[asia-apec 1599] NZ Trade Minister to ASEAN, Cairns Group meetings

[APEC Monitoring Group]

Jim Sutton to attend ASEAN, Cairns Group meeting
Friday, 29 September 2000, 2:16 pm
Press Release: New Zealand Government

Jim Sutton to attend ASEAN, Cairns Group meetings

Trade Negotiations Minister Jim Sutton is to attend the annual meetings of
the Association of South East Asian Nations and Closer Economic Relationship
economic ministers in Chiang Mai, Thailand, and the Cairns Group in Banff,
Canada during the next two weeks.

Mr Sutton leaves New Zealand on Wednesday, October 4, for Bangkok.

There, he will meet new Thai agriculture and cooperatives minister, Prapat
Pothasuthon , before going on to Chiang Mai for the ASEAN-CER meeting. At
that meeting, trade ministers from South East Asia, Australia, and New
Zealand will discuss CER's programme of trade facilitation and co-operation
with ASEAN. Also on the agenda is a report for ministers recommending that
they support the concept of linking the AFTA and CER trade agreements.

Mr Sutton also hopes to meet European and American trade representatives,
who have annual consultation meetings with ASEAN at the same time.

"The concept of linking AFTA and CER is an exciting one and one well worth
exploring."

However, he noted that any move to negotiating such a link would need to be
mandated by the New Zealand Cabinet first.

>From Chiang Mai, Mr Sutton is transiting through Hong Kong and will briefly
meet his Hong Kong counterpart, Brian Chau, before flying to Canada.

Mr Sutton will then travel to Vancouver for meetings with local business
leaders, and then to Banff to attend the meeting of the Cairns Group of
agricultural trading nations and to meet Canadian agriculture minister, Lyle
Vanclief.

Among the subjects for discussion at the Cairns Group meeting is the
negotiating proposal on domestic subsidies the group tabled last week at the
special negotiations on agriculture in Geneva. That proposal calls for major
reductions in domestic subsidies (including an initial 50% cut), the
elimination of trade-distorting support, tighter rules on allowable
subsidies, and for subsidy limits to be imposed on a product-specific basis.

Mr Sutton said agricultural subsidies had been bad news for New Zealand and
he welcomed the Cairns Group's initiative to ensure unfair subsidies were
abolished.

"I was delighted at the broad support the Cairns Group's proposal on export
subsidies received at the meeting I attended in Geneva in June. I am
confident that this latest proposal on domestic subsidies will be similarly
welcomed."

"We should be able to do a lot better than we did in the Uruguay Round. For
all too long, agricultural subsidy practices have been allowed to flourish,
at the expense of efficient agriculture producing countries, such as New
Zealand. And even more critically, it is at the expense of economic
development and food security for poorer countries."

"I welcome the Cairns Group's continued leadership on agricultural trade
reform. I am looking forward to discussing with my Ministerial colleagues in
Banff what more the Cairns Group could and should be doing to improve the
lot of farmers worldwide."

Mr Sutton returns to New Zealand on Sunday, October 15.


Office of Hon Jim Sutton