APEC faces WTO jam, bird flu fears and security<\/p>\n
Martin Abbugao, Agence France-Presse\/Busan, South Korea<\/p>\n
Asian and Pacific nations worked Saturday to ease the deadlock in
\ntroubled global trade talks and agreed joint measures to help
\nprevent a possible bird flu pandemic.<\/p>\n
The 21 members of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC)
\nforum began talks in the South Korean city of Busan amid gloomy
\npredictions about the Dec. 13-18 World Trade Organization
\ntalks in Hong Kong.<\/p>\n
A U.S. official said the fate of the 2001 Doha round of WTO
\ntalks, which has foundered mainly over trade-distorting
\nagricultural subsidies in rich countries, would dominate
\ndiscussions over the coming week.<\/p>\n
\"The biggest issue right now is what to do about the WTO. The
\nWTO is the highest priority facing APEC,\" said the official,
\nasking to remain anonymous.<\/p>\n
A Southeast Asian official said it was vital the Hong Kong
\ntalks were not seen as a failure and that officials were working
\non a \"short and punchy\" statement urging all sides to make
\nconcessions.<\/p>\n
\"Failure means there is absolutely no agreement, and we don't
\nwant the Hong Kong meeting to be a failure,\" said the official,
\nasking to remain anonymous.<\/p>\n
\"APEC will urge everyone, especially the major players, to
\ngive and take.\"<\/p>\n
Powerful developing countries such as Brazil and India argue
\nthat farm subsidies in rich nations -- the United States and the
\nEuropean Union in particular -- depress global farm prices and
\nprevent growers in poor nations from competing.<\/p>\n
But the divisions also cut across rich nations, with the EU
\nunder fire from the United States and Australia, and Japan,
\nNorway and Switzerland saying they are wary of the impact of
\ntariff cuts on their farm sectors.<\/p>\n
APEC officials also discussed bird flu.<\/p>\n
The H5N1 strain of avian influenza has killed more than 60
\npeople since 2003 and led to the destruction of millions of
\nbirds. Experts fear it could mutate into a strain more easily
\npassed between humans and cause a global pandemic.<\/p>\n
Another official said discussions focused on how APEC
\ncountries would respond to a pandemic and plans for an APEC-wide
\nmock exercise simulating a human-to-human outbreak.<\/p>\n
He said they agreed to more cooperation, and that more
\ndeveloped APEC members offered expertise and assistance to less
\ndeveloped members.<\/p>\n
The officials also discussed stockpiling of Tamiflu and the
\nrelaxing of intellectual property regulations on the antiviral
\ndrug, considered the best treatment for the virus in humans.<\/p>\n
Energy security, including cooperation on oil exploration and
\nthe search for alternative sources of energy, as well as efforts
\nto improve maritime security were also addressed.<\/p>\n
But a proposal by the United States aimed at reducing the
\nvulnerability of commercial aircraft to heat-seeking surface-to-
\nair missiles was vetoed by China, an official said.<\/p>\n
As APEC officials began a session that will culminate in a
\nfull summit on November 18 and 19, activists vowed 100,000 people
\nwould take to the streets of Busan in protests against the free
\ntrade agenda.<\/p>\n
Over 37,000 police and security officials have been deployed
\naround the conference venue and at sensitive sites such as the
\nairport and train station to prevent terrorist attacks and
\ncontain protests.<\/p>\n
Some 80 protest leaders said they would organize rallies
\nthroughout the week and that the biggest protest would be on
\nNovember 18, on the opening day of the summit which will include
\nU.S. President George W. Bush.<\/p>\n
\"APEC is playing the vanguard role of spreading new liberalism
\nin trade which makes the rich richer and the poor poorer,\" said O
\nJong-Ryul, head of the People's Action against APEC.<\/p>\n
The APEC forum was launched in 1989 with the goal of
\nestablishing a free trade area among its members by 2020, but in
\nrecent years its agenda has been expanded to include the main
\npressing global issues.<\/p>\n
The forum groups Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, China, Hong
\nKong, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New
\nGuinea, Peru, the Philippines, Russia, Singapore, South Korea,
\nTaiwan, Thailand, the United States and Vietnam.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/apec-faces-wto-jam-bird-flu-fears-and-security-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}