APEC vows to ratify GATT soon<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Members of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation
\n(APEC) forum yesterday asserted their commitment to speedily
\nratify the results of the Uruguay Round of the General Agreement
\non Tariffs and Trade (GATT) before its looming deadline.<\/p>\n
In a joint statement following an APEC trade ministers meeting
\nhere yesterday, the 17 members of the forum pledged to take
\n\"maximum efforts in each of their economies to ensure the early
\nratification of the World Trade Organization (WTO).\"<\/p>\n
At the end of the one-day meeting aimed at assessing the
\nresults and implications of the GATT on the region, the ministers
\nbelieved the region would benefit greatly from the strengthened
\nrules and increased market access resulting from it.<\/p>\n
Earlier yesterday President Soeharto in his opening speech
\nalso called on APEC members to remove any impediments that would
\ndelay the agreement's implementation.<\/p>\n
\"I would like to appeal to other APEC members to follow our
\nlead by seeing to it that the World Trade Organization will be
\nratified as soon as possible,\" Soeharto said.<\/p>\n
APEC groups Canada, the United States, Mexico, Japan, China,
\nSouth Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore,
\nthe Philippines, Brunei, Papua New Guinea, Australia, New Zealand
\nand Indonesia which currently chairs the forum.<\/p>\n
Of those 17 members, Australia, Brunei, Canada, China, Korea,
\nNew Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and
\nIndonesia were represented by their ministers at yesterday's
\nmeeting and the others by lower ranking officials.<\/p>\n
Minister in Charge of Trade Alvaro Garcia of Chile, which will
\nassume APEC membership in November, took part in yesterday's
\nmeeting as well.<\/p>\n
Apart from ratification, Soeharto stressed the need for APEC
\nmembers to seriously carry out their obligations and monitor the
\nimplementation of the GATT.<\/p>\n
The Uruguay Round of the GATT concluded in April with
\ncountries agreeing to a new liberalized international trade
\nstructure under the WTO to be implemented on Jan. 1, 1995.<\/p>\n
Deputy U.S. Trade Representative Charlene Barshefsky yesterday
\nexpressed optimism that her country would ratify the agreement
\nbefore the end of the year.<\/p>\n
\"The margin of approval of both Houses of our legislature will
\nbe overwhelming,\" Barshefsky said forecasting the result of the
\nU.S. Congressional and Senate vote due to take place next month.<\/p>\n
Separately, the deputy to the Japanese minister of
\ninternational trade and industry, Kazuo Majima, also revealed
\nthat his country would ratify the agreement before the deadline.<\/p>\n
Korean Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Chulsu Kim said
\nhis government had submitted the GATT agreement to the national
\nassembly and was now awaiting the outcome of the assembly's
\nwinter session.<\/p>\n
\"I have every expectation that the bills will be ratified
\nbefore the end of the year,\" Kim said.<\/p>\n
Indonesia's House of Representatives (DPR) is expected to
\nratify the WTO next Tuesday.<\/p>\n
Impediments<\/p>\n
To better facilitate trade, the ministers yesterday agreed
\nthat the forum would undertake efforts to identify key trade
\nimpediments in the region.<\/p>\n
They agreed that in doing so, impediments would be identified
\nby the sectors and types of barriers.<\/p>\n
Philippine Under Secretary Cesar Bautista said that based on
\nthe reports submitted by the forum's Committee on Trade and
\nInvestment (CTI), 12 issues have been identified as the main
\nimpediments to freer trade in the region.<\/p>\n
However, Bautista noted that a number of issues such as
\nsanitary measures, anti-dumping and customs procedures \"demand
\nserious attention.\"<\/p>\n
A full report of the matter will be presented to the APEC
\nMinisterial Meeting in Jakarta on Nov. 11-12.<\/p>\n
The ministers stated that to help overcome these barriers and
\nfacilitate a more systematic and sequential approach to trade
\nliberalization, APEC members should improve their exchange of
\ninformation.<\/p>\n
Thus the meeting yesterday gave resounding support for a pilot
\nproject of an APEC Tariff Database in 1995. Should the project
\nprove successful, the ministers urged that it be implemented in
\nfull.<\/p>\n
When asked about their views on the forum's Eminent Persons
\nGroup (EPG) report calling for free trade by the year 2020,
\nIndonesia's Minister of Trade Satrio Budiardjo Joedono, who
\nchaired the meeting, said the issue had not been discussed
\nthoroughly.<\/p>\n
\"We did not discuss timetables...We leave that to our
\nleaders,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Joedono's brief answer was understandable considering that
\nduring the opening ceremony, President Soeharto warned that such
\nissues would be tackled in the APEC Economic Leaders Meeting on
\nNov. 15 in Bogor.<\/p>\n
\"Whether we can move ahead further in the trade and investment
\nliberalization among ourselves will be determined at the APEC
\nEconomic Leaders Meeting,\" Soeharto said.(mds)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/apec-vows-to-ratify-gatt-soon-1447893297",
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