Sympathy strikes proposed for WTO developing economies

Asian Economic News, Oct 25, 1999

MANILA, Oct. 21 Kyodo Trade officials from developing countries, seeking fairer rules under the World Trade Organization (WTO), should, one suggested Thursday, get developing economies commit themselves to join in when a developing country tries to retaliate for trade violations.

Philippine Trade Undersecretary Lilia Bautista, who participated in an Asia Pacific business leaders' forum on what new rules need to be taken up at the WTO, pointed to the need for more muscle for developing economies.

"If you are a developing country and you retaliate against a developed country whose exports to your country are minimal, then retaliation might not be effective," she told the general assembly of the Pacific Economic Cooperation Council (PECC).

"Maybe what we should have is some kind of 'sympathy strike' (mechanism) that when a developing country retaliates, other developed countries...also retaliate for the same reasons," she said.

Bautista also proposed that at the new round of WTO negotiations to begin next month in Seattle, the WTO review existing provisions on developing economies.

She noted several measures such as those on antidumping and contingencies disadvantage developing economies, which are faced with many antidumping suits.

Poorer economies also do not have the capacity to comply with WTO requirements such as putting in place laws on plant variety, integrated shipping or intellectual property by Jan. 1, 2000.

"On subsidies and dumping and trade related measures, some of the guidelines are kind of stiff for developing countries," Bautista said.

On customs valuation, for example, she noted developing economies do not have the data nor the instruments to question transaction values.

Bautista also opposed linking labor and environmental issues to trade as some developed economies want.

Wang Chih-Kang, Taiwan's minister of economic affairs, told the same conference Taiwan sees "a need for new rules that address problems of nontariff trade barriers." He also called for a thorough examination of current subsidy programs under the WTO agreement on agriculture to gauge the negative impact on environmental resource sustainability, particularly in the forestry and fisheries sectors.

Taiwan, which is a WTO observer in the final stage of accession, wants to fully participate in the new round of negotiations, he said.