ASEAN established the “ASEAN General Guidelines on the Preparation and Handling of Halal Food” in the view to further expand intra-ASEAN trade in meat and meat-based products. The Guidelines was prepared based on and in line with the Association of Religious Ministers of Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore (MABIMS) Guidelines for Preparation of Food and Drink for Muslims and Codex General Guidelines for Use of the Term “Halal”.  The Guidelines serves as a practical reference for food industry in the production and handling of halal food for more effective presence in the regional and international market.  .

 

To enhance productivity of agriculture produce, the application of  justified inputs is needed to increase  yield. This includes the use of herbicides, fungicides, insecticides, plant growth regulators, etc. Although such agrochemicals provide numerous benefits, such as  the production of plentiful and economic food supply, the use of agrochemicals  can also result in residues on treated food commodities that cause some concerns to  consumers.  ASEAN Member Countries have, since long, given strong attention on the proper use and management of agrochemicals.  All ASEAN governments have laws and/ or regulation, though at varying forms and degrees, in control and use of pesticides. Increasing awareness of food safety has prompted ASEAN Member Countries to harmonise maximum residual levels (MRLs) of pesticides in agricultural produces that are traded in the region. To date, the total number of harmonized MRLs of pesticides in vegetables and fruits, endorsed by the ASEAN Ministers on Agriculture and Forestry is 775, involving a total of 61 pesticides.

 

Another step forward in the regional effort to control pesticide use to improve marketability of agricultural products and prevent environmental degradation is the establishment of pesticide database and network among ASEAN Member Countries.  Through the coordination of Malaysia, the ASEAN website for pesticides regulatory authorities  “aseanpest” (http://agrolink.moa.my/doa/aseanpest)  provides a platform for sharing of information and databases as well as to allow for discussion, identification, prioritization, implementation and resolution of problems related to pesticide management. The website contains information and databases partly available to the general public, as well as some classified information and data accessible only to the regulatory authorities of ASEAN Member Countries.

 

As reflected in the ASEAN Vision 2020, ASEAN committed to enhance its international competitiveness of food and agriculture products to enable the region to be the leading producer of these products. A number of efforts have been undertaken in order to realise the Vision, including the enhancement of food control systems and procedures to assure the freer movement of safe, healthy and quality food within the region. The ASEAN Good Agricultural Practices (ASEAN-GAP) for fresh Fruit and Vegetables has been developed and adopted as a standard for the production, harvesting and post-harvest handling of fruits and vegetables in the region. ASEAN also adopted standards for horticultural produces, namely: ASEAN Standards for mango, pineapple, durian, papaya, pumelo and rambutan to ensure that these commodities are available fresh to the consumers after preparation and packaging.

 

 

The main barriers to develop the livestock industry in the region are the presence of infectious diseases in animals.  Infections not only result in direct loss of animals but also act as an obstacle to the international trade of the animals and their products. Several diseases of economic and public health importance still afflict one and more Member Countries, including FMD, Classical Swine Fever, Newcastle Disease, Rabies and Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI). A number of programme and activities on the control and eradication of animal diseases have been carried out in cooperation with international organisations and dialogue partners/ funding agencies such as FAO, OIE and ADB.  The Agreement for the Establishment of ASEAN Animal Health Trust Fund (AAHTF) had been signed and will serve as vehicle in the implementation of unified and harmonised animal health programmes in ASEAN. 

 

Recognizing that vaccination is the practical method to control the spread of these infectious diseases, ASEAN embarked on establishing standards for vaccines used in the livestock industry in the region to ensure that only vaccines which meet international standards for safety, efficacy, and quality are being used to protect animal health in the region. Up to now, ASEAN has developed standard for 49 animal vaccines. ASEAN also established several procedures and guidance related to vaccines production which are published for the purpose of livestock industry in the region. The documents are:

In accordance with the requirements of the Manual on ASEAN Accreditation Criteria for Animal Vaccine Testing Laboratories, the Indonesian Veterinary Drug Assay Laboratory, located at Gunung Sindur, Bogor, Indonesia has been re-accredited as the ASEAN Animal Vaccine Testing Laboratory for 9 specific animal vaccines for a period of 3 years (November 2007 – November 2010).

 

In order to promote international trade in livestock, especially among the Member Countries, ASEAN had established 13 Criteria for Accreditation of Livestock Establishment and 3 Criteria for Accreditation of Livestock Products Establishment.

 

With a view to promote sustainable aquaculture, ASEAN developed and published the Manual on Good Shrimp Farm Management Practices, and Harmonization of Hatchery Production of Penaeus monodon (tiger prawn) in ASEAN.  Some Member Countries have translated the manuals into their national languages for use by shrimp farmers.  In order to sustain the shrimp culture industry, ASEAN  also developed the Manual on Practical Guidelines for the Development of High-health Penaeus monodon Broodstock.  The manual provides guidelines to develop a husbandry protocol for sustainable supply of high-health domesticated shrimp broodstock which is important for the shrimp aquaculture industry in the region.

