APEC faces WTO jam, bird flu fears and security

APEC faces WTO jam, bird flu fears and security

Martin Abbugao, Agence France-Presse/Busan, South Korea

Asian and Pacific nations worked Saturday to ease the deadlock in
troubled global trade talks and agreed joint measures to help
prevent a possible bird flu pandemic.

The 21 members of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC)
forum began talks in the South Korean city of Busan amid gloomy
predictions about the Dec. 13-18 World Trade Organization
talks in Hong Kong.

A U.S. official said the fate of the 2001 Doha round of WTO
talks, which has foundered mainly over trade-distorting
agricultural subsidies in rich countries, would dominate
discussions over the coming week.

"The biggest issue right now is what to do about the WTO. The
WTO is the highest priority facing APEC," said the official,
asking to remain anonymous.

A Southeast Asian official said it was vital the Hong Kong
talks were not seen as a failure and that officials were working
on a "short and punchy" statement urging all sides to make
concessions.

"Failure means there is absolutely no agreement, and we don't
want the Hong Kong meeting to be a failure," said the official,
asking to remain anonymous.

"APEC will urge everyone, especially the major players, to
give and take."

Powerful developing countries such as Brazil and India argue
that farm subsidies in rich nations -- the United States and the
European Union in particular -- depress global farm prices and
prevent growers in poor nations from competing.

But the divisions also cut across rich nations, with the EU
under fire from the United States and Australia, and Japan,
Norway and Switzerland saying they are wary of the impact of
tariff cuts on their farm sectors.

APEC officials also discussed bird flu.

The H5N1 strain of avian influenza has killed more than 60
people since 2003 and led to the destruction of millions of
birds. Experts fear it could mutate into a strain more easily
passed between humans and cause a global pandemic.

Another official said discussions focused on how APEC
countries would respond to a pandemic and plans for an APEC-wide
mock exercise simulating a human-to-human outbreak.

He said they agreed to more cooperation, and that more
developed APEC members offered expertise and assistance to less
developed members.

The officials also discussed stockpiling of Tamiflu and the
relaxing of intellectual property regulations on the antiviral
drug, considered the best treatment for the virus in humans.

Energy security, including cooperation on oil exploration and
the search for alternative sources of energy, as well as efforts
to improve maritime security were also addressed.

But a proposal by the United States aimed at reducing the
vulnerability of commercial aircraft to heat-seeking surface-to-
air missiles was vetoed by China, an official said.

As APEC officials began a session that will culminate in a
full summit on November 18 and 19, activists vowed 100,000 people
would take to the streets of Busan in protests against the free
trade agenda.

Over 37,000 police and security officials have been deployed
around the conference venue and at sensitive sites such as the
airport and train station to prevent terrorist attacks and
contain protests.

Some 80 protest leaders said they would organize rallies
throughout the week and that the biggest protest would be on
November 18, on the opening day of the summit which will include
U.S. President George W. Bush.

"APEC is playing the vanguard role of spreading new liberalism
in trade which makes the rich richer and the poor poorer," said O
Jong-Ryul, head of the People's Action against APEC.

The APEC forum was launched in 1989 with the goal of
establishing a free trade area among its members by 2020, but in
recent years its agenda has been expanded to include the main
pressing global issues.

The forum groups Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, China, Hong
Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New
Guinea, Peru, the Philippines, Russia, Singapore, South Korea,
Taiwan, Thailand, the United States and Vietnam.