PRESS RELEASE
TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE
Ireland gives EUR 200,000 to strengthen STDF
projects for global food safety and trade
Ireland is contributing EUR 200,000
(approximately CHF 190,000) to the Standards and Trade Development Facility
(STDF) to support its ongoing efforts to enhance global food safety and
agriculture trade. This donation will help advance STDF projects and programmes
to improve access to global and regional markets for developing economies and
least-developed countries (LDCs).
Thanking Ireland
for its generosity, WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said:
"Small-scale farmers and producers in developing and least-developed
countries often face significant hurdles in accessing global food markets,
particularly in meeting sanitary and phytosanitary standards. Through the work
of the STDF, made possible by contributions like Ireland's, these challenges
are being overcome, helping people in developing countries raise their incomes
through trade while enhancing global food safety and security."
Ireland’s Minister
of State with responsibility for International Development and Diaspora, Sean
Fleming, TD, said: "This donation underscores Ireland's long-standing
commitment to the Standards and Trade Development Facility's mission, bringing
its total contributions to over €2.9 million (CHF 2.8 million) since 2007.
Ireland is proud to support the important work of STDF in building safe,
sustainable and inclusive global trade."
The STDF
is a global multi-stakeholder partnership to facilitate safe and inclusive
trade established by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United
Nations (FAO), the World Health Organization (WHO), the World Bank Group, the
World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) and the WTO.
The STDF responds
to evolving needs, drives inclusive trade and contributes to sustainable
economic growth, food security and poverty reduction, in support of the UN
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Developing
economies and LDCs are encouraged to apply to the STDF for sanitary and
phytosanitary (SPS) project and project preparation grants. Information on how
to apply is available here.
To date, the STDF
has funded over 250 projects benefiting LDCs and other developing economies.
END