Trade ministers from 21 Asia-Pacific nations yesterday agreed on a formula to be used to cut tariffs on non-agricultural products, organizers said.
The ministers attending the APEC forum adopted the so-called "Swiss formula" to calculate future tariff reductions in the non-agricultural market access (NAMA) field.
The agreement was a setback for developing countries who were pushing for a different method that was viewed as more tolerant of their higher protectionist tariff rates.
"This 2005 Jeju APEC meeting continues to follow the successful path of the recent meetings, by bringing to fruition a consensus on supporting [the] Swiss formula as the tariff-reduction formula," said South Korea's trade minister Kim Hyun-Chong, who chaired the two-day forum which ended yesterday.
"This achievement in NAMA will provide the much needed political impetus to the NAMA Doha negotiations," Kim said.
Differences over how to calculate future tariff cuts in non-agricultural products have emerged as a major stumbling block in the WTO's effort to come up with a viable plan by July.
The "breakthrough" is particularly positive for all WTO members as they prepare for the much anticipated WTO Ministerial Conference in Hong Kong in December, APEC said in a press statement.
Separately, Brunei, Chile, New Zealand and Singapore have agreed to create the first trans-Pacific free-trade agreement, officials said yesterday.
More than 90 percent of trade among the four countries will be duty-free after the pact takes effect next year, officials from the four countries said in a joint statement. The countries will sign the agreement at an unspecified later date.
The agreement will help build "a bridge between Latin America, the Pacific and Asia," the officials said.
The pact ``will encourage Brunei, Chile, Singapore and New Zealand to pool their expertise, ideas, technology and resources to improve their competitiveness on the global market,'' a statement from Singapore's the Ministry of Trade and Industry said.
Under negotiation since 2002, the agreement will also allow all four to compete with domestic suppliers for most government contracts, the statement said.
Taiwanese Olympic badminton men’s doubles gold medalist Wang Chi-lin (王齊麟) and his new partner, Chiu Hsiang-chieh (邱相榤), clinched the men’s doubles title at the Yonex Taipei Open yesterday, becoming the second Taiwanese team to win a title in the tournament. Ranked 19th in the world, the Taiwanese duo defeated Kang Min-hyuk and Ki Dong-ju of South Korea 21-18, 21-15 in a pulsating 43-minute final to clinch their first doubles title after teaming up last year. Wang, the men’s doubles gold medalist at the 2020 and 2024 Olympics, partnered with Chiu in August last year after the retirement of his teammate Lee Yang
FALSE DOCUMENTS? Actor William Liao said he was ‘voluntarily cooperating’ with police after a suspect was accused of helping to produce false medical certificates Police yesterday questioned at least six entertainers amid allegations of evasion of compulsory military service, with Lee Chuan (李銓), a member of boy band Choc7 (超克7), and actor Daniel Chen (陳大天) among those summoned. The New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office in January launched an investigation into a group that was allegedly helping men dodge compulsory military service using falsified medical documents. Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) has been accused of being one of the group’s clients. As the investigation expanded, investigators at New Taipei City’s Yonghe Precinct said that other entertainers commissioned the group to obtain false documents. The main suspect, a man surnamed
US Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer began talks with high-ranking Chinese officials in Switzerland yesterday aiming to de-escalate a dispute that threatens to cut off trade between the world’s two biggest economies and damage the global economy. The US delegation has begun meetings in Geneva with a Chinese delegation led by Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng (何立峰), Xinhua News Agency said. Diplomats from both sides also confirmed that the talks have begun, but spoke anonymously and the exact location of the talks was not made public. Prospects for a major breakthrough appear dim, but there is
The number of births in Taiwan fell to an all-time monthly low last month, while the population declined for the 16th consecutive month, Ministry of the Interior data released on Friday showed. The number of newborns totaled 8,684, which is 704 births fewer than in March and the lowest monthly figure on record, the ministry said. That is equivalent to roughly one baby born every five minutes and an annual crude birthrate of 4.52 per 1,000 people, the ministry added. Meanwhile, 17,205 deaths were recorded, resulting in a natural population decrease of 8,521, the data showed. More people are also leaving Taiwan, with net
RSS