Recognizing the importance of lowering food costs and making the rural sector more efficient in the region, the US-ASEAN Business Council's Food and Agriculture Committee works to enhance the flow of information regarding agricultural issues affecting all parties along the entire range of the food value chain--farming, processing, distribution, and finally retailing. Following in the steps of our ASEAN counterparts, the main objective of the Committee will be to facilitate growth and development of the ASEAN agriculture/food processing sector so as to allow the countries to be competitive as they liberalize their market.

To learn more about the Council's Food & Agriculture Working Group, please contact:
Ira Sugita
Coordinator, Food & Agriculture Working Group
Regional Membership Services
isugita@usasean.org

July: Food & Agriculture Committee Quarterly Meeting. Singapore. Contact: Ira Sugita at isugita@usasean.org

more upcoming events

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2007 US-ASEAN Business Council Dialogue
with the
ASEAN Ministers on Agriculture & Forestry
(AMAF)

Bangkok
November 1, 2007

The Food & Agriculture Working Group of US-ASEAN Business Council was honored to held its annual dialogue with the ASEAN Food & Agriculture Ministers during the ASEAN Ministers on Agriculture & Forestry (AMAF) Meeting in Bangkok, November 1, 2007. The Council's delegation was led by Bruce Blakemen of Cargill (above, left). In addition to the dialogue, the delegation also had several bilateral meetings with: the Indonesian Secretary General of the Ministry of Agriculture, Vietnam Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Philippines' Undersecretary of the Department of Agriculture, Thailand's Minister of Agriculture and Cooperatives, and Cambodia's Secretary of State. Click here for the Issues Paper that the Working Group submitted to the Ministers (Council members only).

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2007 Food & Agriculture Mission to Indonesia

August 13-16, 2007

The Council's Food & Agriculture Working Group concluded its successful Business Mission to Indonesia, August 13 - 16, 2007. Our delegation consisted of representatives from Cargill, Elanco, Kraft, McDonald's, Monsanto and Yum; and was led by Bruce Blakeman (of Cargill). We met officials from the 6 Ministerial offices / associations and the ASEAN Secretariat during the mission - aside from establishing valuable networking contacts, the delegates were able to highlight and engage with the relevant departments on important bilateral issues that have some direct bearings on their business investments and operations in Indonesia. For a copy of the full trip report, please click here (Council members only).

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Special Senior Officials' Meeting of the 28th Meeting of the ASEAN Ministers on Agriculture and Forestry (Special SOM-28th AMAF)

Singapore, July 31-August 2, 2007

The Council's Food & Agriculture Working Group had concluded its successful participation in the Special Senior Officials' Meeting of the 28th Meeting of the ASEAN Ministers on Agriculture and Forestry (Special SOM-28th AMAF), Singapore, July 31 - August 2, 2007. Our delegation consisted of representatives from Cargill, Elanco, Kraft, Monsanto and Yum.

The issues papers were disseminated to both the ASEAN Secretariat (ASEC) office and the Agri-Food & Veterinary Authority of Singapore (AVA), which was the organizing body of the Special SOM-28th AMAF, prior to the actual meetings. The issues paper consisted of updates / follow-ups of issues presented earlier, including Adventitious Presence (AP) Standard, Cooked Poultry Standard and Risk Analysis; and updates on ASEAN related programs the F&A Committee had participated / will participate in 2007. For a copy of the full trip report, please click here (Council members only).

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