FAO Director-General and EU Commissioner for Trade discuss investments in agriculture

16 December 2019, Brussels - FAO Director-General QU Dongyu met today with Phil Hogan, European Union Commissioner for Trade, on the sidelines of the Council of Ministers of Agriculture and Fisheries (AGRIFISH). 

The Director-General praised Commissioner Hogan for his long-standing support to FAO and confirmed that the Organization stands ready to assist the European Union, in the context of the Green Deal and the Farm to Fork Strategy, to further reinforce the sustainability of agricultural supply chains for essential commodities. 

The European Union can rely on FAO’s broad-based expertise in trade, markets, investments, forests and biodiversity protection, together with its experience in decent employment, child labour eradication, gender equality and empowerment, to make sure that investments are responsible and that agricultural supply chains are economically viable, environmentally sustainable and inclusive. 

The Director-General expressed great satisfaction for FAO’s close partnership, over the years, with the EU Commission for Trade for the promotion of The International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC), focusing especially on plant health, phyto-sanitary standards, surveillance systems and related legislative issues. 

The new European Union Trade-FAO funded project will support electronic phytosanitary certification (e-Phyto), commodity standard and the development of a Pest Outbreak Alert plan and Response System, in addition to one million USD increase for IPPC funding, recently approved this December by the FAO Council.