FAO, WHO, WTO chiefs call for mitigating impacts of COVID-19 on food supply chain

The heads of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the World Health Organization (WHO) and the World Trade Organization (WTO) have urged countries to take care and minimize the impacts of COVID-19 on the global food supply chain.

"As countries move to enact measures aiming to halt the accelerating COVID-19 pandemic, care must be taken to minimize potential impacts on the food supply or unintended consequences on global trade and food security," FAO head Qu Dongyu, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus and WTO chief Roberto Azevedo said in a joint statement on Tuesday.

"When acting to protect the health and well-being of their citizens, countries should ensure that any trade-related measures do not disrupt the food supply chain," they said.

"Uncertainty about food availability can spark a wave of export restrictions, creating a shortage on the global market," said the joint statement, adding "such reactions can alter the balance between food supply and demand, resulting in price spikes and increased price volatility."

"In the midst of the COVID-19 lockdowns, every effort must be made to ensure that trade flows as freely as possible, specially to avoid food shortage," they said in the statement.

They also urged countries not to hamper the movement of agricultural and food industry workers, as well as protect these workers' health so as to minimize the spread of the disease within the sector.

"It is at times like these that more, not less, international cooperation becomes vital," they said.

"We must also ensure that information on food-related trade measures, levels of food production, consumption and stocks, as well as on food prices, is available to all in real time" to help contain panic buying and hoarding of food and other essential items, they added.

For the general welfare of people around the world, especially those of low-income and food-deficit countries, the heads of the three international organizations appealed for solidarity, responsibility and adherence to the common goal of enhancing food security, food safety and nutrition and avoiding creating unwarranted shortages unintentionally.