USTR's team arrives for labor review

JAKARTA (JP): A visiting team of United States trade officials, in town to study labor conditions here, has raised the issue of the imprisonment of independent labor union activists with Indonesian officials.

Led by Joseph Damond, who is the United States Trade Representatives' (USTR's) Director for Southeast Asia, the team met yesterday with the manpower ministry's Director General for Labor Standards Suwarto.

The meeting discussed the possible suspension of trade privileges granted by Washington to Indonesia. The U.S. government has repeatedly threatened that the privileges could be withdrawn if Indonesia' record on labor rights did not improve.

Damond refused to divulge to reporters details of the talks with Suwarto regarding the detention of some high-profile labor activists. "That's the business of the Indonesian government," he said.

Damond said the meeting had discussed at length the government's efforts to improve its labor record and Minister of Manpower Abdul Latief's action plan for better industrial relations.

The other members of the USTR team are Thomas Robertson and Kevin Boyd.

Damond said the meeting had also discussed a petition of the Washington-based Human Rights Watch/Asia, calling on the U.S. Congress to push the Clinton administration to suspend the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) trade privileges in respect of Indonesia.

He said the meeting was part of his government's efforts to learn about the labor conditions in Indonesia before it makes any decision concerning the trade privileges.

Damond declined to explain whether the team's meeting with Suwarto had yielded any specific results.

"At this point, we are still in the process of collecting information," he said.

The U.S. Congress will issue a decision on the possible cancellation of the trade privileges later this year, probably in October.

In 1993 Washington threatened to withdraw GSP privileges, citing the Indonesian government's neglect of labor rights.

The United States postponed making a decision on the matter after a previous USTR team reported that there had been some improvements in the treatment of workers in Indonesia. (imn)