ASEAN+3 Holds Annual Emergency Rice Reserve Meeting... Discusses Expanding Cooperation Items to Include 'Wheat'

APTERR Annual Meeting in Korea on 25-26
Discussing Cooperation Measures for Emergency Response to Food Shortages and Disasters

Our government plans to propose expanding the cooperation target items from "rice" to "wheat" at the annual meeting of the ASEAN+Korea-China-Japan Emergency Rice Reserve System (APTERR).

The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs announced on the 24th that the 11th APTERR Committee annual meeting will be held over two days, from the 25th to the 26th, at The Plaza Hotel in Jung-gu, Seoul.

APTERR is a public stockpiling system in which the 10 ASEAN countries and the three countries of Korea, China, and Japan pre-agree and stockpile rice reserves to prepare for emergencies such as food shortages and disasters, and provide sales, long-term loans, or free support during emergencies.

Started in 2013, this 11th meeting is the first face-to-face meeting in three years since the easing of the COVID-19 pandemic. Among the Korea-China-Japan countries, this is the first time the event is held in Korea.

On the first day of the meeting, discussions among member countries will take place, including reports on project execution results and plans by the APTERR Secretariat, presentations of free support program cases, and expansion of APTERR's role and cooperation target items. On the second day, the meeting will conclude with the adoption of the meeting report and announcement of the next meeting venue, followed by an afternoon field visit in Seoul to introduce traditional culture at sites such as Gyeongbokgung Palace, Namsan Tower, and the Korean food culture space Eum.

At this meeting, Korea plans to propose expanding the cooperation target items to include wheat. Wheat is a major consumption item not only in Korea but also among APTERR member countries, but it shares the common vulnerability of high import dependence from a food security perspective. Therefore, Korea plans to suggest ways for member countries to cooperate in times of crisis, similar to rice.

Meanwhile, Korea has supported a total of 19,000 tons of rice to member countries facing difficulties such as food shortages and disasters, starting with 750 tons of pre-stocked support in 2017 and 1,000 tons to Myanmar and the Philippines in 2022. This accounts for 60% of the total support volume of APTERR.

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