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.