Fourth round of Thai-U.S. trade talks set for mid-July<\/p>\n
Associated Press, Bangkok<\/p>\n
A fourth round of Thai-U.S. free trade negotiations will focus
\non obstacles related to non-tariff barriers, plant and animal
\nsanitary measures and support for small and medium-sized
\nenterprises, the national news agency said on Saturday.<\/p>\n
More than 80 Thai delegates will take part in the free trade
\nagreement talks in the U.S. state of Montana on July 11-15, the
\nThai News Agency reported.<\/p>\n
A draft agreement on science and technology co-operation is
\nalso on the agenda.<\/p>\n
The proposed deal has drawn some criticism in Thailand due to
\nconcerns that parts of it could be detrimental to national
\ninterests.<\/p>\n
But Washington says the deal would boost Thailand's economic
\ngrowth and create tens of thousands of new jobs.<\/p>\n
Sanitary measures to be discussed would affect Thai exports of
\nagricultural products, including chicken and fruit, the agency
\nquoted delegation leader Nitya Pibulsongkram as saying.<\/p>\n
Non-tariff barriers issues include setting industry standards
\nfor goods that Thailand wants to export to the United States,
\nespecially consumer electronic and information technology
\nproducts.<\/p>\n
Thailand would also like to include a U.S. commitment to
\nsupport the entry of its small- and medium-sized enterprises into
\nthe American market.<\/p>\n
During the last round of talks in Thailand in April,
\ndemonstrators protested U.S. demands for Thailand to tighten its
\nintellectual property rights laws.<\/p>\n
The protesters said the more restrictive laws sought by
\nWashington could prevent Thailand from producing affordable
\ncopies of U.S.-made anti-retroviral drugs for people suffering
\nfrom HIV\/AIDS.<\/p>\n
Such a move would make it prohibitively expensive to treat
\nmost of the hundreds of thousands of Thais infected with HIV, the
\nvirus that causes AIDS.<\/p>\n
Thailand-U.S. trade amounted to US$22 billion in 2004, up 14
\npercent from the previous year.<\/p>",
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