Farm row haunts Osaka meet<\/p>\n
By Keiji Urakami<\/p>\n
TOKYO (Kyodo): Japan's leadership as the chair of this year's
\nAsia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum has already been
\nquestioned by other APEC members as the chances of settling the
\ncontroversial farm issue in APEC talks dwindle almost to zero.<\/p>\n
If the issue does go unsettled, Japan's standing in the global
\ncommunity will be significantly tainted -- and more importantly,
\nthe grandiose scheme envisioned by APEC's 18 leaders in Bogor,
\nIndonesia, last November, will be dead in the water.<\/p>\n
Japanese APEC officials repeatedly say they will continue to
\nlook at every possible way to break through the impasse -- until
\nthe very end of the informal APEC summit in Osaka on Nov. 19.<\/p>\n
Despite their resolve, comments and opinions aired both by
\nconference sources and even APEC delegates after the recently
\ncompleted high-level APEC session in Tokyo, the last chance
\nbefore the Osaka APEC, suggest things are going for the worse.<\/p>\n
Kobsak Chutikul, the Thai chief APEC delegate, said feuding
\nover agriculture has become so deep that the issue has gotten out
\nof the bureaucrats' hands. \"There has to be a political decision
\nby APEC leaders.\"<\/p>\n
At stake is whether or not to grant special treatment to
\nagriculture by excusing it from APEC's principle of
\n\"comprehensiveness\" which calls for uniform application of APEC
\nfree trade rules to all industrial sectors.<\/p>\n
Japan and three other members -- China, South Korea and Taiwan
\n-- have demanded that the principle not be applied to sensitive
\nsectors like agriculture.<\/p>\n
But the farm goods-exporting camp, spearheaded by the United
\nStates and Australia, have reacted strongly against the proposal,
\nsaying no exception should be allowed.<\/p>\n
That structure of division surfaced at the previous APEC high-
\nlevel meetings in Hong Kong and Singapore and was carried over
\ninto the Tokyo meeting that began last Monday.<\/p>\n
But the Tokyo meeting, as expected, failed to produce fruitful
\nresults.<\/p>\n
Hirotomo Seki, co-chairman of the high-level Japan APEC round
\nand chief of the Japanese team, acknowledged after the session
\nthat \"No accords were struck over some general principles,
\nincluding comprehensiveness.\"<\/p>\n
But he downplayed the seriousness of the failure, reminding
\nreporters of a broad agreement reached at the same Tokyo meeting
\non the less contentious economic cooperation among APEC members.<\/p>\n
As for the farm issue, Seki said, \"I hope the problem will be
\nresolved before the Osaka APEC,\" adding, \"We have one full month
\nahead of the Osaka summit.\"<\/p>\n
Japan, as the host of this year's APEC round, is under
\npressure from both camps to take a stronger lead to get things
\nrolling.<\/p>\n
Ban Ki Moon, the head of the South Korean delegation, said,
\n\"You (Japan) can't always just take an objective and neutral
\nposition.\"<\/p>\n
But Japan is also up against strong criticism from the other
\ncamp. The Thai delegation's Kobsak said, \"We should not exclude
\nany one sector from the very beginning.\"<\/p>\n
\"If one starts to say we can't do it, every country will start
\nto say we can't do it,\" said Kobsak.<\/p>\n
Australian Trade Minister Bob McMullan said, \"I don't think
\nthe majority (of APEC members) would accept a proposal suggesting
\nthat agriculture should be absolutely excluded.\"<\/p>\n
Thailand's Kobsak says he cannot understand why Japan takes
\nthe APEC farm issue so seriously. \"We can't understand why this
\nis such a big concern.\"<\/p>\n
Even under the comprehensiveness principle, \"flexibility\" is
\nalready ensured in actual implementation, he said, citing what he
\nviews as two-stage safeguards.<\/p>\n
Deadlines for APEC's trade and investment liberalization are
\nset in two phases -- 2010 for industrial economies like Japan and
\n2020 for developing economies, he said.<\/p>\n
Kobsak also said consensus has yet to be formed over the
\ndefinition of \"free and open trade and investment,\" the phrase
\nused by the APEC leaders in the Bogor Declaration.<\/p>\n
\"Most of the APEC members are asking 'What's the problem?',\"
\nhe added.<\/p>\n
Even Japanese bureaucrats sense there might be no problems
\nwith farmers if Japan dropped its demand on the farm issue.<\/p>\n
No APEC member believes the comprehensiveness principle would
\nimmediately bind agricultural activity in APEC states, said one
\nJapanese APEC official who declined to be named.<\/p>\n
Nevertheless, the Japanese government feels itself to be in a
\npolitical bind, trapped between its powerful farm lobby, led by
\nthe Liberal Democratic Party -- one of the three ruling
\ncoalition parties, and the APEC exporting majority.<\/p>\n
It fears that any further move to liberalize the farm sector
\ncould trigger anew the wrath of farmers already angered by
\npartial rice market opening under the Uruguay Round accords.<\/p>\n
Japanese lawmakers representing agricultural constituencies
\nrecently visited Washington and urged the U.S. to accept Japan's
\ndemand that agriculture be given special treatment within APEC.<\/p>\n
But U.S. Trade Representative Mickey Kantor flatly rejected
\nthe request put forward by Kabun Muto, former foreign minister
\nand head of the delegation, saying the principle of
\ncomprehensiveness should be upheld for all sectors.<\/p>",
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