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SINGAPORE – Trade and Industry Minister Chan Chun Sing and Trade Ministers of Australia, Canada, South Korea and New Zealand agreed to facilitate resumption of essential cross-border travel while balancing public health considerations between of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Guidelines will be established to facilitate such travel, which should be for the purpose of maintaining global supply chains.
They also agreed to streamline customs procedures and refrain from introducing restrictions on the export of essential items such as food and medical supplies, as well as ensuring that logistics networks continue to operate by air, sea and land transportation.
“These initiatives will not only help us overcome the challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic, but will also position us well for a rapid recovery once the situation stabilizes,” Chan said in a Facebook post on Friday (1 of May).
The five ministers issued a joint statement on Friday morning, after a video conference, detailing action plans to facilitate the flow of goods and services, as well as the essential movement of people.
For example, speeding up customs procedures could mean more use of electronic means for customs processing, which minimizes face-to-face interactions without lengthening processing times.
Bilateral and / or multilateral cooperation agreements could also help speed up the necessary approval procedures for aircrew and the use of additional aircraft for cargo operations.
The ministers also pledged to minimize the impact of Covid-19 on trade and investment, and to facilitate economic recovery from the pandemic.
This would involve working closely with key multilateral economic institutions like the World Trade Organization, sharing best practices and consulting with the private sector to find solutions, they said.
During the video conference, Mr. Chan said: “The Covid-19 pandemic is not only an unprecedented public health crisis, but it also brings about unprecedented socio-economic disruptions and changes in lifestyle.”
He was addressing his counterparts: Australian Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment, Simon Birmingham; Canadian Minister of Small Business, Export Promotion and International Trade Mary Ng; South Korean Minister of Commerce Yoo Myung-hee; and the New Zealand Minister for Trade and Export Growth, David Parker.
“Such a crisis requires a collective and coordinated response from us,” said Chan.
To overcome challenges to production capacities, capacities and connectivity, countries will have to “resist the protectionist tide of looking inward and allowing restrictive trade measures to persist,” he said.
Travel restrictions arising from the coronavirus have also disrupted commercial activities worldwide. Resuming essential travel can help achieve economic recovery, Chan added.
“To accomplish this, it will be important for us to have some standardized protocols for mutual assurance of health standards, in terms of testing and contact tracing.”
“If we can work together on similar security standards, it will go a long way towards resuming travel. This will also allow interdependence of supply chains to resume.”
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