Rini to rally int'l alliance ahead of WTO meet

Sari P. Setiogi, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Minister of Trade and Industry Rini MS Soewandi will soon visit several countries of an agricultural alliance in anticipation of a possible World Trade Organization (WTO) meeting later this year.

Included on her itinerary are India, China, South Africa and several Latin American countries, which are all grouped in the Special Product (SP) and Special Safeguard Mechanism (SSM) Alliance initiated by Indonesia in September during the failed WTO meeting in Cancun, Mexico.

The visit comes amid growing optimism that a WTO meeting might be possible later this year, following letters from United States Trade Representative Robert Zoellick calling on all WTO members to meet over issues left unresolved during the Cancun meeting.

In his letter, Zoellick agreed on the importance of the SP/SSM issue in the next WTO meeting, Rini said during a hearing with the House of Representatives Commission V for industry, trade and cooperatives.

The concept was brought forward by Indonesia during the Cancun meet and gained support from several countries. The SP/SSM concept suggests that developing countries should be free to set high tariffs on certain agricultural products to protect local products as part of rural development, poverty alleviation and food security efforts.

International trade director Pos M. Hutabarat at the Ministry of Trade and Industry declined on Friday to specify those agricultural products the government wanted to protect, saying they would be kept confidential for now to strengthen Indonesia's bargaining position at the WTO meet.

Earlier unconfirmed reports said the products were corn, rice, soybean and sugar.

The Cancun meeting collapsed after developed and developing member nations failed to agree on several issues, including farm subsidies and investment rules.

Developing countries called for sharp cuts in farm subsidies of developed countries, while developed countries pushed developing countries to liberate investment rules.

Rini said with more countries now accepting the SP/SSM concept, she hoped WTO nations would eventually reach an agreement at the next meeting to exclude special agricultural products from the tariff reduction program. This, she said, would enable farmers in developing countries to better compete with imported products.

The SP/SSM Alliance now comprises 33 countries, from an initial membership of 19, Rini said.

Separately, Bogor Institute of Agriculture's Center for Development Studies director Bayu Krisnamurti hailed the minister's efforts to boost commitment among developing countries for the SP/SSM concept during the next WTO meeting.

"We have to approach other developing countries to ensure a solid voice during the WTO meeting. The U.S. and the European Union are two industrial giants that will be willing to make bilateral deals with developing countries in case no agreement is reached in the WTO forum," he told The Jakarta Post.

Agricultural subsidies provided in 2002 (in US$1b) ----------------------------- European Union 101 Japan 43.9 United States 40 South Korea 16.1 Switzerland 5.1 Canada 4.6 Australia 1.0 ----------------------------- Source: Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development