US embassy cable - 05BANGKOK7289

UNCLAS BANGKOK 007289 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: EAGR, ECON, ETRD, KIRC, KPAO, OIIP, TH, WTRO 
SUBJECT: THAILAND AMBITIOUS ON HONG KONG, BUT WARY 
 
REF: SECSTATE 211956 
 
1.  On November 22, Econoff met with Ms. Sirinart Chaimun, 
Director of the Bureau of Multilateral Trade Negotations in 
the Ministry of Commerce to discuss the RTG agenda for the 
upcoming WTO Ministerial in Hong Kong.  The RTG is sending a 
thirty-plus person team to the Ministerial headed by Deputy 
Prime Minister for Economic Affairs and Minister of Commerce 
Somkid Jatusripitak. 
 
2.    Econoff briefed Sirinart on strong U.S. ambitions for 
the upcoming Hong Kong Ministerial per reftel.  Sirinart said 
the RTG had high ambitions as well for Hong Kong and had 
expected to reach full modality in both agriculture and 
non-agricultural market access (NAMA).  However, the RTG is 
concerned by recent news of lowered expectations for Hong 
Kong, and Sirinart warned that without movement on 
agriculture the RTG did not expect to see movement in other 
areas.  She asked what the USG was prepared to do to move 
agriculture talks forward and urged the USG to move further 
on reducing domestic support.  Sirinart noted that the RTG 
also provided domestic support for agriculture but was 
prepared to sacrifice their support programs for overall 
success in the Doha Round on agriculture. 
 
3.    Sirinart expressed her concern that the cotton subsidy 
issue would continue to be problematic in agricultural 
negotiations.  Although Thailand is a net importer of cotton 
and the issue is not a specific priority of theirs, the RTG 
is concerned that a failure to resolve the issue would affect 
overall progress in Hong Kong. 
 
4.    On market access, Sirinart said the RTG did not support 
self-declaration of sensitive and special products and 
supported establishment of clear criteria for choosing 
sensitive products to be excluded from the tariff reduction 
formula.  The RTG rejects the EU proposal that would exempt 
eight percent of sensitive tariff lines.  RTG priorities for 
market access include rice, shrimp and manioc (tapioca). 
 
5.    Sirinart said the RTG supported the Swiss formula for 
NAMA, but insisted there should be separate coefficients in 
the formula for developed and developing countries for 
calculating reductions in tariff rates.  The RTG also 
supports flexibility in the structure of the tariff reduction 
formula as laid out in the July 2004 framework.  Sirinart 
said the RTG looked forward to future modification of 
anti-dumping rules but doubted that the USG would move far in 
this direction. 
 
6.    On services, Sirinart said the RTG did not support the 
EU's call for mandatory benchmarks for liberalization, but 
would consider an alternative approach if one were offered. 
Sirinart noted that the RTG had tabled a revised services 
offer in Geneva in late October, but had yet to receive any 
feedback on the offer. 
 
7.    Reports of "recalibrating" expectations in the WTO for 
Hong Kong have confused the RTG as to how they should prepare 
for the Ministerial.  Sirinart mused about the plans for Hong 
Kong and whether there would be negotiating groups or instead 
the Ministerial would be reduced to listening to factual 
reports and establishing working groups for future discussion 
of the various issues.  Although preferring active 
negotiations, Sirinart wondered if expectations for the 
Ministerial had fallen so far as to make them unlikely to 
occur. 
 
8.    Sirinart appreciated hearing that the U.S. maintained 
high ambitions for Hong Kong, but questioned just how far the 
USG would go to make Hong Kong and the Doha Round a success 
or whether the USG, too, would "recalibrate" expectations. 
She expressed her concern that a failure at Hong Kong would 
damage the credibility of the WTO, and that members would 
turn towards negotiating bilateral agreements with their 
trading partners to better achieve their trade goals. 
BOYCE