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US concerned over ECFA notification
OPACITY:WTO regulations require that members entering
regional or bilateral trade agreements fulfill an ¡¥obligation of transparency¡¦
before the deals can take effect
By Shih Hsiu-chuan / Staff Reporter
The US government has expressed serious concern over the fact that the Economic
Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA) documents signed by Taiwan and China in
June have yet to be submitted to the WTO as promised, Taiwan¡¦s envoy to
Washington said yesterday.
¡§Sending a notification about the ECFA to the WTO is the right thing to do,¡¨
Taiwan¡¦s Representative to the US Jason Yuan (°K°·¥Í) told Democratic Progressive
Party Legislator Huang Wei-cher (¶À°¶õ) at the legislature¡¦s Foreign and National
Defense Committee.
Huang had asked Yuan how he had explained to the US government that Taiwan had
yet to notify the WTO of the EFCA, as promised by President Ma Ying-jeou (°¨^¤E).
Ma made the promise during a July 1 press conference at the Presidential Office.
Yuan said he had conveyed US concerns to Taipei, adding that he did not know
what had delayed the process of notification.
¡§The ECFA has to be consistent with the spirit enshrined in the WTO¡¨ and in line
with the meaning attached to the accord, in that it must allow for the greater
internationalization of Taiwan, Yuan said.
A Ministry of Economic Affairs official said in August that the ministry would
handle the translation into English of the ECFA documents to be submitted to the
WTO. Taipei would then notify Beijing of its English version to ensure there are
no discrepancies between the translations before each side submitted its English
version to the WTO, the official said.
On Nov. 30, American Institute in Taiwan Chairman Raymond Burghardt urged Taiwan
to deliver on its promise in a speech in Taipei.
¡§Now that the agreement is in force, we encourage the parties [Taiwan and China]
to notify the WTO of the ECFA in a manner consistent with the requirements for
agreements that cover substantially all trade. We will be closely observing the
ECFA process as it moves forward,¡¨ Burghardt said.
Honigmann Hong (¬x°]¶©), an adjunct assistant professor of economics at National
Tsing Hua University¡¦s Center for Contemporary China, said the WTO Secretariat
must be notified of the ECFA before Jan. 1, the date on which the ¡§early
harvest¡¨ program on tariff cuts contained in the deal comes into force.
WTO regulations require that members entering regional or bilateral trade
agreements fulfill the ¡§obligation of transparency¡¨ before commencement of the
deals, Hong said.
To ensure compliance with WTO standards, once the WTO is notified of such
agreements, signatories are required to take questions on the agreement from
other WTO members, while the WTO Secretariat will present a detailed analysis of
the agreement or factual presentation within a year, he said.
If the WTO were not notified of the ECFA, it would give substance to the fears
held by some that trade between Taiwan and China is regarded as an ¡§internal
Chinese affair,¡¨ Hong said.
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