Legislature to debate portions of Thai-Japan FTA pact
14 February 2007
Legislature to debate portions of Thai-Japan FTA pact
BANGKOK, Feb 14 (TNA) — Thailand’s National Legislative Assembly will debate the controversial Japan-Thailand Economic Partnership Agreement on Thursday.
It is the first free trade bill the current government has presented to the national legislative body for scrutiny.
Although no vote would be called for after the hearing, members’ opinions were expected to influence the government of Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont’s decision whether or not Thailand would adopt the free trade deal.
Akrapol Sorasuchat, spokesman for the assembly’s Committee on Public Participation said that many members have expressed their interest to debate the draft agreement.
"At least 30 members have registered their interest to take part in the debate. I expect more to come forward. There won’t be any time limit on each speaker," according to Mr. Akrapol, who is also deputy leader of the Democrat Party.
When asked if the content of the draft agreement could be made public, Mr. Akrapol said the full text had been forwarded to the national legislature for consideration but some sections contained sensitive information that could not be disclosed.
According to the legislator, the agreement was divided largely into trade in services, technical cooperation and investment such as agriculture, forestry, fishery, education, human resources development, financial business development, IT, science and technology, energy and the environment, small and medium industry, tourism, and investment promotion in areas such as steel, automobiles, textiles and energy-efficiency technology.
Either party must give at least a year’s notice if it wants to cancel the agreement.
Although both sides wrapped up talks on the proposed trade pact early last year, the signing and implementation of the agreement was delayed because of the political turmoil in Thailand that led to the September 19 coup.
Japan is the biggest foreign investor in Thailand and an important export market.
But environmental and anti-free trade campaigners warned Thailand that the draft agreement with Japan could pave the way for dumping of toxic waste and hazardous chemicals in the country.
In a statement last December, the environmental lobby group Greenpeace called on the Thai government to disclose the full text of the document, claiming it lacked assessments of the measure’s social and environmental impact.
