2005年1月WTO对日本贸易政策审议-中国代表团的发言(英文)
Statement of the Chinese Delegation
at the Seventh WTO Trade Policy Review of Japan
25 January 2005
Mme. Chair,
At the outset, let me join the previous speakers in expressing my warm welcome to the Delegation of Japan headed by Mr. Kaoru Ishikawa, Director-General of the Bureau of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan, to be in Geneva for this trade policy review and my thanks for Mr. Ishikawa’ introductory statement just made on the review. We certainly also welcome Ambassador Oshima and his colleagues in the Mission here in Geneva. My thanks also go to you, Mme. Chair, and the Discussant Mr. Tony Miller, Permanent Representative of Hong kong, China, for your enlightening comments on the policies of the Japanese Government related to trade.
Mme. Chair, being one of the most important trading nations, Japan’s macro-economic and trade policy has considerable impact on the economy and trade not only in the Asia-Pacific region but also of the whole world. It is our pleasure to note that Japan has since the last review generally maintained the momentum in its economic recovery. As noted in the Secretariat Report, China is looking forward to the sustainability of this recovery which will benefit us all. It will also enable Japan to undertake better its responsibilities in the multilateral trading system and contribute more towards the ongoing Doha round trade negotiations.
Mme. Chair, the complementarities of the economy and trade of China and Japan have since the last review fostered a further rapid growth of bilateral trade. Today, Japan is the 3rd largest trading partner of China and China is the second largest trading partner of Japan. The total volume of bilateral trade between the two countries reached USD 167.9 billion in 2004, of which the export volume of Japan to China was USD 73.5 billion, an annual increase of 23.7%.
As pointed out correctly by the Secretariat Report, China’s import from Japan has been one of the major driving forces behind the economic recovery in Japan in the past two years. We look forward to more enhanced mutual trust between the two countries when we face difficulties and problems in our bilateral economic and trade relations, so that those negative elements will be removed and the cooperation between us both in the bilateral and multilateral frameworks will be strengthened. With that being realized, we can jointly contribute, together with other Members of the WTO, to the stability and prosperity of the world economy and trade in a long run.
Mme. Chair, our written questions submitted in advance of this meeting were based on our studies on our bilateral economic and trade relations with Japan and Japan’s performance in the multilateral trading system. Due to the time constraint, while looking forward to the detailed responses from our Japanese colleagues, I would like to make some comments on two issues of systemic nature and also of our great concern among others.
The first is the quota system and tariff-rate quota system of Japan. As pointed out in the Secretariat Report, although without detailed analysis regrettably, the import quota system and the import tariff-rate quota system of Japan are very much intricate. Transparency in the administration of the two systems, particularly the TRQ regime for the import of rice, needs substantive improvement. Japan currently applies procedures for TRQ allocation for the import of rice which are not only complicated, but also discriminatory against certain major potential suppliers. The average tariff rate of Japan for agricultural products is 18.4%, and its tariff peaks go even as high as several hundred per cent and even over one thousand per cent. This is much higher than many developing Members. This has greatly jeopardized the improvement of the multilateral trading system and trade interest of WTO Members, particularly developing Members including China. For the further liberalization of trade in agriculture, China therefore requests Japan to take concrete prompt steps to ensure that the administration of its import quota and tariff-rate quota systems be improved and built on an equal, fair, transparent and non-discriminatory basis. China also reserves the right to contact further our Japanese colleagues on these issues according to WTO rules within the bilateral framework.
The second issue I would like to elaborating, Mme. Chair, is the frequent and excessively stringent resort by Japan to TBT and SPS measures in its import trade in agricultural goods. China understands the importance of SPS and TBT measure in protecting the life and health of human beings, plants and animals. However, a series of SPS measures taken by Japan in recent years are far beyond necessary. Standards applied to import products are not only higher than international ones, but in some cases are also higher than those Japan has set on its domestic products. Inspections are conducted frequently on imported products but rarely on domestic products. It has thus infringed from a different angle on the basic principle of national treatment of the multilateral trading system. It has also impaired greatly the legitimate interests of the relevant exporters. In this review we would like to register with the Japanese colleagues our great concerns over this issue, and we will continue our contacts with them both bilaterally and in the multilateral framework in the future.
Before concluding my statement, Mme. Chair, China also wishes to registered its thanks to the WTO Secretariat and the Government of Japan for the two Reports they have prepared for the review, which are in deed helpful to our discussions. However, we would like to point out one strange phenomenon we find in both the Reports.
The Report by the Government of Japan referred to some specific issues it raised to the Government of China with regard to the latter’s trade polices and measures during its bilateral consultations with China instead of its own trade policy problems affecting the interests of China. We would like to remind our Japanese friend that this is TPR on Japan, not on China. Surprisingly, we find an identical paragraph appeared on Page 21 of the Report of the Secretariat, which is almost a reproduction of the referred paragraph in the Report of the Japanese Government. For this reason, we would naturally cast some doubt on the independence and neutrality of the Secretariat and we would appreciate it if the Delegation of Japan, and the Secretariat in particularly, could provide some convincing reasoning for this conduct of theirs with regard to its relevance to the trade policy review of Japan.
I wish this review a success.
