APEC members split over free trade issue

APEC members split over free trade issue

SINGAPORE (AFP): Developed and developing countries were
divided at an APEC senior officials meeting here yesterday on how
to approach the task of liberalizing trade in the Pacific Rim by
2020, officials said.

"I don't think something concrete can emerge from this
Singapore meeting but (there will be) harmonizing of differences.
We'll leave Singapore with more thought," said a U.S. official
attending the two-day talks under the auspices of the Asia-
Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum.

The special officials' meeting was convened by Japan, which is
trying to forge a blueprint on free trade endorsed by leaders of
APEC's 18 economies at their summit in Bogor, Indonesia, last
year.

Japan is scheduled to host this year's APEC ministerial
meeting followed by a summit in Osaka in November.

At Bogor, the APEC leaders agreed to launch "free and open
trade and investment in the Asia-Pacific" no later than 2020,
with industrialized members meeting the target a decade earlier.

Officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said
differences here centered on how countries would achieve this
target after a meeting in Fukuoka, Japan, in February decided on
a so-called concerted unilateral approach to the dismantling of
barriers.

"Basically, it means you liberalize according to your own
pace. But we accept that there must be some guidelines to this
because, if not, some members will just window-dress and reduce
tariffs for only charcoal and snow-balls," an official said.

Timetable

Conference sources said Chinese officials were among those who
spoke up against adoption of a specific timetable for free trade.

The United States, with the support of several developed
nations, was pushing for "specific measures," including a fixed
time frame for free trade, the sources said.

"While the U.S. does not rule out adoption of the concerted
unilateral liberalization approach, America essentially wants
economy-specific measures which actually means tighter targets
and specific time frames," a source said.

Sandra Kristoff, the U.S. co-ordinator for APEC affairs at the
State Department who is leading the U.S. delegation here,
declined comment, saying she would make a statement at the end of
the meeting Wednesday.

APEC comprises Brunei, Australia, Canada, Chile, China, Hong
Kong, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, New
Zealand, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan,
Thailand and the United States.

Asked what Washington hoped the Singapore meeting would
achieve, a U.S. official said: "... a direction to go for the
Osaka ministerial meeting so that we will be able to present
something substantial to the leaders."

Emilio Ruiz-Tagle, a Chilean foreign ministry official, said
all APEC economies were seen "putting across their positions on
the table openly" during the talks.

"Chile will be guided by consensus. While a process should be
developed (to free trade), it must be balanced with different
speed levels to achieve goals," he said.