ASEAN meeting opens on Tuesday

Over 200 delegates representing 10 member countries of the Association of South East Asia (ASEAN) who are ministers on agriculture and forestry will meet at the Bohol Beach Club starting on Wednesday until Sept. 1. The delegates came from Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia , Indonesia , Laos , Malaysia , Myanmar , Philippines , Singapore , Thailand and Vietnam all member nations of ASEAN. Although food security of the ASEAN region is high on top of the agenda of the agriculture and forestry ministers' meeting, security concerns of the delegates are also a major factor of the event. Aurelio Cajiles, head of the Agricultural Promotion Center , the coordinating agency of the international gathering in the local level, only went as far as furnishing the Post a briefer of the meeting and the opening day program. Citing security precautions, he refused to give this paper an itinerary of the delegates while in Bohol. Agriculture Sec. Domingo Panganiban will be the guest of honor during the opening day program which will be held at the Bohol Pavillion of the Bohol Beach Club. Gov. Erico Aumentado will welcome the delegates, The province's three congressmen—Reps. Edgar Chatto, Roberto Cajes and Eladio Jala will tender a dinner for the three delegates. The farewell dinner will be held at Villa Alzhun Resort and Restaurant featuring a barrio fiesta motif.

BRIEFER

The briefer provided by the Department of Agriculture and APC showed among others the following:

The Asean Ministers on Agriculture and Forestry (AMAF) provides guidance to the Asean cooperation in food, agriculture and forestry, with the support of Asean senior officials in these sectors, to undertake planning and implementation of specific activities within a specific time-frame.

AMAF meetings provide the fora for issues and concerns in agriculture, fisheries and forestry to be discussed at the Ministerial level. During the 27th AMAF meeting held in Tagaytay City last September 2005, for instance, the Ministers endorsed the Regional Framework for the Control and Eradication of Highly Pathogenic Avian influenza (HPAI) proposed by the Asean Task Force on HPAI.

AMAF meeting likewise discuss and come to an agreement on joint approaches to regional and international issues ad problems relating to food, agriculture and forestry. For instance, the AMAF Ministers discuss and agree on Asean positions and strategies regarding overly stringent EU and Codex food standards being set and jointly address these issues.

AMAF meeting are held yearly and attended by Asean ministers and Senior Officials in charge of agriculture, fisheries and forestry. These are preceded by regular Senior Official meeting, which work out and approve the agenda for AMAF meetings and other reports and review endorsements of Asean sectoral Working Groups for final endorsement to AMAF among other concerns. These are hosted on a rotation basis, giving each member country the opportunity to host once in 10 years. The Philippines hosted the 27th AMAF meeting last year in Tagaytay City , making it the current AMAF Chair. The next hosting will be in 2015. Special Senior Officials Meetings of AMAF (SSOM-AAMAF) are held separately from the AMAF meetings a few months before the next AMAF meeting and are hosted by the current AMAF Chair (host of the last meeting).

SSOM-meetings usually review the implementation of projects under AMAF, as reported by Asean sectoral Working Groups. Asean sectoral Working Groups on Crops, Livestock, Fisheries, Research and Development, Agricultural training and Extension, cooperatives and Joint Promotion of Agricultural and Fisheries Products discuss projects and issues at the technical level and report to the SOM-AMAF, which makes the final endorsement to the AMAF. EECOM Meetings also keep track of actions taken on the ministers decisions during the previous AMAF, and plan out the agenda for the next AMAF meeting.

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