Virtual Policy Dialogue on Trade and Food System Shocks

Shocks to the food system, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, can disrupt supply chains, exacerbate unemployment, and reverse progress fighting hunger and poverty. Climate scientists have also warned that shocks associated with more frequent and intense extreme weather events are among factors set to destabilize markets and undermine food security in years ahead.

This event explored how trade policy can help governments anticipate and respond to food system shocks while avoiding harm to producers and consumers in other countries. It also looked at the particular role of major importing and exporting nations in helping to safeguard the stability of global food markets.

With the UN set to convene a Food Systems Summit this September, three months before the WTO’s twelfth ministerial conference, this event represented a timely contribution to the discussions among governments and other actors on the role of trade policy in addressing food system shocks.

This event was by invitation only.