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RI approves ASEAN deals on food safety, building materials, manufacturing
The Indonesian government has signed four mutual recognition agreements (MRAs) to harmonize ASEAN member countries’ standards and practices in food safety, building and construction materials as well as the manufacture of medicinal products.
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Trade Minister Zulkifli Hasan (left) and the ministry's International Trade Cooperation Director General Djatmiko Bris Witjaksono sign ASEAN mutual recognition agreements (MRAs) at Padma Hotel in Semarang, Central Java, on Aug. 20, 2023. (JP/Deni Ghifari)
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epresented by Trade Minister Zulkifli Hasan, the Indonesian government has signed four mutual recognition agreements (MRAs) to harmonize ASEAN member countries’ standards and practices in food safety, building and construction materials, as well as the manufacture of medicinal products.
With its signature, Indonesia is pushing for regional standardization to remove nontariff trade barriers and facilitate the free flow of goods, both within ASEAN and in a global context.
“The aim is to minimize trade obstacles and increase trade facilitation in ASEAN,” said Zulkifli on the sidelines of the ASEAN Economic Ministers (AEM) Meeting in Semarang, Central Java, on Sunday.
Zulkifli added that the first MRA was the ASEAN Framework Agreement on Mutual Recognition Arrangements (AFA MRA), which would function as the legal constitution for other MRAs aimed at harmonizing standards and regulations across the ASEAN region.
The second one, the ASEAN Food Safety Regulatory Framework Agreement (AFSRFA), would pave the way for regionally integrated food safety standards.
Zulkifli said the European Union had achieved good integration on food standards and implied that this MRA was partially inspired by EU policies in the same field.
The EU has an integrated approach to food safety that uses traceability and precautionary principles as basic concepts, under which imported food products must meet the same safety requirements as those produced in the EU itself.