Thank you, Mme. Chair, for presiding over this meeting and giving me the floor.
at the Seventh WTO Trade Policy Review of Japan
25 January 2005
Mme. Chair,
At the outset, let me join the previous speakers in expressing my warm welcome to the Delegation of Japan headed by Mr. Kaoru Ishikawa, Director-General of the Bureau of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan, to be in Geneva for this trade policy review and my thanks for Mr. Ishikawa’ introductory statement just made on the review. We certainly also welcome Ambassador Oshima and his colleagues in the Mission here in Geneva. My thanks also go to you, Mme. Chair, and the Discussant Mr. Tony Miller, Permanent Representative of Hong kong, China, for your enlightening comments on the policies of the Japanese Government related to trade.
Mme. Chair, being one of the most important trading nations, Japan’s macro-economic and trade policy has considerable impact on the economy and trade not only in the Asia-Pacific region but also of the whole world. It is our pleasure to note that Japan has since the last review generally maintained the momentum in its economic recovery. As noted in the Secretariat Report, China is looking forward to the sustainability of this recovery which will benefit us all. It will also enable Japan to undertake better its responsibilities in the multilateral trading system and contribute more towards the ongoing Doha round trade negotiations.
Mme. Chair, the complementarities of the economy and trade of China and Japan have since the last review fostered a further rapid growth of bilateral trade. Today, Japan is the 3rd largest trading partner of China and China is the second largest trading partner of Japan. The total volume of bilateral trade between the two countries reached USD 167.9 billion in 2004, of which the export volume of Japan to China was USD 73.5 billion, an annual increase of 23.7%.
As pointed out correctly by the Secretariat Report, China’s import from Japan has been one of the major driving forces behind the economic recovery in Japan in the past two years. We look forward to more enhanced mutual trust between the two countries when we face difficulties and problems in our bilateral economic and trade relations, so that those negative elements will be removed and the cooperation between us both in the bilateral and multilateral frameworks will be strengthened. With that being realized, we can jointly contribute, together with other Members of the WTO, to the stability and prosperity of the world economy and trade in a long run.
Mme. Chair, our written questions submitted in advance of this meeting were based on our studies on our bilateral economic and trade relations with Japan and Japan’s performance in the multilateral trading system. Due to the time constraint, while looking forward to the detailed responses from our Japanese colleagues, I would like to make some comments on two issues of systemic nature and also of our great concern among others.
The first is the quota system and tariff-rate quota system of Japan. As pointed out in the Secretariat Report, although without detailed analysis regrettably, the import quota system and the import tariff-rate quota system of Japan are very much intricate. Transparency in the administration of the two systems, particularly the TRQ regime for the import of rice, needs substantive improvement. Japan currently applies procedures for TRQ allocation for the import of rice which are not only complicated, but also discriminatory against certain major potential suppliers. The average tariff rate of Japan for agricultural products is 18.4%, and its tariff peaks go even as high as several hundred per cent and even over one thousand per cent. This is much higher than many developing Members. This has greatly jeopardized the improvement of the multilateral trading system and trade interest of WTO Members, particularly developing Members including China. For the further liberalization of trade in agriculture, China therefore requests Japan to take concrete prompt steps to ensure that the administration of its import quota and tariff-rate quota systems be improved and built on an equal, fair, transparent and non-discriminatory basis. China also reserves the right to contact further our Japanese colleagues on these issues according to WTO rules within the bilateral framework.
The second issue I would like to elaborating, Mme. Chair, is the frequent and excessively stringent resort by Japan to TBT and SPS measures in its import trade in agricultural goods. China understands the importance of SPS and TBT measure in protecting the life and health of human beings, plants and animals. However, a series of SPS measures taken by Japan in recent years are far beyond necessary. Standards applied to import products are not only higher than international ones, but in some cases are also higher than those Japan has set on its domestic products. Inspections are conducted frequently on imported products but rarely on domestic products. It has thus infringed from a different angle on the basic principle of national treatment of the multilateral trading system. It has also impaired greatly the legitimate interests of the relevant exporters. In this review we would like to register with the Japanese colleagues our great concerns over this issue, and we will continue our contacts with them both bilaterally and in the multilateral framework in the future.
Before concluding my statement, Mme. Chair, China also wishes to registered its thanks to the WTO Secretariat and the Government of Japan for the two Reports they have prepared for the review, which are in deed helpful to our discussions. However, we would like to point out one strange phenomenon we find in both the Reports.
The Report by the Government of Japan referred to some specific issues it raised to the Government of China with regard to the latter’s trade polices and measures during its bilateral consultations with China instead of its own trade policy problems affecting the interests of China. We would like to remind our Japanese friend that this is TPR on Japan, not on China. Surprisingly, we find an identical paragraph appeared on Page 21 of the Report of the Secretariat, which is almost a reproduction of the referred paragraph in the Report of the Japanese Government. For this reason, we would naturally cast some doubt on the independence and neutrality of the Secretariat and we would appreciate it if the Delegation of Japan, and the Secretariat in particularly, could provide some convincing reasoning for this conduct of theirs with regard to its relevance to the trade policy review of Japan.
I wish this review a success.
Thank you, Mme. Chair, for presiding over this meeting and giving me the floor.
智能问答
