ASEAN accord on disasters

Indonesia: The ASEAN member countries already have a regulation system to define catastrophe risks and regional cooperation to face up to those natural phenomena, sources of the bloc said on Monday.

The Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) agreement on disaster situations came into force after ratification during the weekend by the 10 member countries of the group.

According to the sources, the ASEAN secretariat, the AADMER agreement consists of a group of guidelines that define the risks, vigilance regime, alert, prevention and minimization of the impact of natural disasters, and the region's response to those dangers.

It also covers speeding up customs and migration proceedings, establishing a coordination center for humanitarian assistance and others aspects. The implementation of the agreement materializes the ASEAN efforts to build a community that is able to face up to natural disasters in 2015.

Comneting on the agreement, the entity's General Secretary Surin Pitswan said the AADMER is one of the quickly negotiated regional agreements in the ASEAN's history, a negotiating process that just took four months, he said. Jakarta, Prensa Latina