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WTO Agenda for New Round Negotiations Should be Agreed by Consensus: Malaysia |
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FRI, NOV 09, 2001
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Malaysia's stand is that the agenda for the WTO negotiations for the launch of a new round should be agreed by consensus before launching, says a statement released by the Ministry of International Trade and Industry here Thursday.
The new round negotiations should take into account the concerns and interests of WTO members particularly the developing countries, the statement says.
Malaysia's proposed agenda for a new round include implementation of issues arising from the Uruguay Round agreements, agriculture negotiations, services negotiations and market access for industrial products, it says.
Malaysia would advocate the continued examination of new issues such as investment, competition, transparency in government procurement, environment and trade facilitation before undertaking negotiations, it adds.
Malaysia would also propose that WTO considers new approaches to deal with issues that impinge on domestic policies, and the sovereign rights of governments to determine the policies, according to the statement.
Besides this, Malaysia would propose that a special operational unit be established in the WTO to promote capacity building in developing countries as part of the WTO technical assistance program, it says.
It notes that Malaysia would continue to reject negotiations on non-trade issues such as environment and labor standards in WTO.
The WTO conference, held biennially, would review developments, establish the future work program, focus on launching a new round of trade talks as well as address implementation issues.
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