ASEAN at odds on RI tariff reduction plan

ASEAN at odds on RI tariff reduction plan

By Meidyatama Suryodiningrat

BANGKOK (JP): Senior officials of the Association of Southeast
Asian Nations (ASEAN) yesterday failed to reach a consensus
allowing Indonesia to withdraw 15 products from the list of its
hasty tariff reductions, thus forcing the issue to be resolved at
a higher level.

The head of the ASEAN Senior Economic Officials Meeting
(SEOM), Krirk-Krai Jirapaet, said here yesterday that delegates
were still at odds on the issue with a majority of members
rejecting Indonesia's proposal.

"It is unfortunate that we cannot resolve it at our level but
this is a matter of policy," said Jirapaet, who is director
general of economic affairs at Thailand's Ministry of Economy.

Formed in 1967 as a socio-economic organization, ASEAN
originally comprised Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines,
Singapore and Thailand. Brunei joined it in 1984 and Vietnam
became the seventh and only communist member in July.

With the aim of creating an ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA) by
the year 2003, the association has drawn up a list of products in
the Common Effective Preferential Tariff (CEPT) scheme, whose
tariffs will be reduced.

The CEPT is made up of several lists, the "Inclusion" products
whose tariffs will be reduced immediately, the "Temporary
Exclusion List" (TEL) which has a five-year grace period, and the
"Sensitive" list with an undetermined time for tariff reductions.

Indonesia wants to move 15 products in the TEL to the
sensitive list, thus changing the time frame of their tariff
reduction.

The reasons cited for this initiative are internal social
peace and order. These products include rice, milk, beat sugar,
sugar from cane and clove.

Opposition

Thailand is noted as one of the staunchest critics of
Indonesia's proposal and, according to Jirapaet, most of the
ASEAN members hold the same objection.

"More than half would not feel comfortable with the withdrawal
(of the products) from the TEL and their inclusion on the
sensitive list," he said adding that such a proposal "would not
move the AFTA process further."

"You can imagine, if rice and sugar are removed from the list;
how many countries will be affected..," he remarked.

Jirapaet and other senior ASEAN officials yesterday began two
concurrent meetings, one focussing on political and security
issues and the other on economic matters, as a prelude to the
ASEAN ministerial meeting which is due to begin on Monday, prior
to next week's fifth ASEAN Summit.

Jirapaet argued that after submitting their lists voluntarily
in 1993, ASEAN member countries should not then withdraw them,
saying that this would have "very strong implications."

Earlier after the start of the senor official meeting,
Indonesia's director general for ASEAN, Rahardjo Jamtomo,
remained confident a solution could be worked out to allow the
commodities to be retracted from the TEL.

"We consider them to be sensitive products...So it is best to
wait a while because it concerns the interest of our farmers,"
Rahardjo explained.

The issue has a chance of being resolved at the AFTA Council
meeting on Sunday. However Jirapaet said: "We will depend on the
wisdom of the ministers to solve this."

Meanwhile, during the senior official meeting on political and
security issues, delegates yesterday continued fine-tuning the
final elements of the various agreements to be adopted by
ministers and heads of state.

The elements include the draft of the Nuclear Weapons Free
Zone Treaty, which will be signed by all the heads of state in
Southeast Asia.

Indonesia's Director General of Political Affairs, Izhar
Ibrahim, said yesterday that Myanmar, the last country to confirm
it's commitment to signing the treaty, has verified its
willingness to do so.