WTO wrangles with several contentious issues
By Riyadi
SINGAPORE (JP): Talks on competition policy, investment treaty and textiles grew heated on the second day of the inaugural World Trade Organization (WTO) ministerial conference yesterday.
But talks on the Information Technology Agreement (ITA) proceeded smoothly, with four major trading countries -- the United States, Japan, Canada and European Union -- resolving their differences.
Indonesian Minister of Industry and Trade Tunky Ariwibowo said here yesterday that trade ministers from 125 WTO member countries had made strides on competition policy.
"There are more and more countries supporting the idea of governing level playing fields at an international level rather than at a national level," Tunky told reporters.
Indonesia has resisted efforts by developed countries to link trade with domestic competition policy. Instead, it has urged the WTO to focus on international aspects of competition.
On an investment treaty, Tunky said member countries' positions still varied: "We just need to talk more about it."
WTO information director Keith Rockwell told a press conference last night that several countries were no longer opposing a multilateral investment treaty.
But those who could accept an investment treaty demanded it be thoroughly studied by United Nations' bodies before being negotiated at the WTO.
"I make it clear here that there was not yet any consensus on issues related to investment and competition policy," Rockwell said.
WTO trade ministers started their formal talks here yesterday on the contentious issues which could not be resolved by officials in Geneva. They focused on seven unresolved paragraphs in the 20-paragraph draft WTO declaration.
Tunky said the disputed paragraphs mostly covered new contentious issues, including the investment treaty, competition policy, government procurement, and old issues including textiles and agriculture.
"We all hope we can mend our differences and finally issue a declaration at the end of the conference on Friday," Tunky said.
Developed and developing countries are virtually polarized when talking about new issues. Sources indicated the United States and Canada were holding out on a clause on textiles and clothing as leverage for labor, competition and investment issues.
Indonesian Director General of Foreign Economic Relations Soemadi Brotodiningrat confirmed this, saying the two countries promised to clean up their reservations on textiles and clothing provided textile exporting countries agreed on their proposed contentious issues.
Developed countries, especially Japan, South Korea and those of the European Union, have opposed developing countries' campaign to make the declaration more explicit on agriculture.
Rockwell said countries sensitive about agriculture insisted that negotiations on it should not start before the end of 1999, as mandated by the WTO agreement.
Rockwell said about 40 countries had participated in the U.S.- initiated talks on ITA and had committed to an accord.
He said once the ITA was agreed, it would subscribe to most favored nation principles, meaning that even those not participating in the agreement could benefit from lower tariff rates on information technology imposed by participating countries.
Signals from negotiators have left little doubt that major traders are aiming for an ITA agreement this week, as indicated by acting U.S. Trade Representative Charlene Barshefsky.
Japan's Foreign Minister Yukihiko Ikeda told the second day of the conference that he hoped "ardently ... that we will have an agreement as the most significant achievement of this ministerial conference in the area of trade liberalization."
The accord would incorporate the Asian developing economies, most likely including Indonesia, which have a growing role in the trade of computers and microchips. The accord would remove all tariffs in the information technology sector, which is predicted to be worth US$600 billion a year by the year 2000.
Secretary-General of the Indonesian Ministry of Tourism, Post and Telecommunications Jonathan L. Parapak said Indonesia would surely benefit from freer trade of information technology.
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