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NEWS - Thailand, Australia to push



Subject: NEWS - Thailand, Australia to push for farm liberalisation

Thailand, Australia to push for farm liberalisation

  
BANGKOK, Nov 16 (Reuters) - Thailand and Australia will discuss ways to
push their agricultural liberalisation agenda in world trade talks when
they meet for ministerial level talks on Wednesday, officials of both
countries said on Tuesday. 

Australia's Trade Minister Mark Vaile and Foreign Minister Alexander
Downer will meet counterparts Supachai Panitchpakdi and Surin Pitsuwan
in the southern Thai town of Nakorn Srithammarat. 

The talks between the two major agricultural exporters come less than
two weeks before a key ministerial meeting of the 134-member World Trade
Organisation in Seattle aimed at launching a new round of global trade
negotiations, where differences over politically sensitive areas like
agriculture remain major obstacles. 

Thai and Australian officials said the meeting of the Australia-Thailand
Joint Ministerial Economic Committee would reaffirm a joint view that
agricultural products should be treated just like any other product by
the WTO. 

Both Thailand and Australia belong to the 15-nation Cairns Group at the
WTO which takes this view and wants agriculture at the centre of the
millennium trade talks next year in Seattle. 

``We want deeper cuts in the tariff rates across the board,'' a Thai
Commerce Ministry official said. ``And with domestic subsidies, there
should be an agreement to cut deeper. For export subsidies, we want
zero.'' 

The European Union, Japan and South Korea have argued farm products
should not be treated like industrial products, saying agriculture plays
a special role in food security and protecting the environment and rural
culture. 

The Thai Commerce Ministry official said Thailand and Australia had no
major bilateral trade problems. 

``But we have some concerns,'' she said. ``Of course, we want to gain
some more access to the Australian market particularly for agricultural
products like chicken -- that market has been closed from foreign
imports for many years. Also, we have several agricultural products
which are subject to Australia's quarantine regulations.'' 

On sugar, both Thailand and Australia, the number three and number two
world producers respectively, want cuts in subsidies from the next trade
round. 

``Sugar is one sector within...WTO negotiations on agriculture where we
would like to see a lot of progress,'' an Australian diplomat said. 

Diplomats said Downer and Surin were also expected to discuss regional
security issues including East Timor and Myanmar. 

07:32 11-16-99