Asia fears 'green protectionism'

Asia fears 'green protectionism'

SINGAPORE (Reuter): Asian nations fear their trade could suffer because of proposed Western environmental pacts, two Asian speakers told a conference yesterday.

Ponciano Intal, president of the Philippine Institute for Development Studies, said environmental agreements would meet strong opposition among developing Asian countries which fear the pacts could lead to "green protectionism."

The opposition "stems primarily from their fear (these rules) ... could lead to the use of 'green protectionism' as well as to unwanted linkages such as the linkage of trade and labor standards," Intal said.

He was speaking at the Asia Conference on Trade and the Environment in Singapore.

Western countries want an amendment to World Trade Organization (WTO) rules to allow trading restrictions if a country violated a multilateral environmental agreement.

The restrictions would also apply if a country failed to meet product standards designed to combat the spread of toxic substances.

Martin Khor, director of the Third World Network in Malaysia, told the conference the definition by the European Union of an environmental agreement would allow a few countries to "take restrictive measures in their trade interests."

"The main concern is that developing countries will lose out in trade terms and be made victims of environmental agreements or measures" to which they are not even parties, he said.

Yale University law professor Daniel Esty said there is a "very real risk" that no progress will be made on the issues unless a compromise is reached before the WTO trade ministerial conference in December in Singapore.

"We'd certainly favor a balanced approach...than no solution at all," Elizabeth Dowdeswell, executive director of the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), told reporters.

But she added, "The notion that environmental protection is equivalent to environmental protectionism does not hold currency anymore."

Disputes on environmental protection and labor standards have become a new irritant between the West and the booming economies of southeast Asia.

The United States has criticized Indonesia's labor standards while some European nations take issue with the felling of tropical rainforests in Malaysia and Indonesia.