Geneva, Switzerland: World Trade Organisation (WTO) director-general Pascal Lamy has announced that after days of negotiations, ministers have failed to agree on the liberalisation of trade in agriculture and industrial products. That has led to the collapse of the whole trade negotiation process which, if successful, would have resulted in a major boost for economies in the developing and developed world.
Talks foundered on agreeing a 'special safeguard mechanism' in farm products for developing countries and ultimately came down to an impasse between the US and India. Lamy's summary of the situation was bleak. "It is no use beating around the bush. This meeting has collapsed. Members have not been able to bridge their differences," he told journalists later.
Out of a 'to-do list' of 20 topics, 18 had seen positions converge but the gaps could not be narrowed on the 19th — the special safeguard mechanism for developing countries, which would have allowed those countries to raise tariffs temporarily in order to deal with import surges and price falls.
The sticking point boiled down to some countries (mainly India and China) wanting a high 'trigger' (a large import surge needed to trigger the tariff increase) in order to avoid the safeguard being triggered by normal trade growth, while others (e.g. US and EU) wanted a lower trigger so that the safeguard could be easier to use.
"After more than 36 hours trying to find bridges between these two positions, today it became clear that the differences were irreconcilable," commented Lamy yesterday (July 29).
According to the WTO, the overall package was worth more than $130bn in tariff savings annually by the end of the implementation period, with a $35bn saving in agriculture and $95bn in industrial goods. Developing countries would have contributed one-third and benefited from two-thirds of the overall gains and it would have led to a rebalancing of the rules of the trading system in favour of developing countries.
Getting talks back on track will be hugely challenging. In the wake of the collapse, there have been multiple recriminations. China accused wealthy developed nations in the EU and North America of being "selfish" for not agreeing to scrap farm subsidies. Japan, meanwhile, blamed India and China for not living up to their responsibilities as major trading partners.
So why should we all be worried about the failure of the talks, given that the outcome will mainly affect agriculture? The reason lies in the fault lines which have been increasingly exposed between various interest groups of countries throughout the duration of the Doha Round of talks.
The WTO has been largely responsible for the trend towards globalisation, benefiting industry and consumers throughout the world – not least in China which has perhaps been the greatest beneficiary of all. If, as has already started to occur, countries decide to bypass the WTO, by developing their own bilateral agreements, or even worse, rebuilding protectionist barriers to trade, the economic consequences will be severe.
At a time when many economists feel that the global economy is sliding towards recession, it is even more important to embrace the ethos of free trade. The failure to do so, and the eventual breakdown of the WTO which has proven so effective in providing a stable platform for global trade, will harm industry and consumers in the very countries which have blocked any chance of a deal.
Source: Transport Intelligence, July 29, 2008
The augural trip of an Indian ship belonging to GATI Coast to Coast India Company arrived at the Ranong port on Saturday bringing in 230 containers to take back goods from southern Thailand. The ship was welcomed to the port by the Thai Port Authority Deputy Director Pankhae Junnanond and president of the Indian company.
The GATI Coast to Coast India is the first Indian large ship-liner which has decided to use the Ranong port to transport goods between Thailand and India so that it does not have to go via the Malacca Straits to Klong Toi in Bangkok or Laem Chabang in the eastern province of Chonburi. This saves the company’s costs plus journey time. The Thai authorities welcome the move as it boosts business and investment for Ranong.
The Port Authority of Thailand also allocates 150 million baht budget to purchase a crane to lift heavy containers.
According to the Thai Customs Department announced that new depot was opened at 222 Chayangkul Bangsaiyai, Mookdahharn Province to inspect import cargoes as well as stuffing export cargoes, which is managed by Mookdahharn Lanthong Company Limited.
Mukdahharn is located on the bank of the Mae Khong River opposite Suwannakhet in Laos, 642 km distance from Bangkok.
THE Thai Airfreight Forwarders Association (Tafa) says air cargo demand has fallen 30 per cent this year as customers switch to ships, reports the Perth-based AirCargo Asia-Pacific magazine.
Perishables, chiefly vegetables, fruit and flowers, account for 60 per cent of all air cargo shipments from and to Thailand.
"Exporters of electronic goods to Asian destinations such as Singapore and Hong Kong have turned to marine shipments rather than air to lower costs," a TAFA spokesman said.
"On some routes, fuel surcharge has become higher than transport fees," said the group.
This follows more positive first quarter numbers with statistics from the Air Cargo Business Association (ACBA) showing 137,747 tonnes of cargo shipped by air from Bangkok, up from 134,687 tonnes in the same period of 2007. Inbound volume rose to 82,086 tonnes from 74,527 tonnes.
Total outbound and inbound figures in 2007 were 534,319 and 307,490 tonnes respectively, according to the ACBA.
(Shipping Gazette - July 25, 2008)
APRIL 4, 2008 --- FULL IMPLIMENTATION OF E-CUSTOMS AT BKK
Thai Customs Department announced that, effective from May 1st 2008, they will terminate EDI system for all export shipments from Bangkok port. Instead, E-Customs(Paperless Customs) process will be fully applied. EDI system will be still available for import shipments.
