The European Chamber of Commerce Taipei (ECCT) released its annual WTO Monitoring Report yesterday, praising Taiwan for making progress, but adding that the country has fallen short of WTO obligations it had promised to comply with.
While a few pressing issues have been addressed or seen improvement, most continue to remain unresolved, the chamber said in the report, written by law firm Baker & McKenzie.
The report said the situation regarding government procurement projects was of "grave concern" for the ECCT and its WTO Committee.
"Without a competitive bidding process, Taiwanese taxpayers are forced to pay a higher price for possibly lower-quality service," said ECCT CEO Guy Wittich. "We urge the government to open up the process."
The chamber said European companies continue to be excluded from bidding on most government projects or, in those cases where they are allowed to bid, face unfair treatment.
Of concern is the country's acceptance of the WTO's Agreement on Government Procurement (GPA), the chamber said.
Taiwan promised to join the GPA within a year of acceding to the international trade body on Jan. 1, 2002. But disputes between Taiwan and China over nomenclature have delayed the process.
The report cited notable improvements by Taiwan on some WTO issues.
There was progress in dealing with Taiwan's power-of-attorney practices, whereby a legal representative of foreign firms can be forced to go through lengthy notarization processes to prove he or she represents a firm, a process not required of those representing local firms.
Similarly, the government has improved the drug approval process, the chamber said. And previous discrimination against foreign investors in cases where they were contributing property as equity into a foreign corporation has been eliminated, it added.
However, other issues saw only minor improvement, including the ban on imports of some Chinese goods, which the chamber views as a practice that puts Taiwan in violation of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade.
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