Message-ID: <15879052.1075851030020.JavaMail.evans@thyme> Date: Mon, 15 Nov 1999 01:49:00 -0800 (PST) From: lora.sullivan@enron.com To: kenneth.lay@enron.com, kevin_anderson@npradc.org, cbarfield@aei.org, vincent_j_barry@raytheoneo.com, mboyd@duke-energy.com, raybragg@worldnet.att.net, sburns@pecc.org, rboyd@enron.com, mburpoe@aol.com, burtonld@bp.com, spofford.canfield@coastalcorp.com, rcasali@columbiaenergygroup.com, ken.cole@alliedsignal.com, charles.a.casey@exxon.sprint.com, gdeeley@uschamber.com, don.deline@halliburton.com, doaned@lochind.com, art.downey@bakerhughes.com, jeaston@eei.org, sae@ipaa.org, ffarfone@dow.com, jgavin@uscib-dc.org, gibbens@usoga.org, egurnee@nma.org, jhalvorsen@ingaa.org, jrharris@seiworldwide.com, haycol@erols.com, hayjf@westinghouse.com, jhayes@usasean.org, rhealy@mail.arco.com, hickedt@texaco.com, jhillin@enron.com, jahoward@bechtel.com, m.irace@erols.com, terry_l_laudick@email.mobil.com, laudienl@epenergy.com, dlawrence@wcp.twc.com, clong@enron.com, lynn.mcalister@eds.com, bruce_c._mckay@corp.cng.com, joh_meakem@nema.org, mmullen@ncapec.org, dobrien@ou.edu, greg_pensabene@anardarko.com, 75361.622@compuserve.com, platnerm@api.org, wpryce@as-coa.org, richartj@dc.corp.ge.com, wmir@chevron.com, nymex2@unidial.com, jhsharp@ngsa.org, fssmith@southernco.com, awea@igc.apc.org, bobs@noia.org, tthorn@ei.enron.com, vastine@uscsi.org, philip.vaughn@fluorcorporation.com, frankverrastro@pennzoil.com, seward@clark.net, wworkman@uschamber.com, josephine_ludolph@ita.doc.gov, singram@uscsi.org, stephen.cooney@sc.siemens.com, telliott@epsa.org, lchurch@epsa.org, butterri@westinghouse.com, askeath@usea.org, cbcapstrat@aol.com, tim.richards@corporate.ge.com, mfarrar@mail.arco.com, melly@usitc.gov, nkl@dwgp.com, tom_madsen@illinova.com, bruce.b.talley@us.abb.com, bud.piland@mcdermott.com, glenda.cone@mcdermott.com, brandon.sj@bgep.co.uk, houston.m@bgep.co.uk, mmarvin@bcse.org, jeaston@eei.org, ammod@aol.com, bichord@unocal.com, rcfisher@hillsandco.com, cahills@hillsandco.com, steve.may@alliedsignal.com, townshme@bp.com, rob.bradley@enron.com, bruce.b.talley@us.abb.com, rcsteinmetz@ra.rockwell.com, rob.mcdonald@emrsn.com, richard_boll@ita.doc.gov, joe.hillings@enron.com, don.deline@halliburton.com, tim.richards@corporate.ge.com, sburns@pecc.org, chris.long@enron.com, cbcapstrat@aol.com, 75361.622@compuserve.com, lora.sullivan@enron.com, cahills@hillsandco.com, rcfisher@hillsandco.com, amy.fabian@enron.com, rob.bradley@enron.com, kelly.kimberly@enron.com, steven.kean@enron.com, terence.thorn@enron.com, david.merrill@enron.com, mike.dahlke@enron.com, rebecca.mcdonald@enron.com, paul.adair@enron.com, delores.clark@enron.com, michael.brown@enron.com, carey.sloan@enron.com, john.fugh@enron.com, manuel.gallego@enron.com, darrell.kinder@enron.com Subject: ACTION: Comments on WTO Briefing Paper Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-From: Lora Sullivan X-To: Kenneth Lay, kevin_anderson@npradc.org, cbarfield@aei.org, vincent_j_barry@raytheoneo.com, mboyd@duke-energy.com, raybragg@worldnet.att.net, sburns@pecc.org, rboyd@enron.com, mburpoe@aol.com, burtonld@bp.com, spofford.canfield@coastalcorp.com, rcasali@columbiaenergygroup.com, ken.cole@alliedsignal.com, charles.a.casey@exxon.sprint.com, gdeeley@uschamber.com, don.deline@halliburton.com, doaned@lochind.com, art.downey@bakerhughes.com, jeaston@eei.org, sae@ipaa.org, ffarfone@dow.com, jgavin@uscib-dc.org, gibbens@usoga.org, egurnee@nma.org, jhalvorsen@ingaa.org, jrharris@seiworldwide.com, haycol@erols.com, hayjf@westinghouse.com, jhayes@usasean.org, rhealy@mail.arco.com, hickedt@texaco.com, jhillin@enron.com, jahoward@bechtel.com, m.irace@erols.com, terry_l_laudick@email.mobil.com, laudienl@epenergy.com, dlawrence@wcp.twc.com, clong@enron.com, lynn.mcalister@eds.com, bruce_c._mckay@corp.cng.com, joh_meakem@nema.org, mmullen@ncapec.org, dobrien@ou.edu, greg_pensabene@anardarko.com, 