Good News, APEC Trade Ministers Agree To Accelerate Cross-Border Vaccine Distribution

New Zealand Trade Minister Damien O'Connor. (Twitter.com @DamienOConnorMP)

JAKARTA - Trade ministerial-level officials from countries that are members of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) have agreed to accelerate the cross-border distribution flow of vaccines and related goods to fight the COVID-19 pandemic.

The agreement was contained in a joint statement of APEC trade ministers issued after a meeting of APEC ministers of trade officials on Saturday 5 June, from New Zealand which is the host of APEC 2021. The meeting was chaired by New Zealand's Trade Minister Damien O'Connor.

“As we face the biggest health and economic crisis of our lifetime, I feel heartened to see how we are coming together to make progress. We represent half of global GDP and want to use trade as a force for good,” said O'Connor, quoted in a statement received in Jakarta, Sunday, June 6 in the morning.

Here's a screenshot of the event taking place online. (Intermediate Photo)

He said that APEC trade ministers had agreed on a number of things, including accelerating the flow of vaccine distribution and vaccine-related goods by eliminating trade restrictions that increase the price of vaccines and supporting goods.

Another point agreed by APEC officials is a set of guidelines for the Customs authorities of each country to ensure that vaccines can enter through ports and airports as quickly as possible without any delays.

In addition, there was also an agreement on removing barriers to shipping and logistics services to support trade in vaccines and vaccine-related goods to help fight the pandemic.

During the meeting, APEC has also returned to its traditional role of championing multilateralism, including by “rejuvenating the World Trade Organization and injecting momentum into a series of trade negotiations with a view to finalizing them by the end of this year”.

Doubling the sustainable recovery by pushing the WTO to agree that governments should not pay subsidies that promote overfishing and finalizing their negotiations by the end of July is also one of the steps to fight for multilateralism in the context of environmental conservation.

APEC also initiated a subsidy reform to the fossil oil industry that is contributing to the climate crisis.

"It is encouraging to see APEC trade ministers working together to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic in a practical and concrete way and rebuild our economy," O'Connor said. The step to accelerate the spread of cross-border vaccines is an effort that is expected to help overcome the impact of the corona pandemic.