On institutional matters, efforts have been undertaken to further strengthen the mechanism of ASEAN's cooperation in food, agriculture and forestry through improvement of working procedures at all levels of the cooperation machinery.

Food Security and Food Handling

With the agreement of Vietnam to earmark 14,000 metric tons for rice for the ASEAN Emergency Rice Reserve, the total amount of the stock now stands at 67,000 metric tons (see Table 4). In order to further facilitate the monitoring of food situation in the region and sharing of information among them, ASEAN Member Countries have initiated efforts towards developing a food security information systems for the region. The framework for the system will be formulated based on existing national food security information systems of Member Countries. The system is to replace the development of a common methodology for national food audit agreed to previously.

In the area of food handling, Member Countries have drafted general guidelines for the preparation and handling of halal food. Once adopted, the guidelines will help promote the expansion of intra-ASEAN trade in food, especially of poultry and meat products. ASEAN has also started planning cooperation programmes to promote the use of food irradiation technology by the food industry and trade in the region to improve food quality and safety. In addition, a quality assurance system for fresh and minimally processed ASEAN fruits will be developed following the implementation of the project, Quality Assurance System for ASEAN Fruits (QASAF) under the ASEAN-Australia Economic Programme (AAECP) - Phase II.

Crops

Activities to harmonize phytosanitary measures among ASEAN Member Countries to facilitate trade of agricultural products progressed as scheduled. Phytosanitary measures, along with sanitary measures, imposed by ASEAN Member Countries may in certain instances pose as non-tariff barriers to intra-ASEAN trade in agricultural products. Harmonizing these measures may facilitate such trade. A model system for the harmonization process will be developed through the preparation of an endemic pest list and computerization of the list, starting with rice and mango, development of adequate pest surveillance systems, and formation of national pest risk analysis teams. A data structure will be created in the ASEANWEB for compiling, organizing and disseminating information that will be provided by Member Countries.

The increasing awareness of food safety has prompted ASEAN Member Countries to explore the possibility of harmonizing the maximum residual levels (MRLs) of pesticides in agricultural produces that are being traded in the region, especially vegetables. Member Countries will exchange information on the types of pesticides used in each country, lists of prioritized vegetables and information on national MRLs of identified pesticides in these vegetables. Both national and regional mechanisms will be established to facilitate the adoption and implementation of the harmonized MRLs.

Another step forward in the regional effort to minimize pesticide use to improve the marketability of agricultural products and to prevent environmental degradation from overutilization of the chemicals is the move to establish a pesticide database and network among ASEAN Member Countries. Member Countries will first strengthen their existing national data-bases and then establish an information network on various pesticides used in each country through the ASEANWEB.

Member Countries have reviewed the plan of action to strengthen technical cooperation in corn and soya bean production in the region which has been aimed at meeting the increasing demand from the poultry and livestock industries and at the same time reducing import of these two commodities. Realizing that the private sector could contribute to this effort, a proposal will be prepared to involve the private sector in the production of the two crops.

Agricultural Training & Extension

Member Countries continue to promote and intensify the application of integrated pest management (IPM) practices among vegetable farmers and fruit growers in the region. Training courses on minimizing the use of pesticides through the application of IPM practices have been conducted in some Member Countries, using the training modules which have been developed. More of such training courses will be conducted in the coming year.

To further provide the forum for the region's farmers to meet and exchange knowledge and experiences on farming practices, Thailand hosted the Sixth ASEAN Farmers' Week in May 1996 in conjunction with its Royal Ploughing Ceremony, while the Philippines hosted the Seventh ASEAN Farmers' Week in the same month in conjunction with its annual celebration of National Farmers' and Fisherfolk's Month.

ASEAN has successfully implemented the project, Preparing ASEAN Rural Youth for a Better Future in Agriculture and has proposed an extension of the project to further enhance the entrepreneurial capacities of the region's young farmers in agribusiness enterprises.

Livestock

Member Countries have adopted the manual on ASEAN Standards of Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) in the area of animal vaccines in terms of commercial production, storage, transportation and handling and have approved 10 new standards of animal vaccines. This will facilitate the regularization of the production and utilization of animal vaccines in the region. The effort forms part of a harmonization process for sanitary measures to promote and facilitate intra and extra-ASEAN trade of live animals and animal products. Other important efforts along this line are the development of criteria on standards and criteria for accreditation of establishments involved in the trade of livestock and livestock products, which, if need be, would lead to the development of a memorandum of understanding on an accreditation scheme for ASEAN.

Under the animal disease control programme, Member Countries continue to update the database on equine diseases, populations and movements in the region in developing activities which would facilitate international movements of horses on a bilateral basis. With regard to the control of foot and mouth diseases (FMD) in buffaloes, a team of ASEAN experts on FMD had inspected and evaluated the Philippines Regions VI, VII, VIII, XI and XII to declare these regions as new FMD-Free Zones. The final report will be available when the results of serological examination are received from the FMD World Reference Lab in the United Kingdom.

Fisheries

In the area of fisheries, a manual on good management practices for the culture of shrimp has been prepared and distributed for application by Member Countries. The development and improvement of fisheries postharvest technology and the harmonization of quality assurance of fishery products continued through the ASEAN-Canada Fisheries Post-harvest Technology Project Phase II which will end in July 1997. An electronic information exchange system on fisheries postharvest technology among centres in ASEAN is in operation and a Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) training package has been developed for use in the coming year.

