Spanish agriculture minister signs Latin American food research agreement

Brussels, 07 March 2002

An agreement supporting research into new technologies for food distribution has been signed by the Spanish Minister for agriculture, fisheries and food and current president of the Council of EU Agriculture Ministers, Miguel Arias, together with his Latin American counterparts from Argentina, Chile, Cuba, Mexico, the Dominican Republic and Venezuela.

The ministers signed the second Declaration of Barcelona on cooperation between Europe and Latin America on agri-food matters in a ceremony organised during the ALIMENTARIA international food and beverages exhibition, taking place from 4 to 8 March in Barcelona, Spain.

The second declaration, which follows on from the 1992 Declaration of Barcelona on the Food Rights of Man, pledges support for research into new technologies to increase the availability of foodstuffs, and dissemination of the resulting knowledge and innovations in order to avoid inequality between countries.

The second Declaration of Barcelona also recognises the need to further cooperation between governments, companies and the fields of science and technology, placing special emphasis on building closer links in these areas between the European Union, particularly Spain, and Latin America. The new document proposes promoting commercial, scientific, technological and business ties through forums and projects which will further dialogue between the two regions.

In addition, extra support is given to the Latin America project, an initiative designed to consolidate and maintain the ties between the food industries of Europe and Latin America. The project involves meetings between companies to look at food distribution, food industry negotiation rounds and the organisation of a science summit to strengthen ties between the scientific and institutional communities of Europe and Latin America.

CORDIS RTD-NEWS/© European Communities, 2001