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| November 24, 2000 | atimes.com | ||
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Southeast Asia
Asean economic ministers endorse tariff cut delay SINGAPORE - Asean Economic Ministers Thursday signed an agreement that gave flexibility to the 10-member grouping to suspend tariff cuts on certain products under the Asean Free Trade Area (Afta) timetable. The flexibility, in the form of a treaty "protocol", allows Asean member countries facing real problems to defer tariff reduction schedules under Afta's Common Effective Preferential Tariff (Cept) scheme. Speaking at a press conference after the signing ceremony, Singapore's Trade and Industry minister George Yong Boon Yeo said the leeway accorded by the protocol was not meant for routine use. It was for exceptional situations when countries faced real difficulties in implementing their tariff reduction programs, he added. Yong is the host for the economic ministers preparatory meeting that fine-tunes discussion topics for the fourth Asean leaders informal summit Friday. Malaysian International Trade and Industry Minister Rafidah Aziz, who signed the agreement for Malaysia, said the protocol would not unravel the whole Afta arrangement. The agreement limits the suspension to the last batch of products to be included in the Cept list as at December 1999, she said. Thailand's Deputy Prime Minister, who is also Commerce Minister, Supachai Panitchpakdi, said the protocol is consistent with World Trade Organization rules. He said the protocol also restricts the impact to countries that lose out due to the deferment of tariff cuts through consultation. The protocol came about after Malaysia requested to defer opening its automotive sector for two years from the original schedule of 2003 due to the 1997/98 economic crisis. Malaysia's delay in cutting tariffs for the automotive sector affects Thailand's automotive industry. Asean groups together Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. (Asia Pulse) |
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