Brunei to join new regional free trade deal
Thursday, July 12, 2007
BRUNEI will be part of a regional free trade deal that is being proposed among the world's economic giants such as the US, Canada and South Korea.
New Zealand Trade Minister Phil Goff yesterday floated the prospect of a regional free trade deal consisting of Brunei, the United States, Canada, Mexico, Australia, New Zealand, Chile, Singapore and South Korea.
It suggested by the minister as an alternative should the current Doha round of World Trade Organisation (WTO) talks fail to be revived.
"An option is to look inside or outside of Apec for a coalition of countries with greater ambition to achieve a regional free trade agreement by moving ahead of, rather than waiting for, consensus within larger organisations," said Goff.
The P4 Trans-Pacific Strategic Economic Partnership of Brunei, Chile, New Zealand and Singapore provided a model for such a regional agreement, he said.
"A grouping of progressive economies including perhaps the US, Canada, Mexico, Australia, the P4 countries, Korea, and others could reach a high-quality FTA, which would allow other prepared to meet this threshold and dock into it."
"This option has not yet been tested but could be explored if avenues such as the Doha round do not come to fruition."
The troubled Doha round of global trade talks nearly collapsed three weeks ago in Potsdam, Germany, over disagreements among the United States, European Union, Brazil and India. The WTOs four biggest powers could not break a six-year impasse between rich and poor countries over eliminating barriers to trade in farm produce and manufactured goods. The 21-member bloc accounts for half the world's trade.
Fauziah Talib, a member of Brunei's Apec Business Advisory Council (ABAC) expressed support for an extension of the current P4 group, but stopped short of saying that it would act as a replacement for an Apec-wide FTA.
"The P4 group is one of those avenues you can basically utilise to meet a certain objective," she said, adding that the formation of such a group was not meant to exclude other Apec members.
"It is more like a stepping stone that is going towards that direction (Doha round of WTO negotiations)."
The P4 FTA was initially known as the P3 FTA when it was launched by Chile, New Zealand and Singapore at the sidelines of the Apec Economic Leaders' Meeting in Los Cabos, Mexico in 2002, but was renamed with Brunei's entry in April 2005.
Despite cultural and geographical differences, the four member countries share similar attributes: all are relatively small countries, with no more than 16 million inhabitants.
The aim of the agreement is to eliminate 90 per cent of all tariffs between member countries by January 1, 2006 and reduce all trade tariffs to zero by 2015. The comprehensive agreement covers all the mainstays of an FTA, including trade in goods, rules of origin, trade remedies, sanitary and phytosanitary measures, technical barriers to trade, trade in services, intellectual property, government procurement and competition policy.
The Doha global trade talks is expected to be discussed at the upcoming APEC leaders summit September 8-9 in Sydney.
The Brunei Times
New Zealand Trade Minister Phil Goff yesterday floated the prospect of a regional free trade deal consisting of Brunei, the United States, Canada, Mexico, Australia, New Zealand, Chile, Singapore and South Korea.
It suggested by the minister as an alternative should the current Doha round of World Trade Organisation (WTO) talks fail to be revived.
"An option is to look inside or outside of Apec for a coalition of countries with greater ambition to achieve a regional free trade agreement by moving ahead of, rather than waiting for, consensus within larger organisations," said Goff.
The P4 Trans-Pacific Strategic Economic Partnership of Brunei, Chile, New Zealand and Singapore provided a model for such a regional agreement, he said.
"A grouping of progressive economies including perhaps the US, Canada, Mexico, Australia, the P4 countries, Korea, and others could reach a high-quality FTA, which would allow other prepared to meet this threshold and dock into it."
"This option has not yet been tested but could be explored if avenues such as the Doha round do not come to fruition."
The troubled Doha round of global trade talks nearly collapsed three weeks ago in Potsdam, Germany, over disagreements among the United States, European Union, Brazil and India. The WTOs four biggest powers could not break a six-year impasse between rich and poor countries over eliminating barriers to trade in farm produce and manufactured goods. The 21-member bloc accounts for half the world's trade.
Fauziah Talib, a member of Brunei's Apec Business Advisory Council (ABAC) expressed support for an extension of the current P4 group, but stopped short of saying that it would act as a replacement for an Apec-wide FTA.
"The P4 group is one of those avenues you can basically utilise to meet a certain objective," she said, adding that the formation of such a group was not meant to exclude other Apec members.
"It is more like a stepping stone that is going towards that direction (Doha round of WTO negotiations)."
The P4 FTA was initially known as the P3 FTA when it was launched by Chile, New Zealand and Singapore at the sidelines of the Apec Economic Leaders' Meeting in Los Cabos, Mexico in 2002, but was renamed with Brunei's entry in April 2005.
Despite cultural and geographical differences, the four member countries share similar attributes: all are relatively small countries, with no more than 16 million inhabitants.
The aim of the agreement is to eliminate 90 per cent of all tariffs between member countries by January 1, 2006 and reduce all trade tariffs to zero by 2015. The comprehensive agreement covers all the mainstays of an FTA, including trade in goods, rules of origin, trade remedies, sanitary and phytosanitary measures, technical barriers to trade, trade in services, intellectual property, government procurement and competition policy.
The Doha global trade talks is expected to be discussed at the upcoming APEC leaders summit September 8-9 in Sydney.
The Brunei Times
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