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.