AFTA Council fails to resolve rice liberalization problems<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Trade ministers from the seven members of the
\nAssociation of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) failed yesterday
\nto find common ground on the timetable for the liberalization of
\nsensitive farm products.<\/p>\n
The ministers, who met here for the 10th ASEAN Free Trade Area
\n(AFTA) Council meeting, decided instead to assign the ASEAN
\nSecretariat to find an acceptable compromise on the thorny issue.<\/p>\n
\"We have agreed to assign the task to the ASEAN Secretariat
\nof formulating the modalities,\" Indonesian Minister of Industry
\nand Trade Tunky Ariwibowo told journalists after the Afta Council
\nmeeting.<\/p>\n
He explained that the council would decide on how and when the
\nsensitive farm products should be liberalized, based on the
\nmodalities to be formulated by the ASEAN Secretariat.<\/p>\n
The AFTA Council is the body charged with overseeing the
\ncreation of free trade among ASEAN members -- Brunei, Indonesia,
\nMalaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam -- by
\n2003.<\/p>\n
Officials said that yesterday's meeting ended with no
\nagreement on the subject of liberalizing the sensitive farm
\nproducts because Indonesia and the Philippines continued to hold
\nout on the issue.<\/p>\n
Indonesia, supported by the Philippines, has demanded that
\nASEAN push back by 10 years a 2010 deadline for integrating rice
\nand sugar into the ASEAN free-trade agenda.<\/p>\n
Philippine Trade and Industry Secretary Cesar B. Bautista said
\nManila's concern was only trade in rice, which he called a
\n\"highly sensitive\" product that should not be treated like any
\nother agricultural commodity.<\/p>\n
The most insistent on opening up the rice trade is Thailand,
\nthe world's largest rice producer and exporter. Thai Deputy
\nMinister of Commerce Amnuay Yossuck, however, said that he was
\nsatisfied with the results of yesterday's meeting.<\/p>\n
The inclusion of farm products in the tariff reduction scheme
\nhas posed a major challenge for ASEAN, since a majority in the
\ngroup are farm producers and their respective governments are
\nfaced with internal political pressures to provide sustained
\nprotection to farmers.<\/p>\n
Barring trade-driven Singapore and oil-rich Brunei, all ASEAN
\ncountries are rice producers, and rice is a major staple of the
\ndiets for most people in ASEAN.<\/p>\n
ASEAN Secretary-General Ajit Singh said the deadlock on rice
\nwould not hurt the spirit of regional free trade because
\ncommodities such as rice and sugar accounted for less than 1
\npercent of total trade between ASEAN members.<\/p>\n
According figures released by the AFTA Council yesterday,
\nintra-ASEAN exports of all goods grew by 19.7 percent to US$468.8
\nbillion last year from $57.4 billion in 1994.<\/p>\n
Satisfaction<\/p>\n
Singapore Trade and Industry Minister Yeo Cheow Tong said his
\ncountry was satisfied with the progress towards AFTA, which would
\nlower tariffs to a level of zero to 5 percent by the year 2003.<\/p>\n
He noted that 88 percent of all products traded between ASEAN
\nmembers would have tariffs lowered to zero to 5 percent by 2000,
\nthree years ahead of schedule.<\/p>\n
Supporting Yeo's view, Malaysian Minister of International
\nTrade and Industry Rafidah Aziz said that AFTA would be able to
\nmeet its target date for tariff cuts by 2003, and even by 2000,
\ngiven the motivation by individual countries to go for
\nliberalization unilaterally.<\/p>\n
\"All the basic things that we had to do to realize AFTA have
\nbeen done. And from now on, it needs only fine tuning on
\ndifferent things,\" she said.<\/p>\n
The AFTA Council mandated yesterday that all customs
\nsurcharges of products to be liberalized be eliminated by the end
\nof this year and non-tariff barriers be eliminated within five
\nyears from the phase-in date.<\/p>\n
The council agreed to adopt standards for 10 new animal
\nvaccines and a standard for good manufacturing practices for
\nanimal vaccines. The council also agreed to expand the list of
\nproducts for the harmonization of sanitary and phytosanitary
\nstandards.<\/p>\n
The council mandated that more products in the manufacturing
\nsector be prioritized for the harmonization of product standards
\nto enhance intra-ASEAN trade.<\/p>\n
\"Through this way, technical standards will not be used as
\ninstruments for non-tariff barriers,\" Tunky said.<\/p>\n
The council also agreed that textiles and textile products
\ncould be subjected to an alternative rule of origin in order to
\nqualify for free-trade concessions. (rid)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/afta-council-fails-to-resolve-rice-liberalization-problems-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}