ASEAN has developed Guidelines on Development of Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for Health Certification and Quarantine Measures for the Responsible Movement of Live Food Finfish as a tool to reduce risks of fish diseases due to trans-boundary movement of live aquatic animals in the region.

As part of the ASEAN efforts to promote regional and international trade of fish products through the implementation of HACCP, the Hazards Guide - A Guide to the Identification and Control of Food Safety Hazards in the Production of Fish and Fisheries Products in the ASEAN Region has been compiled to act as reference and provide detailed guidance to regulators, SMEs and other interested parties on fish and fish products related hazards, hazards control and food safety progammes.

The ability of farmers to select, adapt and apply technologies plays a vital role in increasing agricultural production.  ASEAN, in its efforts to educate their farmers has promoted and intensified the application of Integrated Pest Management (IPM), especially on fruits and vegetables as a comprehensive approach to improve crop quality and reduce crops losses. Development of training modules and regional trainings in Integrated Pest Management (IPM) in fruits and vegetables for agricultural extension officers are carried out by the ASEAN Member Countries. Under the title “Think IPM and Take Action”, basic information about the Integrated Pest Management (IPM) was published to assist extension workers build-up and strengthen their common understanding, which is essential in their working to help the farmers.  ASEAN had also produced IPM training modules for durian, vegetable (cabbage & potato), rice, shallots, corn, mango, pumelo, and soybean.

In order to help national governments and non-governments organization in ASEAN to improve the effectiveness of the implementation of their national IPM programme, ASEAN established the ASEAN IPM Knowledge Network (http://ASEAN-IPM.searca.org). The IPM Knowledge Network is an initiative to accumulate the vast collection of knowledge capital on IPM that can be reused and shared by national IPM programmes in the ASEAN region. To do this, the ASEAN IPM established an electronic IPM Knowledge Management Facility, which ensures that IPM Knowledge is available at the point of need of programme implementers and policy makers. The ASEAN IPM Centre in the Philippines acts as the Database and Network Administrator.  The Knowledge Hubs located in each ASEAN Member Countries are established and linked to the ASEAN IPM Centre. 

BIOTECHNOLOGY

ASEAN acknowledged the importance of the agricultural biotechnology as a tool to increase food productivity on a sustainable basis.  However, at the moment, there is public concern on the use of biotechnology that need to be addressed by the respective authorities. ASEAN adopted the Guidelines on the Risk Assessment of Agriculture-related Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs). The Guidelines serve to provide ASEAN Member Countries with a common understanding and approach when conducting scientific evaluations for the release of agriculture-related GMOs. The Guidelines describe the procedures for notification, approval and registration of agriculture-related GMOs. The need of each ASEAN Member Country to establish its own National Authority on Genetic Manipulation (NAGM) along with the roles and responsibilities of this authority in regulating agricultural GMOs is also addressed by the Guidelines. Recognised the need to have better understanding on Genetically Modified (GM) technology and risk assessment and to enhance the capacity building in this area, ASEAN developed Public Awareness Programmes on GMOs.  Under this Programme,  Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) on GMOs from ASEAN Member Countries were compiled and published for the public information.  To enhance and strengthen the capacity building, ASEAN, in collaboration with the International Life Sciences Institute (ILSI) Southeast Asia has organized a series of training workshops on the use of the ASEAN Guidelines on Risk-Assessment of Agriculture-related GMOs for the regulators and decision makers. . Three training workshops on Safety and Risk Assessment of Agriculture-related Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs)  were organized in Singapore (2001), Kuala Lumpur (2002), Bangkok (2003), and Jakarta (2004). 

 

 

 The implementation of sustainable forest management is one of the most critical challenges facing wood-producing countries, including ASEAN Member Countries.  ASEAN adopted the Code of Practice for Forest Harvesting in Asia Pacific, developed by the Asia-Pacific Forestry Commission (APFC) as a guide to develop specific national codes/guidelines. ASEAN in cooperation with FAO had conducted a review on the development and implementation of codes of practice for forest harvesting in ASEAN Member Countries to have comprehensive pictures on the implementation of national codes of practices for forest harvesting. In compliance with the international forestry reporting requirements on progress towards the achievement of sustainable forest management at the national and regional levels, ASEAN endorsed the followings documents. 

These documents would enable the ASEAN Member Countries to monitor, assess and report on the progress towards the achievement of sustainable forest management.

 In response to the growing threat that organised crime poses to Southeast Asia’s biodiversity, the ASEAN Wildlife Enforcement Network (ASEAN-WEN) was established and launched during the ASEAN Ministers Responsible on CITES on 1 December 2005 as an integrated network among the law enforcement, customs and CITES authorities.