The
Philippine Council on ASEAN and APEC Cooperation Technical
Board for Economic Cooperation (TBEC) met five
times since July 2000 to consider proposed Philippine positions
for ASEAN meetings, such as the ASEAN Economic
Ministers (AEM) Meeting, Senior Economic Officials Meetings
(SEOM), the Coordinating Committee on Services
Meetings and the Coordinating Committee on Investments Meetings,
among others. The following are some
of the major accomplishments of the technical Board related
to the formulation of Philippine positions for ASEAN
meetings.
A.
Joint Statement on East Asian Cooperation
The
BSP Proposal for a Real Time Gross Settlement System was endorsed
in August 2000 and approved by the PCAAC
Cabinet via ad referendum in September 2000. However, the
BSP decided not to submit the proposal to the
ASEAN Finance and Central Bank Deputies meetings (AFDM) as
BSP was not sure on whether to submit the proposal
directly to AFDM or thru the ASEAN Secretariat. The TC proposal
(Information Exchange on Competition Policy
for East Asia) was approved by the SEOM, but China, Japan,
and ROK felt that the subject is adequately discussed
in APEC. The DOE proposal (Rational Use of Energy Expert Exchange
Program) was not approved by
the SEOM
as HRD is not a priority. Meanwhile, DENR decided not to submit
its proposal (National Tree Improvement Program)
for ASEAN+3 cooperation.
B.
ASEAN Framework Agreement on Multimodal Transport
The
DOTC has requested the TBEC for comments on the latest draft
of the Agreement. In May and September 2000,
DFA informed TBEC of the possible inconsistencies between
the draft Agreement and the Philippine Constitution
and laws (Republic Service Act, Civil Code, Negotiable Instruments
Law). However, DOTC reiterated that,
per Art.32.6, the Agreement does not affect the laws and regulations
of Member-Countries, which reserve the
right to operate a unimodal transport for their nationals.
Furthermore, the delineation of responsibilities and liabilities
is attuned to the current philosophy and realities of mutimodal
operations. Finally, the spirit of the agreement
is to settle disputes first through arbitration, and subsequently
through juridical decisions.
C.
The DOST Membership in the TBEC
In
July 2000, DOST expressed a desire to withdraw from the TBEC
in the light of reactivation of the Technical Board for
Functional Cooperation. DOST reconsidered the position when
TBEC members impressed upon DOST that it has
an important role in advising the TBEC on the economic component,
and commercial application of the S&T.
D.
First Meeting of the ASEAN Ministers of Agriculture and Food
(AMAF) +3
In
September 2000, TBEC suggested that the AMAF+3 should: (a)
supplement and not duplicate ongoing dialogues
and projects with China, Japan, and ROK in other fora (WTO,
CODEX) ; (b) AMAF should first agree on the
areas of cooperation; and (c) AMAF+3 should discuss only new
areas, e.g., post harvest and food security.
E.
Framework Agreement on the ASEAN Investment Area
The
TBEC supported the BOI, DTI, and BSP positions in opposing
the Thai proposal (supported by Singapore) to amend
Art. 8(2) on MEN and Art. 9 on waiver on MEN, which was discussed
in the 8th meeting of the Coordinating
Committee on Investments (August 7-8, 2000, Brunei Darussalem).
Malaysia supported the
Philippine position.
F.
SEARCA Technical Proposal and TOR for Livestock policy Options
in Southeast Asia for millennium Negotiations.
The
SEARCA proposal submitted to DFA in April 2000 for funding
from the ASEAN Secretariat was endorsed by DA in
June 2000. However, other TBEC members suggested in September
2000 that the proposal should be approved by
the AMAF, while NEDA proposed some revisions o the TOR in
October 2000. Subsequently, SEARCA withdrew its proposal
but was able to obtain funding from ADB.
G.
Philippine Specific Commitments on Tourist
TBEC
endorsed the revised specific commitments for the second round
of negotiations under the ASEAN Framework
Agreement on Services on April 30, 2001 and agreed to submit
them for ad referendum approval of the
PCAAC Cabinet.
H.
DFA Participation in negotiations under the AFAS
TBEC
agreed on April 30, 2001 that DFA shall be invited to form
part of the Philippine delegation to the meetings of
the ASEAN Coordinating Committee on Trade and Services created
under the TRM Technical Committee on WTO
Matters.
I.
Tentative Schedule for Philippine Commitments for the 27th
CCS
TBEC
approved the tentative schedule of commitments in the business/
professional, construction and telecommunication
services sectors (including the proposal to revise the commitment
under architecture to delete
the commitment involving the approval of Congress) for submission
to the ASEAN Secretariat. |
