[asia-apec 106] (Fwd) - APEC - Will Trade be Relegated to the Old Backburner?

[Jagdish Parikh]

------- Forwarded Message Follows -------
From:          contours at pg.frlht.ernet.in
Date:          Tue, 10 Sep 1996 15:10:42 
Organization:  CONTOURS  Bangalore.

APEC  :  Will trade be relegated to the old backburner?

(The Apec agenda has always been dominated by talks on free trade,
but as Johanna Son of Inter Press Service writes, the Pacific region
is coming increasingly under a green spotlight.)

When government officials and economists talk about the Asia Pacific
Economic Cooperation, they mostly discuss how to tear down economic
barriers among the group's 18-members and promote growth.  Indeed
free-trade jargon has dominated Apec conferences in the last four
years, highlighted by its goal of a tariff-free economic zone by the
year 2020.  But in the face of repeated criticisms from environmental
activists concerned about the preoccupation with trade-related
issues, as well as by its own realisation, the group now acknowledges
the need for environmental priorities on its long-term agenda `so as
to ensure that the region's economic prosperity is sustainable'.

To illustrate Apec's concern about the environment, officials held
recently a ministerial meeting on sustainable development - the first
of its kind in the region.

"The Asia-Pacific region's fast expanding population and rapid
economic growth are forecast to sharply increase the demand for food
and energy and the pressures on the environment," said a declaration
issued by Apec ministers at the end of the two-day meeting in
Manila. The ministers, meeting ahead of the Apec Summit in November,
noted that with fast growth, many cities are becoming more polluted,
congested, and that quality of life may soon be threatened.
Addressing the meeting, Philippine President Fidel Ramos said: "We
have agreed that the environment should not be sacrificed on the
express train of economic growth."  Philippine environment secretary
Victor Ramos said there is a realisation that "there is no place for
lone rangers when it comes to the environment in the Asia-Pacific,
because one country's power production can become acid rain the next
country."

Formed in 1989 as a loose forum for economic cooperation and trade
and investment ties, Apec has come under fire from Asian members that
find its aim of helping poorer nations has taken a back seat to richer
nations' agenda of free trade.  The member economies of Apec, which
bridges North America and Asia-Pacific, account for more than 56 per
cent of global output and more than 46 per cent of world trade in
goods.

Apec groups Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, China, Hong Kong,
Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Mexico. New Zealand, Papua New
Guinea, the Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and the United
States.  Activists say discussions of greener, more people-friendly
brand of free trade may just remain talk.  "Apec is usually rick in
rhetoric but if you look closer, the contents of its commitments are
not that substantive.  It's strong in words, but implementing
agreements are very weak," said Horacio Morales of the Philippine
Rural Reconstruction Movement.  Still, officials say getting
recognition is a crucial step forward.

"The acceptance of the concept of sustainable development by Apec
ministers is a first step," says Philippine environment undersecretary
Delfin Ganapin. Officials added that Asia-Pacific economies must do
more to make their cities more inhabitable by tackling problems like
air and water pollution, lack of sanitation and traffic congestion.
They agreed that Apec economies must clean up the marine environment,
particularly the Pacific Ocean.  "It makes economic sense to preserve
the environment, especially in a world where the market itself is
starting to dictate that firms and farms use environment-friendly
processes," says economic planning secretary Cielito Habito.  At the
end of the meeting, the ministers agreed that green strategies would
be pursued not by seeking huge aid funds but by exploring "innovative
strategies like pollution charges and other green fees".

The Philippines, this year's Apec chair, says there is a need to find
"the proper balance between economy and environment" at a time when
the race to be competitive business hubs could put pressure on pulling
down environmental and labor standards.

In a report called `Apec and the Philippines,' the government urged
Apec economies to draft their own consistent rules on the environment
to guide new investments.  The report also reflected Manila's
optimism: "Only in this way can economic growth be reconciled with
sustainable development and can the country lay claim to being the
first `green tiger'."

At an Apec meeting, in June, development experts urged members to
study the introduction of environment and natural resources accounting
into national income accounts, and the use of market-based measures
like fees for exploiting environmental resources.  The experts advised
Apec economies to price the use of their natural resources by their
true value, and to look beyond growth rates and locus on environment
and social costs.

For instance, gross domestic product growth rates would most likely
fall if national income accounts reflected environmental degradation.
But some Apec members may worry about losing comparative advantage -
at least in the short term - as a result of higher environmental
standards or environmental pricing.  Asian nations are wary of linking
trade with green issues, thinking it may be a disguised form of
protectionism.

Ganapin agreed that Apec's member economies are in varying stages of
development. For instance, Japan's gross national product per capita
is $19,970 compared to Indonesia's $320.

However, all Apec economies, he said, are keen on protecting their
environment while pursuing growth strategies: "What we would like to
do is close the gap, both in terms of the economy and environment,
within Apec."  The UNDP had also pushed for Apec's greater focus on
environment issues, urging the forum to continue efforts to "minimise
waste, utilise raw materials and energy more efficiently to eliminate
toxic raw materials and to reduce impacts along the entire life
cycle."

Asian Age, Bombay
26 August 1996