On June 2018, the Andean Community Secretariat, together with UNFSS launched its first dialogue in Peru on ‘Sustainable Trade between Peru and the EU’ with the inception to support Peruvian SMEs exporters and policy makers into implementing sustainable measures in order to access the lucrative EU’s renowned “Sustainable” market. UNFSS supports three key outcomes in the region, policy dialogue among national and regional VSS stakeholders, research and analysis in the region, and capacity building activities to promote sustainable exports from the region.
It is worth noting that the EU is the second most important single export market for the Andean Community countries, accounting about US$13,718 million of export value in 2016. Basic commodities and agri-food products imported by the EU reached over €6 billion, representing 43% of trade between these two trading partners. There is also a growing popularity of ‘novel/super foods’ such as sacha inchi, yuca, maca, quinoa etc. in the EU which underlines the importance for the Andean Community to tap into Sustainable Exports.
An important aspect of the EU policy on bioenergy is the legislation of the Renewable Energy Directive (RED) through national regulation, which is the cornerstone of the Andean-EU trade criteria. Thus, the significance of such dialogues within the Andean Community can identify some of the key VSS that address renewable energies in the production process in order to fulfil the EU RED mandate.
Together with UNFSS, the Andean Community amped up Sustainable Exports by adopting VSS product certification. This was piloted in Peru with an extensive workshop particularly targeted to elevate Peruvian SMEs capacity towards sustainable production. This programme is now being expanded to Colombia, Bolivia and Ecuador, with the support of UNFSS to fulfil the necessity of such implementation across the Andean Community.
Under this programme, UNFSS will also be launching soon a report on “Sustainable Trade Between Andean Community and the European Union”. This report will look into firstly the implications of the Andean Community’s agri-food exports to the European Union (EU) under the EU Renewable Energy Directive, with the objective to help companies access the European market. Secondly, to demonstrate the benefits of adopting renewable energy on agricultural production in these Andean states as a measure to promote sustainable trade-led agriculture policies that takes into account the social and environmental impacts.
Correspondingly, an upcoming workshop to be held in Bogota, Colombia on December 5th-6th, aims to deliver the same caliber of expertise on Sustainable Trade between Colombia and the EU. This will increase the awareness of VSS among stakeholders within the region as well as harnessing the evolution of Sustainable Exports. This workshop is co-organized with ProColombia, the Andean Community Secretariat and the Dutch Center for the Promotion of Imports from Developing Countries.
Click here to register for the workshop and the programme agenda.
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