The Gulf Cooperation Council's (GCC) six Arab monarchies have approved Kuwait's proposal for a common network for food supply safety, the state-run Kuwait News Agency reported on Thursday.
The decision was taken after a virtual meeting of GCC trade and industry ministers to discuss the COVID-19 outbreak's impact on food supply safety.
The total number of coronavirus cases in the GCC states passed 15,000 on Monday, with all six of the Arabian Gulf countries still enforcing lockdowns of varying degrees almost a month after Bahrain recorded the first death from the new coronavirus in the region on March 16.
The virus, officially known as COVID-19, hit the Arabian Gulf earlier than Europe or the US, where most daily coronavirus deaths are now being recorded. Many of the first recorded cases either came directly from China, the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak, or from nearby Iran, the worst-affected country in the Middle East.