Asia sees hurdles for new WTO talks
Asia sees hurdles for new WTO talks
HANOI (Reuters): While Southeast Asian countries back the
launching of a new trade round they see major hurdles that need
to be overcome if that is to happen in Qatar in November, Thai
and Philippine officials said on Friday.
"ASEAN has already said we can support the launching of the
new round," Philippines assistant secretary for trade, Jose
Antonio Buencamino, told reporters ahead of a meeting of Asia-
Europe trade and economics ministers in Hanoi next week.
"That's not the issue," he said. "The issue is: 'Is the
prospect bright enough for launching?'. In our assessment, the
prospects are not bright right now, but the prospects persist."
Trade ministers from the 141 WTO member countries will meet in
Doha, Qatar, on November 9-13, with many of them hoping a new
trade round can be launched there.
Buencamino described two changes to WTO rules proposed by
industrialized nations, covering foreign investment and the
environment, as "non-starters".
He said there were fears the investment proposals would
circumscribe the rights of governments. "If that is the case, I
don't think we can agree to that," he said.
Manila would have "very serious problems" with a European
Union white paper on food safety, he said.
"The objective is to be able to direct how food is produced,
the way it is distributed, until it reaches the tables of the
consumer," Buencamino said. "On the basis of what? Political
sensitivities; not just science and consumer concerns.
"We might as well talk about everything under the sun in the
WTO if non-trade issues can come in just like that."
The director-general of the Thai Commerce Ministry's
Department of Business Economics, Boontipa Simaskul, said Bangkok
would like to see the announcement of a new trade round in Qatar.
"But somehow, we also find there are positions that are quite
far apart, particularly in the five issues -- environment,
investment, competition policy, implementation and agriculture."
Boontipa said ministers from Asia and Europe would aim to
narrow differences in two days of meetings in Hanoi from Monday.
"If both of us can be flexible to help bridge the gap, then it
will somehow help the launching of the new round," she said.
"(There's) not much time left. No one can tell if there will be a
new round or not, but we will try to work on it."
Last weekend, trade ministers from the United States and the
European Union said after a meeting in Mexico of rich and
developing countries that they saw an improved chance of
launching world trade talks this year.
But last month seven South Asian countries -- India,
Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal, the Maldives and Bhutan
-- said a new round should not be held until previous commitments
were met.
India said the previous Uruguay Round of 1994 had brought
hardly any worthwhile gains to developing countries even though
they had been told they stood to benefit massively.
Vietnam, which is not a WTO member, also called earlier this
week for proper implementation of existing agreements.
A week-long series of meetings in Hanoi on trade and
investment will involve 15 European countries, the 10 member
Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), China, Japan,
South Korea, Australia, New Zealand and the United States.
Buencamino said ASEAN countries would have to work hard to
change the dimmed European perception of their region as an
investment destination, although he expected little in the way of
concrete initiatives to emerge from the talks.
"The Europeans themselves are saying 'the region has to do
something to keep our attention'," he said. "It's not on the
agenda, but the whole Asia region needs to be integrated, that's
the answer."