Govt urged to review Thai-EU pact
Bangkok Post | 7/03/2012
Govt urged to review Thai-EU pact
FTA Watch is urging the government to review a proposed free trade pact with the European Union as they say it ignores public participation in decision-making and denies scrutiny of the negotiations.
The demand was made yesterday at a seminar called: "The Impact of the Planned Thai-EU Free Trade Agreement". The seminar, which was organised by FTA Watch, was aimed at encouraging the public to monitor the pros and cons of the proposed Thai-EU pact as well as other bilateral trade deals.
Former prime minister Abhisit Vejjajiva opened talks on the agreement with European Union leaders at the Asia-Europe Meeting (Asem) in Brussels, Belgium in September 2010.
Jacque-chai Chomthongdi, FTA Watch coordinator, warned of possible drawbacks by highlighting what he said is a serious problem with the Indian-EU free trade agreement (FTA).
Mr Jacque-chai said the Indian-EU deal is threatening people’s access to life-saving medicines.
Such an agreement should be a wake-up call for the Thai government to carefully review the Thai-EU agreement. The government should also inform the public more about bilateral deals before pressing ahead with its plans, he said.
Mr Jacque-chai said as far as he knew trade liberalisation procedures have not yet been stated clearly in the Treaty Making Process Draft Act from the Foreign Ministry’s Department of Treaties and Legal Affairs and the cabinet has not yet approved this draft act.
Furthermore, Mr Jacque-chai said, a newly appointed team of trade representatives did not even have access to the draft details.
This reflected a lack of transparency in the trade talks and goes against the principles of Section 190 of the constitution regarding transparency and good governance, he said.
"Public doubts and disputes over the benefits of the free trade agreement will not go away as long as the Foreign Affairs Ministry and Commerce Ministry continue looking upon bilateral trade talks as private and confidential," he said.
Health activists at the seminar also voiced concerns over the global impact of the EU-Indian FTA. They said such a deal would help extend protection on drug patents beyond the trade-related aspects of intellectual property rights set by the World Health Organisation.
