VLADIVOSTOK, RUSSIA : The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) leaders' meeting ended yesterday by calling upon members to refrain from raising new barriers to investment through to the end of 2015.
The meeting focused on the theme of "ensuring food security and encouraging innovative growth"."We reaffirm our pledge to refrain through to the end of 2015 from raising new barriers to investment or to trade in goods and services, imposing new export restrictions or implementing WTO-inconsistent measures in all areas including stimulating exports," read the leaders' statement.
All 21 Apec economic leaders recognised the importance of advancing regulatory consistency and stressed the need to strengthen regional economic integration and ensure product safety, supply chain integrity and environmental protection, it said.
They agreed to promote green growth and reiterated their commitment to reduce tariff rates to 5% on green products by the end of 2015.
"By reducing tariffs on environmental goods, we will help our businesses and citizens to get access to important environmental technologies, which will facilitate their deployment and use, contributing significantly to our green growth and trade liberalisation objectives," said the leaders' statement.
Promoting green growth should not be used as an excuse to introduce protectionist measures, they added.
Apec leaders also agreed to take steps to raise agricultural productivity by boosting investment and adopting innovative technologies, including biotechnology.
"We emphasise the importance of open and transparent market mechanisms in ensuring food security," the Apec leaders said.
They also recognised that a more open, stable, predictable rule-based and transparent agricultural trading system had a crucial role to play in enhancing food security.
They said bans and other restrictions on food exports may cause price volatility, especially for economies that rely on imports of staple products.
Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra said she called for all Apec member countries to share production and consumption information as well as establish reliable food reserves to reduce price volatility.
