The Philippines and Thailand are not yet assured of a favorable vote from the 15-member European Union on the proposal of a World Trade Organization (WTO) mediator to cut half tariff on canned tuna exports during the meeting of the European Commission General Council next month.
EU Ambassador in the Philippines Jan de Kok told reporters that the EU council would meet next month to vote on the proposal of a WTO mediator to reduce the duty of canned tuna exports from the Philippines and Thailand to 12 percent from the current rate of 24 percent.
Kok said the council composed of trade ministers from member-nations would require a majority vote in favor of the WTO proposal to approve the compromise in which tariff on canned tuna exports from the two countries would be reduced to a level playing field in the EU market.
However, the diplomat pointed out that Philippines and Thailand are not yet assured of getting the trade concession as EU nations, environmentalists and nongovernmental organizations that are opposed to the compromise are lobbying for the rejection of the proposal.
EU is composed of Belgium, Netherlands, France. Luxemburg, Denmark, Greece, Ireland, Italy, UK, Germany, Portugal, Austria, Finland, Spain and Sweden. Spain and Portugal are strongly opposing the compromise set by the WTO mediator. Surprisingly France and also Italy are reported to have ceased their opposition.
Kok stressed, “These two countries cannot stop it because they do not constitute a major vote. But if these countries are able to persuade a country with a higher voting right then there would be a problemâ€. Under the present set-up at the EU Council, Spain has eight representatives while Portugal has five, thus amounting to 13 votes for the two countries. Germany, France, Italy, and the United Kingdom each have 10 representatives, while Belgium, Greece, and the Netherlands have five votes each.
Four votes each are allotted to Austria and Sweden, while three votes each are reserved for Denmark, Ireland, and Finland. Luxembourg has the smallest number of votes at two.
With 74 out of the total 87 votes in favor of adopting the resolution, the compensation package has the support of a clear majority.
Under EU Council rules, a qualified majority, which amounts to 71 percent or 62 out of the 87 votes, is needed to pass a resolution.
In the Asean Economic Ministers -- EU Consultations held in Laos early this month, EU Trade Commissioner Pascal Lamy informed Trade Secretary Manuel Roxas II that he is “reasonably confident†that the council would give the final approval to the proposed solution set by the WTO mediator. At the same time, delegation deputy head Luc Vandebon said the European Commission, which negotiated the compensation package, as the executive arm of the EU, is “very much in favor†of implementing the WTO mediator opinion. “The Commission is as anxious as the Philippine government to bring this to a conclusion,†Kok added.
Under the proposal of the WTO mediator, EU would open a most favored nation-based tariff quota of 25,000 tons this year at an in-quota ad valorem tariff of 12 percent. This is half of the 24 percent slapped on canned tuna coming from the Philippines and Thailand.