Its chair, Edmond Bon, said all development must consider the needs of smallholders, indigenous communities, and persons with disabilities.

Genuine development is inseparable from human rights, he said.

“We have to make sure that future agreements — whether on trade, data or the environment — don’t recreate extractive patterns that benefit the powerful at the expense of the vulnerable.”

Bon was speaking to FMT after delivering his opening speech at the 6th Asean-European Union (EU) policy dialogue on human rights in Kuala Lumpur on Oct 15.

He said Asean must ensure that its policies are not dictated by external powers to such an extent that it undermines affordability and access to basic needs.

“Trade agreements cannot cause our people to pay more for essentials or imports like medicines.”

Bon said the right to development, as enshrined in the Asean Human Rights Declaration, must be viewed as both an individual and collective right.

Governments, he said, are bound by international human rights law to realise economic, social, and cultural rights “to the maximum of their available resources”, and to fulfil them progressively.

Bon explained that a community’s right to food, health and education is assessed through a framework of availability, accessibility, adequacy, affordability and quality.

“Water is not ‘available’ if people have to walk 10 miles to get it,” he said, stressing that access must be both practical and equitable.

Free-trade and investment deals often tilt against poorer populations, said Bon.

This, he said, causes the thresholds for food safety, labour and health protection to be lowered, while monopolies over essential goods such as medicine become entrenched.

Bon said certain EU impositions can have a significant impact on small businesses.

“Environmental measures such as carbon border adjustments burden small businesses, subsidise and channel revenue back to the EU,” he said.

Bon pointed out that although Asean and the EU share a commitment to human rights, their systems differ.

The EU relies on “hard law”, which is legally binding and supranational, he explained. In contrast, Asean employs “adaptive protection”, a more flexible process involving consensus and dialogue.

“Asean is not like the EU. We don’t have a human rights court, but we build protection through transparency, monitoring, robust consultation and cooperation among member states.”

Bon called for Asean’s approach to remain “Asean-led and Asean-owned” but open to evolving norms and civil-society participation.

“These norms are not necessarily fixed, and contesting them keeps them relevant,” he said.