaration will continue to place agricultural issues and food production at a high level in the global arena.
Given the reliance of the food industry on adequate supplies of safe, high quality agricultural raw materials, FoodDrinkEurope very much welcomes the G20 leaders’ commitment to sustainably increase agricultural production and productivity. Based on the preparatory report of international organisations ahead of the Mexican Presidency of the G20, the European food and drink industry particularly supports the following recommendations to:
raise agricultural productivity sustainably, notably through investment in sustainable approaches to productivity growth in the agricultural sector;
- share best policy options for encouraging sustainable agricultural productivity growth and promoting coherence between food security, agricultural productivity and sustainability objectives.
- foster research, innovative systems and technological transfer for sustainable productivity growth through multilateral cooperation and promotion of public-private partnership for investment in agriculture;
- improve farmers’ knowledge in agriculture and their ability to innovate;
- ensure the efficient use of scarce natural resources such as water;
- further strengthen a strong rule-based multilateral trading system;
Speaking ahead of the Summit, Jesús Serafín, President of FoodDrinkEurope, said:
‘’Besides important G20 objectives, the debate should include broader issues that can also contribute to global food security:
- Further improved reliable and timely information on physical commodity markets, to facilitate policy coordination at international level;
- More transparent and better regulated agricultural financial markets;
- The need to focus primarily on food and feed markets for agriculture; and,
- Improved infrastructure in developing countries, i.e. promoting investment for adequate storage and transport systems
By addressing both price volatility and food security, the EU food and drink industry believes that the G20 leaders can successfully contribute to the challenges affecting entire food chains around the world’’.
