Singapore and six other countries affirm commitment to ensuring supply chain connectivity amid Covid-19 situation

27 March 2020

On 25 March 2020, the Ministry for Trade and Industry of Singapore (“MTI”), together with the corresponding Ministries in Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Chile, Myanmar and New Zealand, issued a joint ministerial statement affirming their countries’ commitment to ensuring supply chain connectivity amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

In the statement, it is noted that Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Chile, the Republic of the Union of Myanmar, New Zealand and Singapore (“Countries”) are committed to maintaining open and connected supply chains as part of their collective response to combat Covid-19. The Countries will also work closely to identify and address trade disruptions with ramifications on the flow of necessities.

The statement mentions that:

• the Countries recognise that it is in their mutual interest to ensure that trade lines remain open, including via air and sea freight, to facilitate the flow of goods including essential supplies; 
• the Countries affirm the importance of refraining from the imposition of export controls or tariffs and non-tariff barriers and of removing any existing trade restrictive measures on essential goods, especially medical supplies, at this time; and 
• the Countries are committed to working with all like-minded countries to ensure that trade continues to flow unimpeded, and that critical infrastructure such as air and seaports remain open to support the viability and integrity of supply chains globally.

Reference materials

The joint ministerial statement is available on the MTI website www.mti.gov.sg or by clicking here.

Further information

Allen & Gledhill has a Covid-19 Resource Centre on our website www.allenandgledhill.com that contains published knowhow on legal and regulatory aspects of the Covid-19 crisis. 

In addition, we have a cross-disciplinary Covid-19 Legal Task Force consisting of Partners across various practice areas to provide rapid assistance. Should you have any queries, please do not hesitate to get in touch with us at covid19taskforce@allenandgledhill.com.

Download PDF