MARCH 15, 2008 --- NEWS LETTER
Newsletter-March 2008.pdf (50.68 KB)
MARCH 6, 2008 --- Customs department announcement (no.23-24/2551)
- Cancelation of EDI customs system, and implementation of Paperless customs at Chiangmai / Hadyai / Phuket Airport on April 1, 2008
- Cancelation of EDI customs system, and implementation of Paperless customs at Suvanabhumi Airport on April 1, 2008, for import clearance.
FEBRUARY 28, 2008 --- E-import system ready
The Customs Department will introduce its e-import electric document processing system at Suvanabhumi Airport in April, according to director-general Wisudhi Srisuphan.
The e-import and e-export paperless management system will eventually replace the current EDI, or electronic data interchange system, that links shippers, agents and customs officials online to manage clearance of imports and exports.
Mr.Wisudhi said the department had been using e-import at border points for goods shipped by land transport. From May 1, the system will be introduced at the Laem Chabang port.
At the Bangkok customs office, 18,300 documents are processed for import shipments each month, of which 80.7% utilise EDI and 19.3% the e-import system. Of the 2,300 export manifests processed each month, 22.3% use EDI and 77.7% the newer e-export system. (Source : Bangkok Post)
FEBRUARY 1, 2008 --- NEWS LETTER
Newsletter-February 2008.pdf (98.37 KB)
JANUARY 24, 2008 --- Bangkok port operation
As informed since January 7th, Bangkok port terminal operation has been suspended due to limited cranes, and workers by labour strike.
As of January 24th, 6 out of total 8 gantry cranes were resumed operated at the terminal, and 2 new cranes are planned to install within next month. Furthermore, Port Authority will be purchasing another 4 cranes to replace with the old ones, by April 2009.
JANUARY 22, 2008 --- Thailand export grow in 2007
According to Thai Ministry of Commerce, Thailand export grew by 17.5%, mainly supported by sales to EU and Japan. However, due to multiple factors, sales value to US was dropped. Importation was also encouraged by strong local currency, with 8.7% growth.
JANUARY 13, 2008 --- Bangkok port labour strike (2)
PAT(Bangkok Port) resumed its operation, however, due to the lack of gantry&mobile cranes in the terminal, 1-2 days delay is reported for each container handling. It would be recommendable for any urgent shipment into Thailand, whether FCL or LCL, to be headed for Laem Chabang or Ladkrabang, instead of Bangkok CY(CFS) until lead time can be stable enough.
JANUARY 7, 2008 --- Bangkok port labour strike
PAT(Bangkok Port) labour union started its strike from January 4th, without further noticed claiming to unsafe working condition of crane no.5 after cracking down on January 3rd 2008. As of this incident, some carriers are now omitting Bangkok Port (terminal 1) from their service routes, but advising forwarders & shippers to return container at alternative yard.
OCTOBER 24, 2007 --- High export volume maintained in September
According to the announcement by Thai Ministry of Commerce, local export value in September was recorded at USD13.27 billion, almost the same high level as August. While industrial products increased by 17.6% compared to same month of previous year, agricultural goods dropped by 2.3%.
Destination wise, volume to EU and ASEAN showed steady growth, but decreased to Japan and USA. (refer to below)
Export value to each destination)
US : -6.6%
EU : +4.2%
ASEAN : +6.3%
Japan : -1.3%
India : +45.6%
Cina : +25.3%
OCTOBER 17, 2007 --- Bangkok(Suvarnabhumi) airport good start
After one year from starting the operation of Suvarnabhumi airport, the number of both passenger and aircraft movement reached nearly its designed capacity.
Total no. of passenger : 41.8 million from Oct 2006 to Sep 2007 (92.88% of its capacity)
Total aircraft movement : 267,480 aircraft
Total cargo shipment : 1.23 million tonnes (41% of annual capacity)
Airport authority of Thailand has been considering whether to proceed the original plan to expand the airport further.
SEPTEMBER 26, 2007 --- Customs embracing RFID for logistics
The Customs Department hopes that a pilot project utilising RFID tags will eventually be extended nationwide to improve effieciency in logistics handling, according to director-general Chaowalit Sethameteekul.
Customs officers, by reading an RFID tag, can determine whether a container's seal has been breached since leaving the shipper, as well as monitor the route taken by the container. The department will invest 98 million baht in the technology, while private shippers are expected to participate in terms of software installations as well as cover the costs for the "e-seals" expected to be around 50 - 100 baht each.
Phase two of the project will entail the installation of biometric scanners to assist in screeing incoming visitors to the country and facilitate cross-checking with security services. (Bangkok Post, September 26, 2007)
SEPTEMBER 23, 2007 --- Thailand trading value hit highest
Thai Ministry of Commerce announced that Export value in August was ever highest at USD13.9bn, 17.9% over the same month last year. Import value, as well, break the record at USD13.1bn. Due to strong local currency, sales to USA has been dropped while tradings with EU & ASEAn are stable, and remarkable growth to India and China.
SEPTEMBER 13 2007 --- Mitsui-Sumitomo Bank Start Import Duty Auto-deduct
Mitsui-Sumitomo Bank, in Thailand, made an agreement with Thai Customs Department to start import & export duty payment service, which helps local exporters and importers expedite the customs formality process in Thailand. Currently, 3 commercial banks in Thailand have been providing this service, Krung Thai Bank, Bank Thai, and Citi Bank.
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