The EU suggests small agreements first.... no FTA in the offing, of course...
"We could begin with smaller agreements," said Frederic Laplanche, head of the European Economic and Trade Office, when asked about the possibility of a free trade agreement between Taiwan and the EU.Public construction and meat are/were perennial complaints of the US too, but that issue was resolved, and now Taiwan can display its shiny new visa-free status for US entry. Meanwhile the EU says:
Smaller agreements could include an economic cooperation agreement or an investment protection pact, Laplanche said on the sidelines of an EU-Taiwan trade expo in Taipei.
Before any talks on smaller agreements, however, Taiwan needs to remove some trade barriers, such as the restriction of EU meat imports to Taiwan and the government's conservative procurement system, Laplanche said.
For a free trade agreement to exist between the EU and Taiwan, Taiwan needs to make more efforts in opening its market to make the target more feasible, he said.
The EU began just a few years ago to sign free trade agreements with other countries, and Taiwan still "stands far behind in the queue," the envoy said.
Taiwan applies a ban on the bovine meat and bovine products due to the BSE. Such a ban is not in line with the OIE standards, which foresee trade of certain products, like de-boned meat, regardless of the BSE risk status of the country. In addition, the EC has comprehensive measures in place aimed at assuring the highest level of consumer protection, in form of a strict feed ban and strict controls on Specific Risk Materials and active surveillance. OIE has recognised these measures, as 25 Member States are officially classified by the OIE as "controlled risk" or "negligible risk". Despite these OIE guidelines and classifications, EU beef and other bovine products are still banned.I have to admit, there's a certain irony in the EU, which does not recognize Taiwan as an independent state, or sell it weapons -- what staggering cowardice! -- complaining about discrimination by Taiwan. Nor is Taiwan the only nation that does this -- national markets worth 85% of EU beef exports do this.
In addition, Taiwan by accepting de-boned meat from the US, with the same OIE risk status, as the EU Member States acts in a discriminatory way toward other trading partners.
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Daily Links:
- Kaohsiung and cycling: walking the walk
- Industrial output rising, but momentum slowing. Still down from last year.
- WSJ asks: is Taiwan too small for start-ups? Gotta be kidding, right?
- Taiwan nursing home fire is arson, culprit confesses. 12 dead. For what?
- 41 public construction projects.... Chinese involvement? And if the Chinese come in to invest in local infrastructure, what happens to the KMT's patronage networks at the local level?
- Higher wages better than more foreign labor.
Daily Links from Yesteryear:
- Flying Magazine, May, 1945, B-29s over Formosa.
- Popular Science, 1886: A Formosan Sketch
- Popular Science, 1880: The Aborigines of Botel Tobago
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