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ASEAN Bloc Fights Impulse to Hoard Medical Goods

VOA News

   More than half the nations of Southeast Asia started this week by
   taking a donation of protective personal equipment (PPE), such as
   medical suits and masks, from their neighbor Vietnam to help them in
   the fight against COVID-19. It is the latest sign the region is
   resisting the impulse to choke off any shipment of medical supplies out
   of their borders, an impulse seen globally as supply shortages put
   health workers' lives at risk.
   With the handover Monday in Hanoi, which also included virus test kits,
   Vietnam has now donated to all its peers in the 10-member Association
   of Southeast Asian Nations, of which it also is the rotating chair for
   2020. The ASEAN bloc said it would cooperate to prevent blockages, such
   as the ban on medical exports that some members had started to enforce
   as the pandemic emerged.
   Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said COVID-19 is a "common
   enemy" that the region needs to fight together.
   "ASEAN should collaborate to keep trading routes and supply lines open,
   especially for essential goods, such as food and medical supplies," he
   told his counterparts in video call last month.
   Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin echoed his sentiments to
   protect "critical infrastructure for trade."
   "We must also guard against imposition of unnecessary restriction on
   the flow of medical [supplies], food and essential supplies," he said.
   Supplies 'save lives'
   Malaysia is this year's chair of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation
   bloc, whose officials have expressed alarm at the risk of shortages.
   From the Philippines to Indonesia, nurses have worried they do not have
   enough gloves and masks to help protect them from contracting the
   coronavirus.
   "Ensuring that trade policy is in place, providing access to the
   much-needed medical goods will save lives," Dr. Rebecca Fatima Sta
   Maria, APEC Secretariat executive director and a former Malaysian trade
   official, said.
   She noted in an earlier statement that supply chains "may still have
   vulnerabilities, bottlenecks and integrity issues. Many around the
   world have not been spared shortages of medical equipment, medicines
   and basic protective equipment."
   Mutual accusations

   Around the world, nations have tried to keep gear for themselves to
   fight the pandemic. European governments accused each other and the
   United States of confiscating protective equipment en route. Colombia,
   India and Russia are among dozens of nations that suspended exports of
   some medical supplies.
   In Southeast Asia, there have been similar export bans from Indonesia,
   Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam, such as of hand sanitizer and masks.
   Most have since rolled back the bans.
   Observers say states should avoid tariffs and export quotas because
   they can create a vicious cycle of retaliation from other states, as
   well as create backups in the supply chain that keep medical gear from
   going where it is most needed. The pandemic has also caused some
   governments to issue bans on certain food exports as consumers stay
   home and hoard staples.
   The ASEAN bloc has been able to roll back some of the restrictions, in
   part because it has started to emerge from the crisis. For instance,
   ASEAN chair Vietnam has had no local transmissions of the virus for
   more than a month and no surge of infections to overwhelm its health
   care system. It scrapped its restrictions on the export of surgical
   masks April 29, leading to an export boom for the 20 domestic firms
   that make them.
   "Vietnamese textile and garment firms have been receiving constant
   orders," the government said in a post on its website this month.