Brussels, Belgium
November 15, 2012

International trade in agricultural commodities is facing serious barriers where product approvals systems are running behind despite proven product safety, and where zero tolerance policies for non-approved products are in place. This is a priority for more and more countries. Following two inter-governmental meetings, an “International Statement on Low Level Presence” was published on several government websites, including on the site of the US Department of Agriculture.

Excerpts: “ there is an immediate need to address the risk to trade“. “Therefore, we, importing and exporting countries have decided to work collaboratively on the issue of LLP to facilitate international trade of agriculture commodities by developing practical approaches, designed to address LLP globally.”

The declaration is currently endorsed by 13 countries including the big commodity exporters from the Americas but also Russia. This constitutes an important step forward in ensuring trade flows on important commodities between partners; however, the EU is missing from the list of signatories.

Read the "International Statement on Low Level Presence"

Website: http://www.europabio.org

Published: November 16, 2012