Guterres urges states to engage with UN task force on maritime trade as disruptions squeeze global food supply
NEW YORK: UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday urged member states and all parties concerned to engage “seriously and constructively” with a UN-led mechanism aimed at easing disruptions to the movement of essential goods through the Strait of Hormuz, warning that maritime crises across key global shipping routes are deepening pressure on the world’s most vulnerable people.
Guterres said the practical, time-bound confidence-building mechanism, developed by a UN task force he established in March, could be put into operation quickly and would initially focus on fertilizers and related raw materials, with the possibility of expanding to other products.
“The purpose is simple: to reduce immediate risks, support more orderly and predictable transit, and help rebuild the confidence necessary for diplomacy and de-escalation,” he told reporters at UN headquarters in New York.
The UN chief urged the parties concerned to cooperate with the initiative, while stressing that it would not authorize passage through the Strait of Hormuz or alter the rights or obligations of any member state under international law.
