Malaysia blames APEC for stalemate over farm trade
Malaysia blames APEC for stalemate over farm trade
SINGAPORE (AFP): Malaysia yesterday blamed the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum for the current stalemate over freeing farm trade in the Pacific, saying it ignored members' views.
"If you do not listen to everyone's views, then you are in the risk of taking APEC where the members don't want to go and forcing issues down people's throats," International Trade and Industry Minister Rafidah Aziz said.
Rafidah said the split in APEC over exempting sectors such as agriculture from trade reforms could be traced to the forum's 1994 summit in Indonesia "which did not take into account the rumbling of dissent" among members.
"So now because they did not listen to these concerns early enough and wanted to push through all the technicalities that go with the liberalization, they find that they are stuck," she said.
APEC's 18 leaders agreed at the 1994 summit in Bogor to aim for overall free trade and investment by 2020, with developed economies aiming for 2010.
But Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad alone submitted a list of reservations to the Bogor accord, making him the odd man out at the summit. He said the target dates of 2010 and 2020 should not be binding.
APEC's blueprint -- called an Action Agenda -- for implementing the Bogor commitments is to be debated by the leaders in Osaka, Japan later this month.
Japan, China, South Korea and Taiwan are now seeking to be allowed special treatment in sensitive sectors such as agriculture. But most of the 18 members claimed different treatment for sensitive sectors would undermine last year's agreement.
Rafidah, speaking to reporters after signing an investment pact with her Singapore counterpart Yeo Cheow Tong, said some countries did not voice their feelings during the Bogor meeting although they were skeptical about the free-trade deadlines.
"Now they are beginning to speak up at officials' meeting and want liberalization but not on anybody's terms," she said.
APEC groups Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and the United States.
Rafidah also hit out at APEC's "promoters" for their optimism in wanting to prise open Japan's lucrative rice market.
"For seven-and-a-half years the whole world wanted to open the Japanese rice market and we didn't succeed in the Uruguay Round. What makes the APEC promoters feel they can do it in one year at these meetings of officials of APEC?" she asked.
"That is living in the world of dream and the Japanese agree with me."
Rafidah said the United States was "only being practical" when it admitted recently there was a "deep fracture" within APEC over the issue of exempting agriculture from trade reforms.
Sandra Kristoff, the U.S. ambassador-designate to APEC, warned last week that some APEC members might even leave the grouping if the farm issue remains unresolved.
"At last some people are being practical about it, especially the U.S. is now seeing it the way it is, and not glossing over things with declarations that sound so good," Rafidah said.