Trade talks start with widely differing views

By Riyadi

SINGAPORE (JP): The World Trade Organization (WTO) opens its week-long first ministerial conference here today with widely- differing views between developed and developing countries on the next agenda for global free trade.

Many developed nations want binding rules on labor standards, competition policies, investment treaties and government procurements -- against the strong objections of developing nations.

The developing members want the Singapore meeting to focus on assessing how the Uruguay Round of tariff cut schedules are being implemented. They also want markets in developed countries to open, quickly, for their textile and apparel exports.

"We are here to safeguard our position, and we are optimistic that we can do that," Indonesian Minister of Industry and Trade Tunky Ariwibowo said here yesterday.

Tunky is scheduled to address the conference's plenary session today at 12:30 p.m. local time. He is one of the 125 ministers to address the conference.

He said he would try to block any efforts to include issues which were not in the interest of developing countries, especially Indonesia, into the WTO ministerial declaration.

Senior officials in Geneva failed to hammer out a draft declaration for the meeting after profoundly disagreeing over contentious issues.

"They have tried very hard for weeks to prepare a draft declaration for the Singapore meeting. But because so many issues were raised, not all could be settled in Geneva," Tunky said.

Developed countries, led by the United States, are pushing for core labor standards such as the right of workers to form unions and a ban on child labor.

Developing countries counter that the WTO is not the proper place for such issues, arguing that common labor standards would erode a key comparative advantage enjoyed by emerging economies.

Developed nations, led by the United States, Japan and European Union, also are lobbying for a WTO agreement on a multilateral investment treaty which would guarantee identical treatment for foreign and domestic companies.

They also want the WTO to adopt a competition policy with the aim of eventually eliminating cartels and price-fixing agreements, which keep foreign firms out of local markets.

Developing countries oppose all these issues. They demand instead that the WTO meeting focus on its main agenda, especially the review on the implementation of obligatory notifications from member countries regarding their commitments to the GATT.

Indonesia wants the WTO to review members' progress in infusing WTO practices into their economies and incorporating WTO rules in to their legal systems.

Indonesia also recommends that the WTO conference help developing countries integrate themselves into the multilateral trading system.

WTO Director General Renato Ruggiero acknowledged in a statement last week that the agenda for the Singapore meeting was one of delicate balance, reflecting the political perceptions of many member states.

The WTO now has 125 member countries. Another 28 candidates seek to join the free trade organization, including China, Russia, the Ukraine and Saudi Arabia.

Developing countries and economies in transition, he noted, share the view that the WTO's major challenge is to get member countries to implement the commitments of the WTO agreements.

Ruggiero said the new issues under discussion were actually of interest to all member countries, and that the disagreement concerned mainly the time schedules for negotiations.

"This is a narrow difference and it should not be allowed to weaken the essential links established between developed and developing countries at the end of the Uruguay Round," he said.

In addition these issues, Uruguay Round business on global rules for trade in telecommunications, information technology and financial services remain unfinished.

The United States, European Union, Canada and Japan have committed themselves to reaching a deal in Singapore. Several other countries, including Indonesia, have expressed interest in becoming part of the U.S.-sponsored Information Technology Agreement.

Indonesia has said it supports the agreement as long as it gives developing countries enough time to reduce tariffs on information technology products.

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