AFTA council compromises on RI farm products
AFTA council compromises on RI farm products
By Riyadi
BANGKOK (JP): A compromise was finally reached by members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), which capitulated to Indonesia's request to withdraw 15 farm products from the list of hasty tariff reductions.
In its eighth meeting here yesterday, the Council of the ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA) agreed to create a special category in its tariff reduction plan, the Common Effective Preferential Tariff (CEPT), to accommodate Indonesia's request.
The CEPT was previously made up of the "inclusion" list of products, which require immediate tariff reductions; the "temporary exclusion list", which gives a five-year grace period; and the sensitive list, which gives until the year 2010; and the general exception list.
The new category, called the temporary exclusion list of unprocessed agricultural products, allows Indonesia to temporarily exclude the 15 products from the tariff reduction program.
"I'm really satisfied with the outcome, said Minister of Industry and Trade Tunki Aribowo after attending the Council's meeting.
He said that he was grateful to the other member countries for understanding Indonesia's problem.
Jakarta, however, is required to review the status of the 15 products by the year 2003. It must then decide whether to bring them into the inclusion list or to determine how long they will remain on the special category list.
The expiration date of this special list, however, should not exceed the expiration date of the sensitive list in 2010.
Most of the 15 products -- including rice, sugar, wheat and clove -- are currently under the control of government state's regime.
"These products affect millions of our farmers," Tunki said when asked why Indonesia wanted the 15 products moved off the temporary exclusion list.
Because of its request for special treatment, Indonesia has been criticized of becoming more protective and moving away from its commitment to the AFTA arrangement.
Tunki, however, addressed the criticism by saying that Jakarta had passed a series of deregulation measures aimed at further liberalizing trade and investment in the country and in the region.
Indonesia initially wanted to move the 15 farm products onto the sensitive list. This would mean that tariffs on the items would not fall under the AFTA plan to reduce import tariffs to between zero and five percent by the year 2003.
The Indonesian move, however, met strong opposition from Thailand, which had threatened to put its 44 farm items on the temporary exclusion list back onto the sensitive list.
Brunei Minister of Industry and Primary Resources Abdul Rahman Taib, who chaired yesterday's meeting, said member countries reached the compromise through the "ASEAN spirit."
"We discussed Indonesia's request with full understanding, and we approved it to literally transfer these products from the temporary exclusion list of the unprocessed agricultural products," Rahman told a media briefing after the Council meeting.
The Council also endorsed the initiative of the ASEAN directors general of customs to start implementing an accelerated customs lane, or the "green lane", for CEPT products by Jan. 1, 1996.
The green lane will expedite clearance for CEPT products by simplifying procedures and formalities.
The eighth AFTA Council meeting was also attended by Secretary General of Malaysian Ministry of International Trade and Industry Asmat Kamaluddin, Undersecretary of the Philippine Department of Trade and Industry Cesar Bautista, Singapore Minister of Trade and Industry Yeo Cheow Tong, Thai Minister of Finance Surakiart Sathirathai, Thai Deputy Minister of Industry Anusorn Wongwan, Vietnamese Minister of Finance Ho Te and ASEAN Secretary General Ajit Singh. (rid)