Practices (GMP) in the area of animal vaccines

New initiatives in this sector include a proposed study on the relationship between mangrove ecology and shrimp culture and the harmonization of fisheries sanitary measures, both to be based on information to be collected from Member Countries.

Recognizing the importance of sound fishery resource management in the region, ASEAN will forge closer collaboration in this field with the Marine Fisheries Resource Development and Management Department of the South-East Asia Fisheries Development Centre (SEAFDEC). A work plan will be developed for the purpose.

Agricultural Cooperatives

While continuing with the remaining activities which had been planned for the institutional development of agricultural cooperatives within the region and the enhancement of market-oriented agricultural production through cooperatives, ASEAN Member Countries have initiated efforts to forge strategic alliances among agricultural cooperatives in the region, based on the Plan of Action which had been endorsed earlier by the18th ASEAN Ministers on Agriculture and Forestry (AMAF) Meeting. The work plans for the data and information exchange and the beef and vegetables production under the strategic alliances programme have been prepared.

Forestry

Activities of the Canada-funded projects, namely the ASEAN Forest Tree Seed Centre (AFTS Centre) in Thailand and the ASEAN Institute of Forest Management (AIFM) in Malaysia were terminated at the end of March and July 1997, respectively. The proposal to upgrade the AFTS Centre into an AFTS Institute has been submitted to the ASEAN Secretariat for further action. A regional seminar, Sustainable Tropical Forest Management, dealing with progress towards achieving the ITTO Year 2000 was conducted in Balikpapan, Indonesia in October 1996 and an international conference, Transboundary Pollution and the Sustainability of Tropical Forest, with special emphasis on wise forest fire management, was successfully organized in December 1996 in Kuala Lumpur by the AIFM. A project proposal on the AIFM plan of action on forest fire management in ASEAN to reduce transboundary haze pollution is being considered by ASEAN Member Countries.

ASEAN Member Countries continue to consult each other on joint approaches in the promotion of forest products as well as on joint approaches and positions on international forestry and timber issues (e.g. eco-labelling certification, sustainability and CITES). New initiatives in the area include proposals to establish cooperation programmes in rattan regeneration, forest pests management and forest products utilisation research.

Intra-ASEAN Trade of Agricultural Products

As of 30 December 1996, about 1,358 tariff lines of unprocessed agricultural products have been phased into the Inclusion List of the Common Effective Preferential Tariffs (CEPT) Scheme for AFTA. Member Countries have also come to a common understanding on the starting and ending dates for the inclusion of sensitive products.

Cooperation and Joint Approaches in Agriculture and Forest Products Promotion

ASEAN Member Countries formulated integrated strategies for the promotion of all the eleven identified products, namely frozen chicken, frozen shrimp, canned tuna, canned pineapples, tapioca, pepper, carrageenan, palm oil, cocoa and cocoa products, and forest products, except for vegetable oil ( coconut oil and palm oil). The working groups or industry clubs, which have been tasked with the promotion of these products will be meeting further to enhance their cooperative efforts.

ASEAN-Mekong Basin Development Cooperation (AMDC) in Agriculture and Natural Resources

In response to the call by the Fifth Summit to initiate cooperation programmes for the Mekong River Basin, ASEAN Member Countries have identified, prioritized and submitted to the AMDC Steering Committee seven proposals for cooperation projects in the fields of human resources development, sustainable forest management, agricultural mechanization, animal quarantine network, groundwater resource management, and fisheries resource development. SOM-AMAF has also established an ad-hoc working group to assist in the formulation and prioritization of other project proposals for the Mekong Basin riparian states. A Meeting on ASEAN-Mekong Basin Fisheries Development Cooperation, was hosted by Thailand, in March 1997 in Chiangrai, Thailand and four project proposals in the inland fisheries sector were formulated for the Mekong Basin area.

Joint Approaches to Regional & International Issues

ASEAN Member Countries continued to take a joint approach and a collective stand on international trade issues affecting the access of ASEAN agricultural, fishery and forestry products to world markets. Letters of concern had been transmitted to relevant authorities of the European Commission and the United States of America, addressing certain trade restricted policies of these countries, listed in Table 5. In regard to the US embargo on shrimps caught by trawlers that lacked a turtle exclusion device, ASEAN Member Countries have agreed to support the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for the Protection and Conservation of Sea Turtles. Of late, Member Countries have also agreed to establish an ASEAN Shrimp Industry Task Force to plan and implement strategies to counter the threats of NGOs to the region's shrimp industry.

ASEAN will continue to pursue global competitiveness in agriculture and forestry while maintaining the sustainability of its resources through increased application of science and technology, investment in human resources development as well as through greater liberalization of trade in agriculture and forest products. Member Countries will strive to manage their agriculture and forestry sectors efficiently; use the latest technology in production and processing; always be aware of market information; produce their goods at competitive prices and allow them to expand internationally, enter new markets and exploit technological and organizational advantages as widely as possible. Member Countries realize that these can only be achieved through greater commitment in regional cooperation and have agreed that the ASEAN machinery and mechanism of cooperation in the food, agriculture and forestry sector should be further strengthened.