Thai-EU FTA agreement set for completion in late 2014
The Thai-EU Free Trade Agreement looks set to be completed by late 2014, Olarn Chaipravat, Thailand's leader of the negotiation team said, after the second round of meetings began with EU counterparts in Chiang Mai on Monday and ended Friday.
The next round will take place in December in Brussels, Belgium, with negotiations held every three months after that, he said. The first round took place in Brussels in May.
Olarn said the issues discussed included opening up product and service markets, investment, rules on Sanitary and Phytosanitary products, Trade barriers, rules of origin, customs and trade promotion.
Representatives also discussed intellectual property rights, state procurement, trade remedy measures and sustainable development. The negotiation teams made headway in better understanding the measures and each side’s regulations, but further study was still needed, he said.
During negotiations, Olarn said Thailand stuck to the World Trade Organisation’s Agreement on Trade-related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights, but with the flexibility of the Doha Ministerial Declaration.
Olarn was speaking in response to concerns that the negotiations could hurt Thailand’s access to medicines and medical supplies.
During the round, Olarn said Thailand also called for the transfer of technology related to pharmaceutical research and development. He expressed a hope that the transfer of technology would allow for the commercial production of pharmaceutical products in the way that would benefit Thailand and boost Thai people’s access to such products.
