Supply Chain Ministerial Forum | 24 Aug 2022

Why in News?

Recently, US State Department released a Joint Statement of the 2022 Supply Chain Ministerial Forum, focusing on the global challenge which includes - the COVID-19 pandemic, wars and conflicts and climate change.

What do we need to know about the Forum?

• About:
  • On July 2022, United States hosted the Supply Chain Ministerial Forum to advance work to reduce and end near-term supply chain disruptions and collaborate to build supply chain resiliency to avoid future disruptions.
• Objective:
  • Resilient Supply Chain:
    • Building collective long-term resilient supply chains based on international partnerships.
      • Partner countries aim to follow various global supply chain principles including transparency, diversification, security and sustainability.
  • Transparency:
    • Promote transparency in consultation with the private sector, civil society, different levels of government, and other relevant stakeholders, consistent with participants' domestic laws and international obligations, in order to strengthen the resilience of supply chains.
  • Diversification & Global Capacity:
    • Promote diversification and increase global capacities for multiple, reliable, and sustainable sources of materials and inputs, intermediate goods, and finished goods in priority sectors, along with logistics infrastructure capacities, increasing the resilience of supply chains to make our economies less vulnerable to disruptions and shocks.
  • Sustainability:
    • Encourage global sustainability and responsible business conduct across supply chains, as well as objectives set out in relevant multilateral environmental agreements to which we are parties, including the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Paris Agreement.
• Partner Economies:
  • Australia, Brazil, Canada, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the European Union, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, the Netherlands, the Republic of Korea, Singapore, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

What is India’s related Supply Resilience Initiative?

• SCRI:
  • Supply Chain Resilience Initiative between India, Japan and Australia, launched in 2021.
    • It aims to create a virtuous cycle of enhancing supply chain resilience with a view to eventually attaining strong, sustainable, balanced and inclusive growth in the Indo-Pacific region.

Source: ET