KL wants ASEAN members to seek approval on trade deals

KL wants ASEAN members to seek approval on trade deals

KUALA LUMPUR (AFP): Malaysia's trade minister urged ASEAN members on Thursday to get approval from the grouping before entering bilateral trade deals to avoid disrupting the regional trade pact.

Rafidah Aziz said individual members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) were free to sign bilateral agreements with each other or countries outside the grouping.

But these pacts should not include any negotiations on tariff concessions which would overlap with the ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA).

"When it comes to bilateral agreements, we have no right to question but in the case of Free Trade Agreements (FTA) where you bargain on tariff concessions... then it is going against AFTA rules and that cannot be done," Rafidah was quoted as saying by Bernama news agency.

"We must get ASEAN consensus."

Rafidah said whatever benefits that ASEAN countries provide to their partner in an FTA agreement should also be offered to the grouping.

The Jakarta-based ASEAN secretariat would be monitoring bilateral agreements signed by any of its 10 members to ensure there was no "backdoor entry" into the region, she added.

Malaysia has earlier criticized FTAs which neighboring Singapore has reached or is discussing with the United States, New Zealand and Japan.

Bernama said Thailand and the Philippines were also exploring the FTAs with other countries.

Under AFTA, the group's six original members must cut tariffs on imports of agreed products from countries within the group to a maximum of five percent by January 2003.

World Trade Organization director-general designate Supachai Panitchpakdi has supported the FTAs but urged ASEAN to be watchful that these did not give other countries back door access without offering reciprocal trade privileges.

Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Brunei, the Philippines and Singapore are the original six ASEAN members. Newer members Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar and Vietnam have been given longer to cut tariffs under AFTA.