House agrees to ratify WTO bill tomorrow
House agrees to ratify WTO bill tomorrow
JAKARTA (JP): Commission I of the House of Representatives
(DPR) recommended yesterday that the DPR pass a law on the
ratification of the World Trade Organization (WTO).
The commission's seven hour deliberation on the WTO bill
yesterday went smoothly as no one raised objections on the
essence of the content of the bill.
The DPR is scheduled to pass the bill into law tomorrow in a
plenary session, which will also discuss a bill on an extradition
agreement between Indonesia and Australia.
Minister of Trade Satrio Budiardjo Joedono told The Jakarta
Post after yesterday's deliberation that Indonesia, by ratifying
the GATT agreement tomorrow, will set a good example for other
members of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), which
will have their second leadership meeting in Bogor, West Java,
next month.
When asked about what might happen the WTO if the United
States fails to ratify it, Joedono said its formation would
essentially be meaningless without the U.S. approval.
Joedono said, however, that in a one day ministerial meeting
here last week, APEC trade ministers had agreed to speed up the
process of the ratification of the WTO, so that it could be
formed early next year.
The United States is a member of APEC, along with Canada,
Mexico, Japan, South Korea, China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Thailand,
Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines, Brunei, Australia, Papua
New Guinea, New Zealand and Indonesia. Chile will be awarded
full member status in next month's summit.
The establishment of the WTO is partly concludes the Uruguay
Round of trade negotiations, which was signed in Marrakesh last
April. The package includes the Final Act of the General
Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) as well as ministerial
decisions and declarations.
Functions
The main functions of the WTO will be to administer the
results of the multilateral trade negotiations (GATT), to settle
trade disputes, to review its members' trade policies, to
facilitate negotiations among its members and to spur cooperation
with the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and other
international institutions.
The WTO will consist of a Ministerial Conference, General
Council, Council for Trade in Goods, Council for Trade in
Services, Council for Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual
Property Rights, Dispute Settlement Body and Trade Policy Review
Body.
Minister Joedono said his ministry will establish a new
directorate to deal specifically with affairs related to the WTO.
Joedono said Indonesia will benefit greatly from the WTO if it
is actually formed next year, gaining better market access for
Indonesian products and fairer international trade practices that
will protect the economically weak from the growing pressure of
the stronger countries. (rid)