75361.622@compuserve.com, platnerm@api.org, wpryce@as-coa.org, richartj@dc.corp.ge.com, wmir@chevron.com, nymex2@unidial.com, jhsharp@ngsa.org, fssmith@southernco.com, awea@igc.apc.org, bobs@noia.org, tthorn@ei.enron.com, vastine@uscsi.org, philip.vaughn@fluorcorporation.com, frankverrastro@pennzoil.com, seward@clark.net, wworkman@uschamber.com, josephine_ludolph@ita.doc.gov, singram@uscsi.org, stephen.cooney@sc.siemens.com, telliott@epsa.org, lchurch@epsa.org, butterri@westinghouse.com, askeath@usea.org, CBCapStrat@aol.com, Tim.Richards@corporate.ge.com, mfarrar@mail.arco.com, melly@usitc.gov, nkl@dwgp.com, tom_madsen@illinova.com, bruce.b.talley@us.abb.com, bud.piland@mcdermott.com, glenda.cone@mcdermott.com, brandon.sj@bgep.co.uk, houston.m@bgep.co.uk, mmarvin@bcse.org, jeaston@eei.org, ammod@aol.com, bichord@unocal.com, rcfisher@hillsandco.com, cahills@hillsandco.com, steve.may@alliedsignal.com, townshme@bp.com, Rob Bradley, bruce.b.talley@us.abb.com, rcsteinmetz@ra.rockwell.com, rob.mcdonald@emrsn.com, richard_boll@ita.doc.gov, Joe Hillings, don.deline@halliburton.com, tim.richards@corporate.ge.com, sburns@pecc.org, Chris Long, CBCapStrat@aol.com, 75361.622@compuserve.com, Lora Sullivan, cahills@hillsandco.com, rcfisher@hillsandco.com, Amy Fabian, Rob Bradley, Kelly Kimberly, Steven J Kean, Terence H Thorn, David Merrill, Mike Dahlke, Rebecca McDonald, Paul Adair, Delores Y Clark, Michael L Brown, Carey Sloan, John Fugh, Manuel Gallego, Darrell W Kinder X-cc: X-bcc: X-Folder: \Steven_Kean_Oct2001_2\Notes Folders\Attachments X-Origin: KEAN-S X-FileName: skean.nsf Forwarded at the request of Joe Hillings. Encl: The following persons please review the attachment found at the end of this document. Ken Lay, David Merrill, Mike Dahlke, Rebecca McDonald, Paul Adair, Michael L. Brown, Carey Sloan, John Fugh, Manual Gallego, Darrell Kinder. Thank you. ---------------------- Forwarded by Lora Sullivan/Corp/Enron on 11/15/99 10:40 AM --------------------------- Tina Valdecanas on 10/29/99 05:15:48 PM To: cc: (bcc: Joe Hillings/Corp/Enron) Subject: ACTION: Comments on WTO Briefing Paper TO: US-ASEAN Business Council Members FROM: Tina Valdecanas P: 202/289.1911, ext. 230; e-mail tvaldecanas@usasean.org Web-site: http://www.us-asean.org DATE: 29 October 1999 RE: ACTION: Comments on WTO Briefing Paper Summary: The attached draft is being circulated among US-ASEAN Business Council members for input. The briefing paper will be presented to the ASEAN Trade Ministers who will be attending the WTO Ministerials in Seattle in November/December 1999. Please forward comments to me by cob Friday, November 19, 1999. End Summary. The US-ASEAN Business Council is developing a briefing paper for the ASEAN Trade Ministers who will be attending the World Trade Organization Ministerials in Seattle, WA later this year. Trade representatives from Brunei, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, the Philippines, and Thailand are expected to attend. To ensure that member concerns are addressed in the paper, please send comments/suggestions regarding the below draft to me at tvaldecanas@usasean.org by c.o.b. Friday, November 19, 1999. I will circulate a final draft the week of November 22. Thank you. ***** US-ASEAN Business Council Briefing Paper PRIORITY BUSINESS ISSUES prepared in advance of the WTO Ministerials November 1999 A group of 400 of America's leading companies, the US-ASEAN Business Council prides itself as being dedicated to effectively strengthen bilateral and US-ASEAN relations through strong economic and commercial ties. The Council is committed to promoting open and free trade globally with the belief that such an environment is of benefit to all. Open and transparent markets translate into economic growth and the opportunity to raise the standards of living of the world's people. In addition to providing a larger range of goods and services, rules-based, open markets allow countries to be more competitive in the international arena. In this spirit, the Council's members offer this briefing paper as a compilation of the commercial issues we consider of highest priority at the onset of the new round of the WTO negotiations. This is not a comprehensive roster, rather attention has been given to issues which: * Hold priority status for American businesses seeking to expand their trade and investment ties in ASEAN; and, * Have been advanced significantly through the APEC process and have a realistic prospect of being concluded within the three year timeframe. PRIORITY ISSUES Accelerated Tariff Liberalization: The agreement reached at the recent APEC