Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Indonesian Government has urged members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to take coordinated steps to build regional readiness to anticipate a food crisis. "Among the initiatives Indonesia is currently promoting is the use of local food materials to solidify ASEAN countries' national food reserves," acting secretary-general of the Indonesian Agriculture Ministry, Prihasto Setyanto, said.

According to a ministry statement received here on Wednesday, he made the remarks after leading the Indonesian delegation at the Special Senior Officials Meeting (SSOM) of the 45th Meeting of ASEAN Ministers on Agriculture and Forestry in Johor Bahru, Malaysia, on Tuesday.

Setyanto underlined that the initiative is meant to follow up on the ASEAN Leaders' Declaration on Strengthening Food Security and Nutrition in Response to Crises, which was adopted during the 43rd ASEAN Summit in Jakarta in September last year.

He informed that the SSOM resulted in a number of agreements on cooperation in food resilience and security, fishery, forestry, and agriculture.

"We have also agreed to draft the ASEAN Action Plan for Sustainable Agriculture and ASEAN Action Plan on Food Security for the 2026–2030 period," he added.

The secretary-general further said that the European Union's Deforestation Regulation, which is deemed restrictive and discriminative by many, came under the spotlight during the multilateral meeting.

He highlighted that the regulation hinders ASEAN countries from exporting their featured commodities, such as palm oil, cocoa, and rubber, to European markets.

"In response to a variety of international trade challenges, including those posed by the EU, the participating countries agreed to step up partnership to bolster the competitiveness of ASEAN's agricultural commodities and penetrate the global market," he said.

Setyanto then drew attention to a meeting held between ASEAN countries and Japan, during which Indonesia highlighted the importance of collaboration to reduce greenhouse gas emissions generated by the agriculture sector.

"Regarding climate change, Indonesia pushed for greenhouse gas emission reduction efforts that will not compromise the production rate," he added.

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Translator: Muhammad H, Tegar Nurfitra
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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