As Covid-19-related border controls and travel restrictions take their toll on international trade, concerns have been raised about their impact on food security.
“Despite the currently abundant stocks of key staples,” World Trade Organization (WTO) director-general Roberto Azevêdo has warned that “we must avoid measures that could change the current outlook and lead to supply shortages in the future”.
He stressed the importance of ensuring that food continued to flow from countries with a food surplus to countries in deficit, underlining that “three billion people depend on international trade for their food security”.
DG Azevêdo said that during a recent gathering G20 leaders and trade ministers had highlighted the importance of keeping international markets open for vital medical products and food and stressed that any Covid-related trade measures should be “targeted, proportionate, temporary, and transparent”. He referred to the WTO's monitoring of such measures and urged G20 governments to “lead by example on transparency”.
