Public hearing 'required' before FTA talks

Public hearing 'required' before FTA talks

A free trade agreement (FTA) with the European Union requires not only parliamentary approval but also a public hearing before the Commerce Ministry can negotiate the terms, FTA Watch, a civil society network, declared on Wednesday.

FTA Watch was instrumental in stalling former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra's dream of FTAs with leading countries and regional blocs a decade ago.

An open letter was to Commerce Minister Boonsong Teriyapirom on Wednesday, FTA Watch chair Prof Sumlee Jaidee sought clarification and a guarantee from the Yingluck Shinawatra government that it would ensure transparency and accountability in proceeding with the trade agreement, to prevent benefiting more vested groups rather than the public at large.

Commerce Minister Boonsong Teriyapirom (Photo by Natthiti Ampriwan)

The Commerce Ministry had said it would seek parliamentary endorsement this month for a free trade agreement framework of negotiation with the EU.

However, Article 190 of the constitution requires that the public must be informed of the framework negotiation and a public hearing is required alongside parliamentary debate.

So far, the ministry had not consulted with civil society at all, the open letter said.

The alliance has also questioned the preliminary procedures the EU has suggested as a prelude to fully fledged FTA talks.

"The public does not have any information about the mini-treaty deal, whether there is or will be any public hearing on this step or not. Also, whether the parliament will be consulted on this procedure or not," the letter said.

FTA Watch coordinator Kannikar Kijtiwatchakul said civil society was concerned that an FTA with the EU would another "TRIPs Plus", which affects public access to medicines and knowledge concerning biotechnology resources.

The Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) is the most comprehensive multilateral trade agreement dealing with the intellectual property rights under the World Trade Organisation.  

"India has not yet made an agreement with the EU on this TRIPs Plus feature. Even the EU Council has also voted against the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, a similar sort of intellectual property rights protection agreement.

"The Thai government's push for an FTA with the EU to offset the side effects of the Generalised System of Preference (GSP) cuts is short sighted if we don’t deal with the whole issue thoroughly," said Ms Kannikar.

Trade Negotiations Department director-general Srirat Rastapana previously said that although the two sides have held several rounds of talks over the past two years, the scope of the agreement needs to be approved by the Thai parliament under the provisions of Article 190 of the constitution.

She felt the timing was good since the EU was now keen to increase trade and investment cooperation with  Asia and an FTA could help clear existing trade barriers and raise the issue of Thai gradation from tariff privileges.

The EU countries are the second largest investors in Thailand after Japan with investments totalling US$1.52 billion in 2010, or 15.7 per cent of total foreign direct investment (FDI) in Thailand, according to the Bank of Thailand.

The bloc is also the largest investor in Asean, with total investment of $17 billion in 2010, or 22.4 per cent of total FDI in the region.

The EU had earlier sought negotiations for a multilateral FTA with Asean in May 2007. But after seven rounds of talks, the two sides agreed to suspend negotiations because the EU was not ready to embrace Myanmar. The economic development of Asean members was also so varied that they could not respond to the EU's requests as a group.

Since then, the EU has adjusted its strategy to holding bilateral FTA negotiations with Asean members.

UNCTAD secretary-general Supachai Panitchpakdi has not supported bilateral FTAs, rather he suggested that Thailand should focus on regional or multilateral negotiations that would rather ensure the developing countries' benefits.

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