Leaders' Meeting in Auckland has provided the critical mass necessary for action on accelerated tariff liberalization in eight priority sectors within the framework of the WTO. Continued tariff reduction will have wealth creating and efficiency enhancing effects on global trade. The end result would be a larger international market that will encourage the continued foreign investment and global capital flows. Agriculture: A robust global food system that efficiently links food production, food processing and consumption, is vital to continuing development world-wide. Council members support initiatives to remove all export subsidies and to reduce tariffs on agricultural products. The Council also supports activities to ensure market-access for agricultural products enhanced with the use of biotechnology. Use of this technology provides a safe and sufficient food supply while ensuring the safety of food sources and environment through strong and transparent science-based domestic regulatory systems. Customs issues: The Council is encouraged by the positive progress being made in the area of Customs reform and liberalization. In the context of this on-going cooperation, members hope to see the adoption of the International Express Carriers Conference (IECC) Guidelines for Customs and encourage governments to continue to address: electronic pre-clearance in a paperless environment; twenty-four hour customs operation; elimination of export clearance procedures; higher deminimus levels; transshipment without processing; and payment of duties and taxes for imports at defined periods rather than upon arrival. Each of these actions would improve the speed or lower the expense of shipment. Countries that have adopted measures along the lines of the above have reduced the bottleneck effect that Customs can create and have improved the competitive environment for companies within their borders. This attracts investment, which creates jobs and wealth. E-commerce: In the past few years, electric or "E-Commerce" has expanded the depth and breadth of global commerce. Although the physical infrastructure is quickly spreading to support such transactions, the legal and regulatory framework is still being developed. Both suppliers and consumers of E-commerce will benefit from an improved legal environment and measures to benchmark policies and best practices in member economies. To ensure that the industry continues to develop, the WTO should give special priority to adopting a permanent moratorium on the imposition of duties on electronic commerce. Energy: With growing demand for energy and calls for clean and efficient use of resources, the WTO should look to promote the diversification of energy supply and a market-driven energy infrastructure development. Well-functioning markets, greater energy efficiency and information flows among market participants will aid in sustainable and equitable growth globally. The WTO should support initiatives like the APEC Natural Gas Initiative signed by the Energy Ministers at Okinawa last year and the ongoing policy dialogues to address energy service-oriented issues related to the development, extraction, production, distribution, marketing, consumption of all energy products.. ITA: The US private sector applauds the advances made under the 1997 International Technology Agreement (ITA) and looks forward to the beginning of negotiations for the second phase of the agreement. While the November 1998 ITA II package does not meet all of our expectations, the Council's members are confident agreements resulting from the successful passage of ITA II will increase product coverage, encourage progress on the elimination of non-tariff measures, and lead to the harmonization of tariff classification of products already covered in previous negotiation rounds. The continued review and revision of the ITA's product coverage will further expand and distribute the benefits of information technology globally, and is a fundamental necessity for such a fast-paced, dynamic industry. Although the Council would encourage discussion of ITA-II during the upcoming round of WTO negotiations, we believe that the ITA-II negotiations should remain independent and should be concluded as soon as possible.