Fourth round of Thai-U.S. trade talks set for mid-July

Fourth round of Thai-U.S. trade talks set for mid-July

Associated Press, Bangkok

A fourth round of Thai-U.S. free trade negotiations will focus on obstacles related to non-tariff barriers, plant and animal sanitary measures and support for small and medium-sized enterprises, the national news agency said on Saturday.

More than 80 Thai delegates will take part in the free trade agreement talks in the U.S. state of Montana on July 11-15, the Thai News Agency reported.

A draft agreement on science and technology co-operation is also on the agenda.

The proposed deal has drawn some criticism in Thailand due to concerns that parts of it could be detrimental to national interests.

But Washington says the deal would boost Thailand's economic growth and create tens of thousands of new jobs.

Sanitary measures to be discussed would affect Thai exports of agricultural products, including chicken and fruit, the agency quoted delegation leader Nitya Pibulsongkram as saying.

Non-tariff barriers issues include setting industry standards for goods that Thailand wants to export to the United States, especially consumer electronic and information technology products.

Thailand would also like to include a U.S. commitment to support the entry of its small- and medium-sized enterprises into the American market.

During the last round of talks in Thailand in April, demonstrators protested U.S. demands for Thailand to tighten its intellectual property rights laws.

The protesters said the more restrictive laws sought by Washington could prevent Thailand from producing affordable copies of U.S.-made anti-retroviral drugs for people suffering from HIV/AIDS.

Such a move would make it prohibitively expensive to treat most of the hundreds of thousands of Thais infected with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.

Thailand-U.S. trade amounted to US$22 billion in 2004, up 14 percent from the previous year.