Japan ratifies GATT bills as other Asian nations clash over textiles
Japan ratifies GATT bills as other Asian nations clash over textiles
TOKYO (AFP): Japan's parliament ratified the Uruguay Round
trade accord yesterday as other Asian nations, including India
and China, clashed with the West over dismantling trade barriers
on textiles and clothing.
The bills approved by the upper house include measures to ease
the impact of the world trade pact on Japanese farmers, whose
expensive rice production techniques will be partly subject to
international competition from next year.
The legislation, passed in the lower house last week, also
includes Japan's approval of the establishment of the World Trade
Organization (WTO), which is to succeed the General Agreement on
Tariffs and Trade (GATT) on Jan. 1.
The farm-support package calls for a total outlay of 6.01
trillion yen (US$60 billion) over the next six years. Under the
GATT accord signed in April in Marrakesh in Morocco, Japan will
open its rice market next year, starting with the equivalent of
four percent -- or 379,000 tons -- of domestic consumption. The
imports are to reach eight percent by 2000.
Japan's international trade and industry minister, Ryutaro
Hashimoto, said the accord had "historical significance" as it
covered intellectual property rights and services in addition to
tariff cuts.
"It is expected to contribute to the expansion and development
of world trade, through the maintenance and enhancement of the
multilateral trading system," he said.
But ratifying the accord was not plain sailing for other Asian
countries.
Textile
In Geneva overnight, India and other textile exporters such as
China, Hong Kong, Pakistan, Morocco and Turkey clashed with
western trading powers over the composition of a key WTO body to
monitor the dismantling of trade restraints on textiles and
clothing covered by the Multi-Fiber Arrangement (MFA).
India was reported to have warned a WTO preparatory committee
that failure to settle this issue could endanger the
implementation of the Marrakesh accord.
Trade diplomats said the group wanted the proposed 10-member
Textiles Monitoring Board to be composed of six exporters and
four importers, tilting the balance in their own favor.
But a senior European official said the GATT's Textiles
Surveillance Board, which will be succeeded by the new board, had
"worked well" with five members from each of the two groups. He
saw no reason to modify the set-up.
The 20-year-old MFA will be phased out in four steps over a
10-year period starting in January.
Tony Miller, Hong Kong's director-general of trade, said last
week he was concerned about certain objectionable provisions in
the accord, including unilateral changes to the rules of origin
for textiles and apparel products.
"The Hong Kong government will take appropriate action to
protect Hong Kong's trade interests," he said.
China meanwhile stepped up its battle to rejoin the GATT by
the end of the month, slamming the United States for blocking it
and threatening to drop all previous trade commitments if it is
not allowed to become a founder WTO member.
Chief GATT negotiator Long Yongtu warned in Geneva that if
China were excluded from the WTO, it "will not abide by any of
the offers it has made in the past," including implementation of
the Uruguay Round agreement.
Earlier in the week, Long said Washington "was asking the
impossible" with its demands for an immediate and massively
expanded opening of the China market in key sectors such as the
automobile and service industries.
In other GATT-related news, South Korea said yesterday it had
decided to drop a clause stipulating the recognition of commodity
trade between North and South Korea as a condition for its
ratification of the Uruguay Round.
The South Korean parliament is to debate the GATT legislation
over the coming week, with most observers expecting it to be
approved despite a recent boycott of parliament by the
opposition, which rejects the accord. Like Japan, South Korea has
drawn up an accompanying bill to ease the impact on farmers.