SUNS #4780 Friday 10 November 2000 south-north development monitor SUNS
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Geneva, 8 Nov (Chakravarthi Raghavan) -- The talks on China's accession to the World Trade Organization are making progress, with China showing 'considerable flexibility', and the working party is expected to meet Thursday and register progress and adjourn to meet again in December, trade diplomats said.
Of the eleven areas identified at the last meeting (that ended on 28 September) as difficult questions requiring solutions, and on which plurilateral meetings were set, trade diplomats said that the talks this week at the WTO has registered progress on key issues like transition review mechanism, industrial subsidies, administration of tariff quotas in agriculture.
There were one or two key issues pending even within these items, but these and other pending issues may be settled in 'ministerial talks' involving US Trade Representative Charlene Barshefsky and the European Commissioner Pascal Lamy, and China, on the sidelines of the APEC Summit meeting set for 11-13 November in Brunei Darussalam.
The bilateral talks between Mexico and China which also have failed to be completed may also be held on the sidelines of the APEC summit.
On the difficult question of transition review mechanism (TRM) - an alternative to the WTO's Trade Policy Review Mechanism, TPRM invoked for all members -- agreement has been reportedly reached that China's implementation of the terms of joining the WTO would be reviewed annually for 'x' years, and thereafter every two years for 'y' years. The 'x' and 'y' are yet to be settled, as also the total duration 'x+y' for the mechanism.
The US reportedly has been seeking a 16-year period for the TRM, while the EC slightly less. With China having a 15-year transition for 'safeguards' mechanism and one or two other areas, trade officials said they expected a compromise between 12 and 15 years.
Difficult talks are still ahead on issues like product safeguards, anti-dumping, domestic support and subsidies in agriculture and 'trading rights'.:
