ASEAN free-trade agenda faces stumbling block
ASEAN free-trade agenda faces stumbling block
JAKARTA (JP): Free trade goals of the Association of Southeast
Asian Nations (ASEAN) received a blow yesterday when Indonesia
and the Philippines insisted on delaying the timetable for the
reduction of tariffs on sensitive farm products, officials said.
At yesterday's ASEAN senior officials meeting, the two
countries refused to accept a 2010 deadline adopted last year by
the ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA) Council for including such
products as rice and sugar in the tariff liberalization agenda
under the Common Effective Preferential Tariff (CEPT) scheme.
"In principle, as we all know, we agreed to phase in the
unprocessed agricultural products into the CEPT. Now the question
is: When will the phase-in process be started and when will it be
ended?" Rahardjo Jamtomo, director general of the ASEAN
department at the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told
journalists during a break in the meeting.
ASEAN senior officials began the two-day closed-door meeting
yesterday to prepare the way for the Afta Council's meeting on
Wednesday and the ASEAN economic ministers' meeting on Thursday.
Rahardjo explained that Indonesia proposed to begin the
phasing-in process of its highly sensitive agricultural products,
notably rice and sugar, into the CEPT on Jan. 1, 2010 and end the
process 10 years later.
"This is the level of development which will allow us to set
(the process in motion) in 2010 ...," Rahardjo contended, adding
that Indonesia had not come to an agreement with colleagues on
when the process should begin and end. He noted that every
country in ASEAN had its own position in regards to the highly
sensitive products.
ASEAN members -- Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines,
Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam -- have agreed to extend the Afta
to cover unprocessed agricultural products, to be liberalized by
2003. The members are then given the option of extending the
tariff reduction deadline on certain sensitive items until 2010.
Indonesia backtracked on AFTA last year by withdrawing 15 farm
products from the inclusion list and, instead, placing them on
the sensitive list. Other ASEAN members agreed to give Indonesia
some leeway by allowing the establishment of a special temporary
exclusion list for the 15 products.
Spirit
A Thai official blamed Indonesia yesterday for weakening the
spirit of trade liberalization among ASEAN members by
backpedaling on the liberalization process of its farm products.
"If you said you'll go for free trade in 100 years, it doesn't
make sense. And if you said you'll go for free trade in 20 years,
it also doesn't make sense because most of the free trade
elements will mature in 10 years or 15 years at most," Krirk-Krai
Jirapaet, the director general of the business and economic
department at the Thai Ministry of Commerce, told journalists.
Jirapaet warned that any delay in implementing the phase-out
of tariffs on farm products would hurt the credibility of ASEAN,
which collectively is home to 400 million people.
"They say the phase-in starts in 2010, which is not the
understanding of other ASEAN countries," Jirapaet said "This
matter, of course, has to go to the ministers on Wednesday."
Indonesia's Coordinating Minister for Production and
Distribution Hartarto said after meeting with President Soeharto
at Merdeka Palace yesterday that the ministers would meet
Wednesday for the annual AFTA Council meeting to review the
progress towards the creation of a free trade area by 2003.
The AFTA Council meeting is to be followed by a ministerial
meeting on Thursday to discuss a wide range of issues, ranging
from economic relations among ASEAN members to their common
position for the upcoming World Trade Organization ministerial
conference in Singapore in December, Hartarto said.
He added that the economic ministers are also scheduled to
hold consultation meetings with counterparts from Cambodia and
Laos, two countries which will join ASEAN next year, and three
dialog partners: Australia, New Zealand and Japan. (rid)