Asia Pulse DOHA, Nov 9
Korean representatives to the World Trade Organization's (WTO) Ministerial Conference in Qatar said Friday that they will take an active role in agriculture and anti-dumping negotiations and do their upmost to safeguard Korean interests.
Minister of Trade Hwang Doo-yun, the chief delegate, and Chung Eui-yong, Korean envoy to Geneva, told reporters here that there is a fair possibility the New Round could come during the five-day conference.
The two men added other areas of concern include intellectual investments and policies related to building up competitiveness. The trade minister, in particular, vowed to push regulations to halt excessive use of anti-dumping charges to block imports. He said Korea had been charged with committing close to 100 dumping offences so far.
Hwang then said that on matters related to agriculture, WTO members should take into account issues raised by the non-trade concerns (NTC) group and avoid any radical changes since this could have negative consequences for free trade.
Hwang and Chung stressed that they held talks with U.S. Trade Representative Robert Zoellick on this matter before the WTO meeting and that every effort would be made to make certain that Korea was not put at a disadvantage on these issues. They also said that Minister of Agriculture and Forestry Kim Dong-tae had also talked to WTO Director-General Mike Moore to ask for cooperation.
"Because all participants must reach a consensus on outstanding issues there is little chance measures to maintain tariffs on rice will be altered," Korea's chief negotiator said. He added that if the New Round is launched during the meeting, negotiations could continue for the next 4-5 years.
Besides this, the Korean representatives said that there was likely to be considerable friction between advanced countries and developing nations on the protection of property rights.
The ministerial meeting, with participants from 142 countries will open at 11:30 p.m. Friday Korea time. They are also expected to officially accept China as a member of the world body Saturday. sd:
