Hu Jong-I, Deputy Minister of Agriculture, went to Peru on August 17 and 18 to attend the “2024 APEC Food Security Ministerial Meeting.” Representatives of member economies gathered to discuss how to prevent and reduce food loss and waste (FLW) in order to ensure APEC regional food security. Topics included reducing FLW to improve food security and strengthening technical cooperation along the agri-food supply chain.

At the meeting, Deputy Minister Hu shared Taiwan’s policies on promoting FLW reduction with the APEC ministers and representatives of member economies, as well as Taiwan’s achievements and the outlook as the lead economy for key action area 17(e) of the “Implementation Plan of the Food Security Roadmap Towards 2030.” At the same time, he engaged in bilateral meetings and exchanged views with the Heads of Delegation of other member economies, demonstrating Taiwan’s proactive attitude towards deepening substantive collaboration with APEC economies.

Taiwan shares its policies and measures for reducing FLW

The host of the APEC Food Security Ministerial Meeting, Peru, specially invited all member economies to share their views on “preventing and reducing FLW.” Deputy Minister Hu described how Taiwan has, under the “Food and Agricultural Education Act” which went into effect in 2022, promoted food and agricultural education, improved the educational system, enhanced the health of citizens, and focused on the sustainable development of agriculture as well as rural and fishing communities. He indicated the Act’s important guiding principle, treasuring food and reducing waste, and how it is being implemented in terms of local consumption of agriproducts, reducing food waste, reducing serving size, and minimizing leftovers, with the goal of ensuring food security. As for public-private partnerships, Taiwan’s support for micro-, small-, and medium-sized enterprises as well as the achievements of related measures in preventing and reducing FLW were shared in the meeting.

Taiwan continues to lead the way on the issue of “FLW reduction” in APEC

As the “lead economy” on the issue of reducing FLW, Taiwan has proactively implemented projects with APEC member economies in recent years. These have included the “APEC Workshop on Reducing Food Loss and Waste by Strengthening Resilience and Digitalization in APEC Food System” in 2023. In 2024 we applied for a APEC project entitled “Reducing Food Loss and Waste through Packaging Innovations and Progress Review of Food Loss and Waste in the APEC Region,” with the expectation of reviewing the progress related to reducing FLW in APEC member economies in 2025, thereby making a concrete contribution to APEC regional food security.

APEC endorses statement at the Food Security Ministerial Meeting emphasizing continued cooperation to promote reduction of FLW and ensure regional food security

The Ministry of Agriculture states that the 9^th APEC Food Security Ministerial Meeting endorsed a statement that emphasized support for development of digital and innovative technologies and the promotion of reduction of FLW to enhance regional food security by strengthening regional cooperation. In addition, consensus was reached on the “Trujillo Principles for Preventing and Reducing Food Loss and Waste in the Asia-Pacific Region,” which call on member economies to achieve the goal of reducing FLW through the following seven principles: “Strengthen institutional frameworks,” “Promote public-private partnerships and coordination with other relevant stakeholders,” “Foster research, innovation, technology, and digitalization,” “Promote capacity building, awareness, and education,” “Improve data collection and knowledge management,” “Create an enabling environment to promote investment in physical infrastructure,” and “Promote food rescue and donation.”

Deputy Minister of Agriculture Hu Jong-I shared Taiwan’s measures related to reduction of food loss and waste at the APEC “2024 Food Security Ministerial Meeting.”

Deputy Minister of Agriculture Hu Jong-I (fourth from right) attended the APEC “2024 Food Security Ministerial Meeting” in Trujillo, Peru.