WTO issues dominate Bangkok's ASEM agenda<\/p>\n
By Jeerawat Na Thalang<\/p>\n
BANGKOK: There are no permanent friends -- or foes -- in
\npolitics. That axiom aptly described the relationship between
\nAsians and Europeans during the Uruguay Round of multilateral
\ntrade talks.<\/p>\n
European Union members and Asians were good partners during
\nthe negotiations on financial services, joining forces and
\nisolating the U.S. from the interim agreement of the World Trade
\nOrganization (WTO). But when it came to farm subsidy cuts, some
\nAsian nations sided with the Americans to undermine the EU's
\ndetermination to protect home-grown commodities.<\/p>\n
At the first-ever Asia Europe Meeting, European and Asia
\nleader will again find the WTO agenda on the negotiating table.
\nGATT (General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade) members concluded
\nmost of the deals in 1993, but there is still some unfinished
\nbusiness to be dealt wit. They have yet to agree on three
\nsectors, all of which are limited by a short time-frame.<\/p>\n
Firstly, the members will have to conclude the agreement on
\nthe telecommunications sector this April. Then, they are
\nscheduled to review talks on maritime transport in June. GATT
\nmembers will also have to find a solution for the financial
\nservices deadlock, because the interim agreement on the financial
\nsector will expire by the end of next year.<\/p>\n
Daniel Descoutures, charge d'affaires for the European
\nCommission in Bangkok, said, "That's why the ASEM needs to set
\npriorities on the multilateral forum. The summit will have to act
\ntogether to lead in the preparations for the first ministerial
\nmeeting of the World Trade Organization (WTO)."<\/p>\n
The first WTO ministerial meeting, to be held in Singapore in
\nDecember, will see how fat its members have gone to comply with
\nthe trade liberalization requirements of GATT. The WTO meeting
\nwill also deal with some outstanding matters and discuss the
\nfuture agenda of the WTO.<\/p>\n
The EU hopes the Asia-Europe Meeting, scheduled to be held
\nfrom March 1-2, will put the Union an equal footing in the
\nworld's most dynamic market with the United States, which has
\ntried to exert its economic dominance through the Asia Pacific
\nEconomic Cooperation (APEC). The Europeans and Asians believe the
\nfirst leadership meeting will create the necessary political
\nmomentum to bind the two regions with follow-up action later on.<\/p>\n
The U.S. and East Asian countries already have a link via
\nAPEC. The EU and North America are connected by trans-Atlantic
\ninstitutions. The EU also had signed a land-mark framework accord
\nto foster free trade with South America's four-country Common
\nMarket of the South (Mercosur).<\/p>\n
Despite the lack of a formal link between the EU and Asia,
\nEuropean and Asia countries become well acquainted with each
\nduring the GATT trade talks.<\/p>\n
ASEAN countries stood in an opposite corner to the European
\nUnion on the farm issue. ASEAN and the Americans were opposed to
\nEU actions to weaken the farm subsidy reduction requirement of
\nthe GATT.<\/p>\n
After the round was concluded in 1993, the EU and ASEAN
\ncountries, however, turned out to be cooperative partners on
\nissues relating to the financial services deal.<\/p>\n
In July last year, there was a major risk that financial
\nservices might not be a part of the GATT deal. The Americans
\nrefused to participate in the deal, saying that the offers from
\nsome countries did not go far enough for them to accept the
\nmultilateral agreement on the most-favored-nation clause.<\/p>\n
"It was the ASEAN countries which first came to see Sir Leon
\nBrittan, vice-president of the European Commission, and asked the
\nEU not to remove the deal. The ASEAN initiative enabled the EU to
\nconvince Japan not to withdraw the deal from the MFN clause. It
\nis the major achievement of the GATT," said Descoutures.<\/p>\n
But as the agreement is about to expire, the EU is likely to
\nurge Asians to improve their liberalization offers to convince
\nthe U.S. to sign the new agreement in 1997.<\/p>\n
Thailand, meanwhile, is prepared to raise the issue relating
\nto the use of anti-dumping laws and countervailing duties with
\nthe EU.<\/p>\n
The new WTO agreement provides for tougher and quicker action
\nto resolve disputes over the use of anti-dumping laws, invoked by
\nthe U.S. and Europe to impose penalties on foreign producers who
\nare alleged to sell goods abroad at low cost.<\/p>\n
Some Asian exporters, however, have complained that the lack
\nof a transparent investigation procedure into the alleged anti-
\ndumping cases by EU officials has hurt their business.<\/p>\n
European Commission and Asian leader may also raise the future
\nagenda of the WTO, and in particular, the issue of competition
\npolicy, which relates to one country's ability to have real
\naccess to the markets of its trading partners. The EU has been
\nirritated by the allegedly unfair business alliance system in
\nJapan. The system, they charge, has created an unseen barrier
\nagainst foreign competitors.<\/p>\n
A European diplomat said the European Commission viewed
\neffective the European Commission viewed effective enforcement of
\nthe anti-trust law as a basic feature of a market economy and as
\nimportant a guarantor of access as a low bound import tariff.<\/p>\n
The most ambitious on the agenda would be a EU proposal to
\ncreate an investment code similar to the one being discussed by
\nmembers of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and
\nDevelopment (OECD).<\/p>\n
The 25-members of OECD took up the initiative to create a set
\nof international rules on foreign direct investment beyond what
\nhad already been agreed on by the GATT. It is based on the
\nprinciple of treating foreign-owned businesses like local ones.
\nIn addition to removing obstacles to inward investors, such a
\nmove would clarify some of the ambiguity that surrounds their
\nstatus and safe-guard them against political and legal
\ndiscrimination.<\/p>\n
However, a Thai official said the commission's authority to
\nnegotiate on investment and services is legally unclear. He said
\nhe understood the Commission would only represent the EU in trade
\nmatters. Asians therefore might have to deal with the investment
\nissue separately with individual countries of the EU.<\/p>\n
Descoutures, nonetheless, noted that the OECD investment code
\nwas only a part of the dialogue. He said the message from the EU
\nwas simply to ask," Are you (Asians) prepared to have a dialogue
\nleading to set a rule at the WTO?"<\/p>\n
The Thai official said Asians might also want to raise the
\nsame question when they meet the EU officials.<\/p>\n
Asians have offered to open their markets to foreigners on the
\nMost Favored Nation basis to APEC. But he asked why the EU had
\ntreated members differently from non-members.<\/p>\n
-- The Nation<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/wto-issues-dominate-bangkoks-asem-agenda-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }