Floundering world tin body to undergo restructuring
Floundering world tin body to undergo restructuring
KUALA LUMPUR (AFP): The Association of Tin Producing Countries
(ATPC), which is soon to lose Australia and Thailand as members,
is to be restructured next year to remain relevant, a report said
yesterday.
ATPC's new chairman, Muhammad Kaloma Ali of Nigeria said in
remarks published here Thursday that the restructuring proposal
was expected to be presented to ATPC ministers for approval in
May next year.
It would coincide with the time the ATPC was to decide on
whether it should reintroduce its 1987 export-quota mechanism
which was disbanded last June 30 after several ATPC members were
found to have flouted the quotas.
"A draft proposal should be completed by late February,
perhaps between Feb. 24 and 27," Muhammad Kaloma, who arrived
here Wednesday for a two-day visit, was reported saying by
Business Times English-language daily.
Apart from Australia and Thailand which will cease to be
members of ATPC from December 10 and December 30 respectively,
the producer-cartel groups Bolivia, China, Indonesia, Malaysia,
Nigeria and Zaire. Brazil has observer status.
Muhammad Kaloma said the group had at a two-day meeting in
Singapore earlier this week decided to put off a decision to
reintroduce the supply rationalization scheme (SRS) to May.
The 13-year old ATPC had implemented the SRS to help deplete
surplus tin and improve prices.
When asked if the departure of the two members would weaken
the group's agenda towards supply rationalization, Muhammad
Kaloma said other countries had expressed keen interest in
joining ATPC, namely Peru, Brazil, Vietnam, Zimbabwe and
Portugal.
Muhammad Kaloma said he has not received official
acknowledgement from Zaire to leave the association, although the
country had stopped producing tin and had not been attending ATPC
meetings.
He said a Malaysian official has been appointed as ATPC acting
executive secretary for a year following the resignation of
Thailand's Jumrud Atikul. He did not name the official.