Indonesia supports expansion in agenda for WTO talks

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia will support a proposal for the expansion of the agenda for the next round of World Trade Organization talks, a senior official at the Ministry of Industry and Trade said on Monday.

Director General of International Trade Hatanto Reksodiputro said Indonesia might opt to have a widened scope of negotiations for the upcoming trade talks in Seattle in the United States.

"It is difficult for Indonesia to have a good bargaining position if the negotiations are only on agriculture and services," Hatanto said.

The World Trade Organization (WTO) Ministerial Conference to be held at the end of this month in Seattle will allow its 134 member nations to begin negotiations at least on agriculture and services as part of the 1994 Uruguay Round.

There has been some debate whether the trade talks will only accommodate negotiations on the mandated subjects of agriculture and services.

Japan's trade minister, Takashi Pukaya, said last week that his country would push to include a discussion of antidumping in the Seattle meeting despite an objection from the United States.

Hatanto said Indonesia saw the possibility to agree that the Seattle talks would also discuss other subjects beyond agriculture and services as long as they were beneficial to developing countries.

"There are a number of WTO agreements that need further discussion in the Seattle talks in addition to agriculture and services," he said at the WTO seminar sponsored by a number of non-governmental organizations (NGOs).

Those other possible subjects Indonesia might propose include WTO agreements on Trade Related Intellectual Property, Antidumping and Subsidies and Countervailing Measures, Hatanto said.

Hatanto acknowledged that Indonesia had a weak negotiation position for agriculture and services, thus, other negotiation subjects should serve to balance the weakness.

There were still WTO agreements that were poorly implemented by developed countries, creating a disadvantage to developing nations, Hatanto said.

"We should stress this implementation issue in the Seattle talks," he said.

He said developing countries needed to identify every problem which created the developed countries' poor implementation of WTO agreements.

Earlier reports said some Asian countries were pressing for a WTO review of antidumping measures used mostly by developed nations to keep out competing low-cost imports.

The European Union (EU), often identified as the most eager user of antidumping measures, is wary of opening such a discussion.

However, the EU were reportedly debating a proposal to abolish all tariffs and other restrictions on imports from the world's poorest nations in a move to counter accusations of EU protectionism.

Hira Jhamtani of Konphalindo, one of the NGOs sponsoring the WTO discussion, said many textile and agricultural exports from developing countries were restricted from entering developed countries for unclear and unproven reasons, despite commitments to free trade.

"There have been some debates. It seems that developed countries can easily export to developing countries, but not vice versa. Something is wrong here," she said.

She said those developed countries were still very protective toward their agricultural products. Besides antidumping measures, Hira added, they also protect their farmers through subsidies.

"They give subsidies to their farmers and claim that it is to reimburse the cost farmers have to bear to protect the environment," she said.

She said heavy subsidies provided unfair grounds for competition for imported agricultural products, which were mostly from developing countries.

Hatanto, who will be one of Indonesia's delegates to Seattle, said developing countries should also anticipate the chance that industrialized nations could once again try to put forward rejected, sensitive subjects at the Seattle talks.

This includes the linking of trade with labor standards, he said.

Other subjects rejected by the developing nations include the Competition Policy, Transparency in Governmental Procurement and Trade and Environment, Hatanto said.

Hira also said Indonesia did not have to be ashamed to request special treatment on certain cases like many other developing countries hit by the prolonged economic crisis.

She suggested the delegates going to Seattle hold a public consultation, involving experts, businesspeople, NGOs and other related parties.

Indonesian delegates will consist of government officials and some members of the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin). (udi)