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.