Retailing and wholesaling protected for Tongans, Labour minister tells WTO critics [1]
Thursday, November 10, 2005 - 11:59. Updated on Wednesday, October 1, 2014 - 13:37.
Tonga's accession to the World Trade Organisation WTO is at the point of no return, Tonga's Minister for Labour, Commerce and Industries Dr Feleti Sevele, told WTO critics at a Press Conference in Nuku'alofa on Tuesday, November 8, saying that retailing and wholesaling are two sectors that will remain protected for Tongans.
Feleti said that Tongan officials will attend a WTO working committee meeting in Geneva on November 10 to finalise Tonga's accession to the WTO. Tonga's actual admission to the WTO will be decided on during the biennial meeting of the 148-members organization in Hong Kong on December 13-18.
Feleti said that after Tonga is granted a WTO membership status there would be a six-month settling in period, "if during that time Tonga decides to suspend its membership. It will have to start all over again if it decides later to reapply for WTO membership."
The suggestion by a critic at the meeting for Tonga to stop now, and save time and money rather than proceeding with the accession process and then withdrawing during the six-month settling in period, was shrugged off by the Minister who stressed that Tonga had reached "the point of no return."
The majority of questions coming from the floor at the Press Conference expressed their doubt over the advantage of WTO membership for Tonga.
The minister did not answer the question about which sectors of business and services would remain protected for Tongans, and which sectors would be opened up under the WTO for competition by incoming foreign companies and business interests.
The only businesses that the minister confirmed would been protected for Tongans only were the wholesale and the retailing businesses.
He said that consultation and workshops on WTO had been going on since 1995, and documents and information had been made available to the public who by now should know the benefits that a WTO membership would bring to the country.
Feleti said that one of the advantages of being a member of the WTO was that any trade disputes can be resolved. But when he was asked who would pay for international lawyers and court fees there was no clear answer. Questioners were very doubtful if Tonga would ever be able to afford to take a trade offender to court in Geneva.
With regards to any Tongan products that Tonga has negotiated for a preference treatment in order to have easy entry to say New Zealand or Australia, the minister said that they had been negotiating with New Zealand for a preference treatment status for Tongan water melon and vegetables.