RI wood exports to lose GSP
RI wood exports to lose GSP
JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia's representative office in the
European Union has announced that beginning in 1998 Indonesia's
footwear and wood product exports to Europe will no longer enjoy
privileges from the General System of Preferences (GSP).
Adrianus Mooy, Indonesia's ambassador to the union, said over
the weekend that the decision on the GSP cessation is in line
with the latest string of GSP regulations passed early last week
by the common market.
The essence of the new GSP regulations lies in the concept of
"graduation" which stipulates that trade privileges must be
gradually reduced as the economic growth of the GSP recipients
increases above certain levels, Mooy said.
On Saturday he also said that beginning in 1998 the new union
rules regulate that all countries with an annual income per
capita of less than US$6,000 will loose all GSP privileges for
specific products, Antara reported.
For Indonesia, those products include wood-based products and
footwear, which are major foreign currency earners of the
country. However, these items will still receive the full GSP
privilege next year.
Minister of Industry Tunky Ariwibowo recently announced that
plywood exports dropped by 0.80 percent to $3.78 billion in the
January-August period of this year from the corresponding period
in 1993.
Official data shows that Indonesia's footwear exports during
the January-July period of this year reached $1.06 billion. By
comparison, footwear exports for the entire year of 1993 reached
$1.66 billion.
Mooy also said that in the new union rules all decisions
related to labor matters must be taken after consultations with
the relevant forums, such as the International Labor
Organization, the World Trade Organization and the Organization
for Economic Cooperation and Development.
"This is not so bad since the original draft of the new rules
does not say that consultations with those organizations are
required," said Mooy, a former governor of Bank Indonesia, the
central bank. (hdj)