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Director-General QU Dongyu

Bilateral meeting with the Under Secretary for Trade and Foreign Agricultural Affairs of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) - Alexis Taylor

03/07/2023

Rome – FAO Director-General QU Dongyu and Alexis Taylor, Under Secretary for Trade and Foreign Agricultural Affairs of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), met and discussed the longstanding partnership between FAO and the United States of America, on the margins of the 43rd Session of the FAO Conference.

The Director-General expressed his appreciation for the USA’s ongoing support to FAO’s mandate, and looked forward to continued, constructive engagement moving forward.

For her part, the Under Secretary congratulated the Director-General on being elected to a second term and looked forward to continue working together in the coming four years.  She also stressed that a strong FAO is critically important moving forward in view of multiple challenges that have been exacerbating global food insecurity, such as COVID-19, conflicts and the climate crisis.

The Director-General and the Under Secretary proceeded to share views on the importance of science, technology, innovation, and private sector engagement in catalyzing agrifood systems transformation.  They also highlighted that increased investment in research and development can play a key role in enabling farmers to produce more with less while adapting to climate change, and briefly touched upon the critical role of the Codex Alimentarius and the International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC) as standard-setting bodies.

The Director-General expressed his hope that USDA would participate in two upcoming FAO conferences: the FAO Global Conference on Sustainable Livestock Transformation and the FAO Global Conference on Sustainable Agricultural Mechanization, which will both take place in late September 2023.

Finally, he invited USDA to play an active role in the World Food Forum (WFF), in particular the Science and Innovation Forum, which will take place at FAO headquarters in Rome from 16 to 20 October 2023.