RP elections cast cloud on trade pact
Business Mirror | 14 December 2009
R.P. elections cast cloud on trade pact
Written by Estrella Torres / Reporter
JAKARTA—Philippine elections pose uncertainty in the regional tariff regime, with neighbors wondering whether the new government next year can live up to its free-trade commitments with member-countries, including lowering to zero the tariff rates on goods, and removing trade barriers to pave the way for creating a single market economy by 2015.
The uncertainty was expressed recently by an official of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) secretariat in Jakarta. According to Anna Robeniol, head of the external economic relations division of the Asean secretariat here, member-countries are facing pressures to bring down tariffs on close to 90 percent of goods covered under the Asean Trade in Goods Agreement (Atiga), effective January 1, 2010.
Atiga, adopted in November 2007, replaced the Asean free-trade area (Afta) that was adopted by the 10 member-countries in 1993.
“The Philippines is in a very difficult time; in a few months, we will be changing leaders and industries are actively lobbying for the postponement on the zero-tariff rates,” said Robeniol in an informal lecture with journalists from Asean members.
Besides Atiga, free-trade agreements signed by Asean with dialogue partners Japan, China and Korea as well as India will also take effect on January 1, 2010.
Robeniol said the complaints of the industries in the Philippines and in other Asean members are only being aired in the newspapers. No formal request for postponement of the implementation of these trade deals have been filed in the Asean secretariat.
“Industries have been very complacent over the years, they relied too much on tariff protection and their lobby abilities, particularly big industries,” said Robeniol.
Industry concerns on Atiga and free-trade deals with Asean dialogue partners may be filed with the Asean secretariat as these treaties provide dispute-settlement mechanisms.
But Robeniol said, “If it [complaint] goes to the table, it’s difficult to address it because it will open the floodgates to other industries in other countries.”
Private industries and the agriculture sector have raised concern that tariff eliminations on imported products will seriously affect their business as their governments failed to help them adopt safety measures.
The Asean official also lamented there is no current regional mechanism to engage stakeholders on these issues.
The Asean trade in goods deal prepares the economies for an Asean Economic Community by 2015 for six countries—the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore and Brunei—and 2020 for the less-developed countries Cambodial, Laos, Myanmar (Burma) and Vietnam.
