APEC forum to push for WTO accord on services
APEC forum to push for WTO accord on services
MANILA (Agencies): Asia Pacific nations will back World Trade
Organization efforts to liberalize the services sector, a senior
APEC official said on Saturday.
The 18 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum members would
fully support the liberalization of financial and maritime
services at the December WTO ministerial meeting in Singapore,
Antonio Basilio, deputy chairman of an APEC senior officials
meeting, told a news conference.
The senior officials, meeting in Manila, were finalizing
preparations for the annual APEC summit to be held in Subic Bay
north of Manila on Nov. 25.
"We are clear on our support for the early conclusion (of
talks on liberalizing services)," Basilio said.
APEC would also urge WTO members to live up to the commitments
to general trade liberalization they made in the Uruguay Round of
negotiations that preceded the establishment of WTO.
"APEC will show through leadership by example that we will all
live up to our commitments we made in the Uruguay Round," Basilio
said.
APEC officials have also supported the opening of talks on
sensitive subjects such as agricultural subsidies and rules of
origin.
"We want to see clear progress in these areas," Basilio said.
Trade plans
Meanwhile, Basilio said that only eight of the 18 APEC member
economies have submitted the required revised individual free
trade plans, an official said Saturday.
He said the eight revised plans met the criteria of
comparability, flexibility, comprehensiveness and compatibility
with the WTO, as spelt out by APEC during their meeting last year
in Osaka.
Basilio, however, declined to name the eight economies. He
said APEC was still waiting for the 10 other economies to submit
their free trade plans before a deadline expires at the end of
the month.
He described the submitted plans as "bold and transparent,"
covering short, medium and long terms periods in line with a
commitment by APEC members to create a free trade area by 2010
for developed economies and 2020 for developing members.
Basilio said, however, that for many of those who still had
not submitted their plans, it was largely a matter of revising
their programs to comply with a common format.
Most of the efforts of the remaining 10 economies were devoted
to tariffs, Basilio said, noting that many had complicated
systems.
"We will expect everyone to have conformed to the format by
the end of October," he said.
The so-called individual action plans (IAPs), outlining each
member's commitment to tear down trade barriers, need to be ready
for next month's meeting of APEC ministers and summit of 18 APEC
leaders to be hosted by the Philippines.
Officials said the IAPs would be consolidated into the Manila
Action Plan of 1996 to be announced after the summit.
Basilio also said APEC members had a "positive feeling" about
a U.S. proposal for an Information Technology Agreement which will
lower tariffs on information technology products within APEC.
The proposal calls for a three-year phase-out, starting in
1997, of tariffs on such products as computer hardware,
semiconductors and integrated circuits, computer software,
telecommunications equipment and semiconductor manufacturing
equipment.
Basilio said APEC senior officials will still have to discuss
the specific products to be covered by the ITA and the time frame
of the reduction in tariffs.