DUBAI (Reuters) – Agriculture and food ministers from the Group of 20 countries agreed at a virtual meeting on Tuesday that emergency measures to contain the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic must not create “unnecessary barriers to trade or disruption to global food supply chains”.
The ministers also said they would guard against any measures leading to excessive food price volatility in global markets or that threaten food supply, according to an emailed final statement.
“Under the current challenging circumstances, we stress the importance of avoiding food losses and waste caused by disruptions throughout food supply chains, which could exacerbate food insecurity and nutrition risks and economic loss,” it said.
(Reporting By Maha El Dahan in Dubai, Nadine Awadalla in Cairo and Gus Trompiz in Paris; editing by David Evans)
