THURSDAY, March 28, 2024
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WTO pushes for compliance in agriculture

WTO pushes for compliance in agriculture

Myanmar has been urged to focus on six areas, including agriculture, to enable it to become a member of the World Trade Organisation.

Among the six areas of priorities that the Myanmar government has been advised to focus on are assistance to formulate regulations; intellectual property regulations; strengthening trade statistics; assistance in completing new legislation on customs valuation and competition policy; and education and awareness activities for consumer protection, according to Willy Alfaro, director of WTO’s trade policies review division.
Alfaro said that the organisation had included agriculture as an area of notification to the WTO as many members want to know the practices of Myanmar in the agriculture sector.
“Our secretariat will send experts next month to guide Myanmar authorities on how to approach these elements,” added Alfaro.
On Friday, European Union and the WTO jointly supported the Myanmar government to hold a public presentation on the nation’s first trade policy review. Attending the event were representatives from government, private sector, civil society and the media.
EU Ambassador Roland Kobia said the event is of “enormous significance" in terms of transparency and dialogue with the business community on key economic reforms. The large turnout, he pointed out, confirms the appreciation of the private sector and the civil society for an open and transparent dialogue on reforms.
Usman Ali Khilji, trade policy analyst of WTO’s trade policies review division, said that the secretariat, WTO members and the Myanmar authorities all acknowledged the lack of implementing capacity and poor infrastructure as obstacles to implement the reform programme.
Khilji said the secretariat found that various economic data from different government sources and international organisations varied significantly. They were very hard to reconcile and the data comparison over years was difficult due to the multiple exchange rates. He called for exchange rate unification to improve external competitiveness and the business environment.
“Transparency and predictability are key elements of assuring efficient trade and related policies. Concerns about the lack of transparency were also raised. Laws and regulations should be available online. For better cooperation with the WTO, the government officials need to improve their proficiency in English or the other two languages we widely use,” he said.
The analyst pointed out the lack of notifications to the WTO. He said members expressed concerns over the impediments In doing business in Myanmar. In particular, the time required to set up a business, archaic company laws and the lack of access to credit were highlighted.
Khilji said the lack of notifications to WTO is a major problem among developing countries. He believes that the problem lies in the capacity constraints rather than the lack of willingness.
“The government authorities need to know what to notify, why to notify, and how to notify,” he cited.
He also pointed out the lack of a bankruptcy law and protection of property rights. Myanmar’s policies on foreign direct investment are of concern to the members. Issues raised include the new FDI law, reductions in restricted areas, and a further revision to the FDI and investment-related legislation.
“Unless registered under the foreign investment law, importers need to be Myanmar nationals. Customs clearance takes three days. I hope implementation of the Asean single window would greatly improve clearance times. As there are 15 tariff bans in Myanmar, it makes the tariff complex. Currently, Myanmar does not apply the WTO customs valuation agreement, but uses real value for valuation purposes,” he said.
Masahiro Hayafuji, counsellor of WTO’s trade policies review division, said that the review is one of the outcomes of the TPRB meeting held in March last year. He said that Myanmar got the opportunity to hear observations and constructive criticism from other WTO members on areas for future improvement.
Hayafuji noted that in the previous discussions, WTO members raised concerns over such issues as foreign exchange regime; FDI and business environment; transparency/predictability of the trade and investment regime including WTO notifications; tariff bindings and discrepancies; the gap between applied and bound tariff rates; import/export licensing requirements; financial sector reform and IPRs [intellectual property].
Antonio Berenguer, European Union’s head of trade and economic affairs, told Myanmar Eleven that the review would bring more opportunities to Myanmar.
Berenguer believes that the review would build confidence for investors and traders, who are interested to invest in Myanmar.

 

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