APEC customs plan to cover nine areas<\/p>\n
OSAKA, Japan (AFP): APEC's five-year action plan for customs
\nprocedures to be adopted here next weekend will cover nine areas
\nand carry specific deadlines, a senior Japanese finance ministry
\nofficial said yesterday.<\/p>\n
Susumu Fujimoto, director of the international trade
\norganizations division of the ministry's customs and tariff
\nbureau, said the actions were aimed at harmonizing and
\naccelerating customs procedures between the group's 18 members as
\nwell as making them more transparent.<\/p>\n
The nine-point plan is to be adopted by leaders of the Asia-
\nPacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum at a summit here on
\nNov. 19 as part of a wider blueprint for promoting trade and
\ninvestment over the next 25 years.<\/p>\n
Fujimoto, who chairs the APEC sub-committee on customs
\nprocedures, said the \"common action plan\" would be accompanied by
\ntwo longer-term goals -- introducing risk management and
\nelectronic commerce systems for cargo clearance and considering
\nthe use of common data for customs processing.<\/p>\n
Under the nine-point plan, APEC members agree to adopt or
\nabide by the principles of two World Customs Organization
\nconventions known as the harmonized customs convention and the
\nKyoto convention.<\/p>\n
Speaking at an APEC customs symposium, Fujimoto said members
\nalso agreed to adopt the principles of two World Trade
\nOrganization (WTO) agreements on valuation and trade-related
\naspects of intellectual property rights.<\/p>\n
In addition, APEC members will adopt and support a United
\nNations computer-language standard for electronic commerce known
\nas Edifact.<\/p>\n
The remaining four areas of the action plan are aimed at
\nmaking customs procedures more transparent and speeding them up.<\/p>\n
In the area of transparency, APEC members will have to
\npublicize the often opaque and sometimes random administrative
\nguidelines, procedures and rulings which supplement customs laws
\nand regulations. Members will also have to introduce clear
\nprovisions for appeals, Fujimoto said.<\/p>\n
With the aim of accelerating customs procedures, members will
\nhave to introduce advance tariff classification ruling systems
\nand provide facilities for temporary imports -- in the case of
\nexhibitions, for example.<\/p>\n
APEC ministers are to hold their seventh annual meeting here
\nnext Thursday and Friday ahead of the weekend summit between the
\ngroup's leaders.<\/p>\n
Rice<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, the Philippines said yesterday it would insist that
\na special exemption granted for rice imports under the Uruguay
\nRound of trade talks be maintained within APEC's planned free
\ntrade regime.<\/p>\n
Trade Secretary Rizalino Navarro said in Manila that
\nconcessions granted under the Uruguay Round of the General
\nAgreement for Tariffs and Trade (GATT), allowed Manila to put off
\nliberalizing its rice imports until 2004.<\/p>\n
He noted that this was far ahead of the 2020 deadline that had
\nbeen set for proposed free trade within the Asia-Pacific Economic
\nCooperation forum but he would not say if Manila would agree to
\nliberalize rice imports by 2020.<\/p>\n
\"It is a sensitive sector. (APEC) should recognize our
\ncondition for rice, \" since it was already recognized under GATT,
\nhe said.<\/p>\n
The trade secretary not say what specific conditions Manila
\nwould seek for rice, adding that \"it is not something we will
\noutright say will be exempted or excluded.\"<\/p>\n
Navarro also would not say if the Philippines was aligning
\nwith China, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan in seeking special
\ntreatment for agricultural imports under the APEC plan for a free
\ntrade area.<\/p>\n
Fourteen other APEC members oppose giving exemptions to
\nagriculture. They are led by Australia, the United States, New
\nZealand and Thailand.<\/p>\n
The forum groups Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, China, Hong
\nKong, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, New
\nZealand, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan,
\nThailand and the United States.<\/p>",
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