COVID-19: G20 trade ministers agree to ensure uninterrupted flow of medical supplies

“As we fight the pandemic both individually and collectively and seek to mitigate its impacts on international trade and investment, we will continue to work together to deliver a free, fair, non-discriminatory, transparent, predictable and stable trade and investment environment, and to keep our markets open.”

“We are actively working to ensure the continued flow of vital medical supplies and equipment, critical agricultural products, and other essential goods and services across borders, for supporting the health of our citizens,” they added in the statement.
The ministers stated that they will take immediate necessary measures to facilitate trade in those essential goods.
They also agreed to implement those measures, upholding the principle of international solidarity, considering the evolving needs of other countries for emergency supplies and humanitarian assistance.

“We will ensure smooth and continued operation of the logistics networks that serve as the backbone of global supply chains. We will explore ways for logistics networks via air, sea and land freight to remain open, as well as ways to facilitate essential movement of health personnel and business people across borders, without undermining the efforts to prevent the spread of the virus,” they said in the statement.

It added that the countries will continue monitoring and assessing the impact of the pandemic on trade.
They also called upon the international organisations to provide an in-depth analysis of the impact of COVID-19 on world trade, investment and global value chains.

“We will continue working with them to establish coordinated approaches and collect and share good practices to facilitate flows of essential goods and services,” the statement added.

The leaders of the G20 last week pledged to inject $5 trillion into the global economy to counter the pandemic amid forecasts of deep recession.
The G20 is a grouping of developed and developing countries. Its members include India, the US, Italy, France, China, Japan and Turkey.