 Mr Chairman, Excellencies, Director-General, Distinguished Delegates, Friends and Colleagues, seplecia to present this country's statement on behalf of New Zealand at this 35th Efeo Regional Conference for Asia and the Civic. COVID-19 has of course had a huge impact globally. Efeo has a critical role to play in the response and recovery for the provision of sound policy advice, analysis and technical assistance. A key challenge for all countries during the pandemic has been to minimise disruptions to domestic food and agricultural production and to ensure there is adequate food supply to meet their needs. This cause for concerted global action, both to address food production issues at the domestic level and to ensure that food supply chains remain open, not distorted by restrictive trade practices and justified trade barriers in short-term support measures to become embedded with time. New Zealanders please that the WTO Fisheries Subsidies negotiations are on track to be completed in 2020 is committed to under the UN's Sustainable Development Goals target 14.6. There is a priority for New Zealanders to advance the elimination of harmful fisheries subsidies which can contribute to economic losses in serious distortions in local fish markets. Moreover, Civic Fisheries Ministers highlighted in August the importance to the region of concluding these negotiations in their foreign fisheries committee ministerial meeting communique. New Zealand, as a member of the South West Pacific region of Efeo, has been acutely aware of the vulnerabilities of small island states to the pandemic and has actively worked with our Pacific partners to protect national borders and the security of food supply. For example, we've worked with the countries in the region to limit the spread of COVID-19 through fisheries sectors, recognising that the continuation of fisheries is important for food security and economic reasons while also emphasising the protection of the lives of observers and the wider population. New Zealand supports Efeo's priorities for this region and in particular the programs to support sustainable fisheries management. Initiatives are strengthening the food spreading chain and providing better food security and nutrition outcomes. This is in the context of climate change, changing dietary patterns and a rising burden of non-communical diseases. New Zealand welcomes several recent Efeo initiatives which respond to some key contemporary challenges. These include ongoing decentralisation and greater devolution of responsibilities, the establishment of a new office for small island developing states to strengthen Efeo's focus and capacity to address the specific needs of these countries, the establishment of a joint FAO WHO centre for codex food standards and zoonotic diseases and a new division on food systems and food safety. And lastly, commitment to extra funding for food safety related to scientific advice. To close, I note that Efeo has a central role in the UN food systems summit in 2021. This is a key priority for New Zealand. With an estimated 2 billion people in the world without regular access to safe, nutritious and sufficient food and food systems contributing over 20% of the world's greenhouse gas emissions, we are not on track to achieve the sustainable development goals. We urgently need a discussion on the global food systems that is based on science and evidence. That projects ideological and one size fits all solutions and that appropriately balances environmental, economic, health and social objectives. We look forward to working with Efeo and other members on preparations for the summit next year. Thank you all for your attention.