Trade issues may cloud world summit on environment

Berni K. Moestafa, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Trade and environment issues may intertwine at the upcoming United Nations summit on the environment, possibly harming Indonesian businesses if it fails to negotiate these "tricky" subjects, a senior delegation member said on Thursday.

The UN summit on sustainable development may be hijacked by trade interests, said Suparka, vice chairman of the Indonesian Institute of Science (LIPI) and a senior delegation member for the pre-summit's meeting in Bali from May 27 to June 7.

"The general constraints that Indonesia will face are those concerned with the WTO (World Trade Organization)," he said during a press briefing announcing a planned seminar on the role of science in promoting sustainable development.

Indonesia is gearing up to host the final round of preliminary meetings in Bali for the United Nations' second world summit on the environment.

The World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) will be held in Johannesburg, South Africa from late August to September.

As overexploitation plagues the world's natural resources, the summit hopes to promote a more sustainable development of the global economy.

This message, however, has yet to gain a foothold here, Suparka said, while other countries may also try to impose their trade interests on Indonesia.

"Every country has its own agenda... nothing is free here."

In one example, the United States has banned the imports of shrimp on the pretense that shrimp farmers use nets which trapped and killed sea turtles, he said.

Critics said the ban was one of several barriers blocking trade on the pretense of environmental concerns.

As globalization pushes open markets under the WTO, they said non-trade barriers tied to environmental, health or cultural issues have become the new form of protectionism.

Likewise, the use of imported genetic modified cotton, Suparka said, benefited Indonesian farmers but made them dependent on imported cotton seeds.

Developed countries also dismissed calls to forgo patent rights of drugs with ingredients that were found in poor countries, Suparka said.

Poor countries may need the drugs but cannot afford them because of the royalties they must pay foreign drug companies.

"We're facing some sort of constraints here that are related to trade issues," Suparka said.

So far the draft of the document that would form the next agreement of the Johannesburg summit was acceptable, he said.

Former environment minister and now chairman of the meeting in Bali, Emil Salim, drafted the document based on inputs from three previous rounds of preparatory talks.

But Suparka said it was up to each country's negotiation skills to ensure the summit's outcome could best serve its interest.

Over 6,000 delegates from 189 countries are expected to attend the summit's preliminary talks in Bali this month, in one of the biggest events Indonesia will host in many years.

Suparka warned that talks could be tricky as countries disguised their real agenda during negotiations.

He criticized Indonesia's choice of delegates, and pointed out that the delegations from other countries always included skilled lawyers during talks.

"Whereas ideas from our delegation, are usually greeted with ridicule and criticism, as we seem to take the ideas from out of the blue, not knowing that they violate some law," he explained.

He said talks to implement the summit's agreement however were the hard ones, as differences in interests become more pronounced when countries were asked for action.

"The Johannesburg meeting only sets the tone, what is important is what comes afterward."

Fear of summit fatigue may also take the spirit out of the Johannesburg summit.

World Bank vice president for environmental issues Ian Johnson has said too many international summits on trade and development prior to Johannesburg had put a strain on negotiators.