U.S. says trade plan won't hurt forests

U.S. says trade plan won't hurt forests

WASHINGTON (Reuters): A controversial U.S. proposal to slash
tariffs worldwide on paper, wooden furniture and other forest
products would have little impact on the environment, the White
House said on Tuesday in a study playing down the threat of
deforestation.

But the study, by the office of the U.S. Trade Representative
and the White House Council on Environmental Quality, concluded
that logging in Finland, Australia, Indonesia and several other
countries would increase sharply, while timber cutting in South
Korea, France, Japan, Mexico and Russia would decline.

Environmental groups said the White House report was flawed,
and called on President Bill Clinton to abandon the forest
initiative.

The forest products proposal is part of the White House's
accelerated tariff liberalization initiative, known as the ATL,
calling for World Trade Organization members to reduce tariffs
quickly in eight sectors, covering items as diverse as toys and
jewelry, paper, pulp and prefab housing.

Washington hopes to give the ATL initiative a boost at the
meeting of WTO ministers in Seattle Nov. 30 to Dec. 3.

Increased incomes, in turn, could spur consumption of more
environmentally-friendly products and boost conservation efforts
in the developing world, the study concluded.

Under the ATL, developed countries would eliminate tariffs by
Jan. 1, 2002, for wood chemicals, wood, rattan, wood furniture
and prefab housing. It would urge developing nations to meet the
same targets but give them an two extra years to complete the
tariff cuts.

Logging would increase in Australia, Chile, China, Finland,
Indonesia, Malaysia, New Zealand and Sweden under the ATL.

For Malaysia and Indonesia, these increases would be in the
range of 2.6 percent and 4.4 percent, respectively, by 2010.