APEC trade ministers assemble for meeting
APEC trade ministers assemble for meeting
AUCKLAND (AFP): APEC trade ministers were gathering here Monday for their annual meeting, minus U.S. representative Charlene Barshefsky who withdrew at the last minute citing a family crisis.
"There is a family crisis and she is unable to travel to Auckland," her spokesman told AFP, declining to elaborate. Deputy Trade Representative Richard Fisher will take Barshefsky's place.
Malaysian Trade Minister Rafidah Aziz has also withdrawn, along with Peru's delegate Cesar Luna-Victoria Leon.
Barshefsky's no-show is a blow to Australia and New Zealand, which planned to pressure her on the sensitive issue of tariffs on lamb imports.
The Tasman neighbors have been bitterly contesting a recommendation by the US International Trade Commission that curbs be placed on imports of lamb.
President Bill Clinton was due to make a decision around June 4 but is still weighing the options, amid threats the US faces World Trade Organization (WTO) action if it goes ahead.
At the trade ministers meeting on Tuesday and Wednesday, officials are scheduled to consider support for further multilateral trade negotiations and review progress since the heads of government met in Kuala Lumpur last November.
The ministers are also expected to stocktake their response to the Asian crisis.
Prior to that, several key ministers from the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) were meeting with executives to discuss initiatives to improve community understanding of and support for liberalization.
The business component has been promoted as a key theme running through all APEC events this year, with the 21-member forum keen to rejuvenate its image.
Opening the discussions, New Zealand Trade Minister Lockwood Smith said strong, open active markets were essential to improve living standards across the region.
"We know that the more economic cooperation and trade there is in the region, the better off all the people of the region," he said.
"That's why APEC's three pillars are liberalizing markets, facilitating markets and assisting to build stronger markets."
For the first time this year the ministers responsible for trade will have direct talks with business representatives from around the region.
One official said it was a major goal of APEC to continue to expand business participation in the APEC process "to ensure the forum's work is relevant to real problems".
But even before the talks got under way there were warnings that private sector support would dry up unless member countries adopted bolder initiatives during their time in New Zealand.
One observer said business feared the agenda this year was no more ambitious than to act as a booster for the new round of World Trade Organization negotiations.
"If there were really things happening, would the lamb tariff issue and the Mike Moore/Supachai battle be emerging as the dominant issues?," he said, refering to the fight for the WTO leadership between New Zealand and Thai candidates.
Philip Burdon, chairman of the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC), said the international business community wanted renewed commitment to trade liberalization.
"ABAC has brought down serious and substantial policy recommendations that clearly represent a challenge to the official process," he said.