EPA signing, FTA parleys postponed
Bangkok Post
EPA signing, FTA parleys postponed
Thaksin keen to ink Japan pact personally
By Achara Ashayagachat
28 February 2006
Thailand has postponed the signing of its Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) with Japan, and suspended free trade area (FTA) negotiations with the US until the formation of the new government, chief negotiators for the two pacts said yesterday. Pisan Manawapat, deputy permanent secretary of the Foreign Ministry, said the EPA signing, which had been set for April 3, a day after the elections, would not be possible as the new government would not be properly in place by then.
’’We need to wait until we have the new government,’’ he said. Since the draft legal text listed Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra as the signing party on the Thai side, ’’we cannot continue’’, he said.
A Japanese diplomat said technically anyone authorised by the government could sign the agreement, but Mr Thaksin wanted to do it himself. Tokyo needed the signature from the Thai side to put forward the treaty to the Diet for endorsement before the Japanese parliament ended its current session in June.
Mr Pisan insisted that the postponement would in no way hurt the process.
’’On a positive note, the postponement should give legal experts more time to refine the words and re-check the consistency of the draft ... , while the sectors that would be affected by the EPA, such as iron producers, would also have more time to prepare for tariff reductions.’’
However, those benefiting from the EPA, such as jewelry, textile and garment exporters, would just have to endure a longer wait, he said.
Permanent secretary of commerce Karun Kittistaporn said the seventh round of FTA negotiations with the US were being suspended because the caretaker government was not in a position to make any commitments.
’’It is a political tradition in terms of ethics to avoid creating or binding new policy commitments and we have to wait for the new government to have a say, said Mr Karun, the chief negotiator who took over the responsibility from Nitya Pibulsonggram who quit last month.
Deputy Prime Minister and Commerce Minister Somkid Jatusripitak acknowledged the postponement and will make it official today after chairing a meeting of the International Economic Policy Committee.
Witoon Lianchamroon, of FTA Watch, said a caretaker government had no legitimacy to sign the pacts. He said both the EPA signing and FTA negotiations should be halted amid the political upheaval.
