ASEAN told to unite against trade barriers

ASEAN told to unite against trade barriers

CHIANG MAI, Thailand (Reuter): Thai Prime Minister Chuan
Leekpai called yesterday for the Association of Southeast Asian
Nations (ASEAN) to stand united in the face of post-Cold War
trade barriers thrown up by their more developed trading
partners.

Addressing ministers and delegates from the six ASEAN member
nations at the start of an annual two-day conference, Chuan said
ASEAN's role had taken on greater significance now that economic
issues had come to the fore with the end of the Cold War.

Regional cooperation and the successful completion of the
Uruguay Round of world trade talks were steps toward freer trade
but "there have also emerged trends not wholly favorable to the
developing countries", Chuan said.

"First and foremost are new types of trade barriers,
essentially those which are non-economic in nature, and most
evident in some developed nations," he told the meeting in the
northern town of Chiang Mai.

Chuan did not elaborate, but Thailand has repeatedly accused
developed nations of protectionism in trying to link issues like
human and labor rights to trade.

Some new regional economic groupings could develop into closed
trade blocs, Chuan added.

"How will ASEAN stand up to such challenges? To me the most
straightforward answer is that a united ASEAN will be in a far
better position to face both the challenges and opportunities of
our age than individual member countries striving on their own,"
he said.

Acceleration

Chuan praised an agreement made here on Wednesday to
accelerate the timetable for cutting tariffs within the ASEAN
Free Trade Area (AFTA) by five years.

"Our success in strengthening AFTA testifies to our strong
will and determination to stand up to the new global challenges,"
Chuan said.

ASEAN's Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, the Philippines, Brunei
and Singapore make up a vibrant domestic market of 340 million
people with a combined gross national product of US$430 billion.

Under the revised AFTA scheme, up to 85 percent of goods
traded among members will face tariffs of only zero to five
percent by Jan. 1, 2003.

The AFTA ministerial council also adopted a gradual timetable
to include items once excluded from the scheme and pledged to
include agricultural products for the first time.

After yesterday's talks, Thai Deputy Prime Minister Supachai
Panitchpakdi told a press conference that the six trade and
commerce ministers of ASEAN agreed on most issues.

Supachai said the ministers, for example, agreed that a
framework for standard rules on intellectual-property rights
should be drawn up based on existing treaties already signed by
some of the six members.

They also commissioned a study to consider linking ASEAN to
other existing trade groupings, such as the North American Free
Trade Agreement and Australia and New Zealand's Close Economic
Relations, while at the same time keeping in close contact with
those groups informally.