THAI-US FTA / NON-TARIFF TRADE BARRIERS

Environmental clauses could be manipulated

APINYA WIPATAYOTIN

Thailand could face non-tariff trade barriers from the US, which may use higher environmental standards as a pretext to block Thai imports, a study said yesterday. The warning was in the Environmental Review, which was written by researchers from the Good Governance for Social Development and the Environment Institute and launched yesterday. It has been prepared for the consideration of Thai trade negotiators.

The study pointed out possible disadvantages Thailand will face in environmental concerns, including on issues like genetically modified organisms, biodiversity, water management, wildlife conservation, energy and waste management.

The prediction was based on the impact of free trade agreements the United States has signed with other countries such as Mexico and Canada under the North America Free Trade Agreement, because the contents of the Thai-US pact have not been allowed to be distributed to the public.

''The Thai-US FTA has been very much concerned with good environmental practices. It sounds good to include a clean environment in the negotiation pacts. But in fact, we may face difficulty enacting any environmental protection law if the law is against the US investment policy,'' said Suthawan Sathirathai, director of the institute, which is an independent think-tank.

The country was also at risk of trade disputes with US companies if the agreement is signed, she added.

She cited one case when Canada refused chemical imports into the country, but a US company argued that Canada had breached trade regulations and forced it to pay compensation.

Khunying Suthawan warned that a similar case might happen with Thailand if there is no previous study on environmental concerns.

The study also forecast that if the FTA is ineffective, the country will spend more than 217 trillion baht in the next decade on improving the environment as required by the US, including on waste water management, air pollution control and waste management.

Somchai Preechasilpakul, another researcher, also voiced concern over water resources management.

He said the definition of water resources was not clear. It could be possible that the US will force the country to liberalise water services, as it did with Mexico.

''We should make sure that water resources are not considered a type of goods. They must be considered as the country's social infrastructure security to avoid such terrible incidents,'' he said.

Bangkok Post
Friday February 02, 2007