Thailand calls for sugar tariff cut<\/p>\n
Dow Jones, Bangkok<\/p>\n
Thailand's Commerce Minister Adisai Bodharamik has sent a
\nletter to the trade ministers of Indonesia and the Philippines,
\nasking them to consider setting a lower import tariff on sugar
\nfrom the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, compared with
\nsugar from non-ASEAN countries, according to a statement from the
\nDepartment of Business Economics Thursday.<\/p>\n
The department operates under the Commerce Ministry.<\/p>\n
Following the ASEAN Free Trade Agreement Council's decision
\nlast September allowing a delay in cutting sugar import tariffs
\nfor the Philippines and Indonesia, Thailand was concerned that it
\nwould lose some export opportunities to the two countries.
\nThailand is Asia's largest sugar exporter.<\/p>\n
A lower import tariff on sugar from ASEAN countries would
\nmaintain the competitiveness of Thai sugar exports to these two
\ncountries, Chutima Bunyapraphatara, the department's deputy
\ndirector-general, said earlier.<\/p>\n
Under the original plan, Indonesia and the Philippines were
\nsupposed to start reducing tariffs on imports of sugar by 2002,
\nbut this hasn't happened.<\/p>\n
According to the AFTA Council, the Philippines was allowed to
\nplace sugar on AFTA's sensitive list for imports, and Indonesia
\nwas permitted to include sugar on its highly sensitive list. As a
\nresult, the Philippines was allowed to freeze the sugar import
\ntariff rate at 50 percent for several more years before a phased
\nreduction beginning in 2004 to a maximum of 5 percent in 2010.
\nIndonesia, meanwhile, will start lowering the tariff in 2005, and
\nthe final tariff rate will be allowed to exceed 5 percent.<\/p>\n
During the two-day meeting of Asean senior economic officials
\nJan. 31 to Feb. 1 in Bangkok, Thai officials encouraged senior
\nofficials from Indonesia and the Philippines to set a lower sugar
\nimport tariff from ASEAN nations, the statement said.<\/p>\n
However, the setting of the import tariff is \"a sensitive
\nissue in terms of politic concern,\" and the Indonesian and
\nPhilippine officials \"have no mandate to make any decision,\" it
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Indonesia currently imposes a 20 percent-25 percent import
\ntariff on sugar for all nations, while the Philippines applies a
\nrate of 65 percent.<\/p>",
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