Tonga defers WTO membership

Tonga should defer WTO membership - Viliami Lomipeau, Nuku‘alofa, Tonga
I give thanks to the advocates against WTO and for the deferment of WTO membership until the country discuss the issues of concern to all sector of the society before we can move forward together on this initiative.

Please allow me to share with you what I think is why a recent public opinion survey in Tonga (Tongatapu and Vava’u Islands only) show amazingly high number of support to defer WTO membership (Please note that I was one of the majority number of people who participated in the public opinion survey for deferment of WTO, so you can understand where I am coming from and how I approach this issue)

First of all, as the name says it all, it is ‘international trade’ policies for Tonga we are talking about, not political reform or democratisation of Tonga. That being said, the people of Tonga especially NGOs and local businesses do not wish to see any membership in any foreign treaties that might lessen their (Tonga’s) sovereign right to put in place regulation considered best for them. This is, business licenses can be granted upon the discretion of a Minister and not necessary to any objective criteria (this is what it used to say in the Business Licenses Act until WTO came along). Government have the sovereign right to grant business rights to some companies to not others in accordance to their view. This is not allowed under WTO but I dont like it, I like it the way it is.

I do not want WTO rules that would set predictable and tranparent treatment of our squash, vanilla, fisheries and any other agricultural products overseas. Besides, all of Tonga’s trading partners are WTO members. For me as an agricultural exporter, I prefer the status quo, no special trade recognition from trading partner and our exports left to the discretion of the Immigration officer at an Australian or foreign port. I remember vividly a kava exporter some years ago who managed to send one big kava container to Australia and was stopped at the port because the Australian Quarantine Department claimed they found traces of bacteria in the kava (powder form). To cut the story short, they destroyed (burned) the whole kava shipment while the kava exporter cried his heart out in front of it all. Of course the Australians have every right to impose any standard whatsoever to ‘protect plant life’ inside Australia, but would they think twice and provide some scientific evidence in acconding to the rules of the WTO to Tonga if Tonga was a member then? That is why I think, it is better for our exporters to try their luck (as they have been in the last 50 years) on their own with no predictable multilateral trading system in place. It is the rule of the jungle and whoever is bigger and more powerful recieves the lion shares.

Secondly, Tonga should defer WTO membership because of potential big powerful foreign companies that will come to Tonga and drown out the small Tongan business community. The small business community is very concern and they have every right to. Any introduction of competition that might give the Tongan people some better variety of choices in terms of services and products will take away their current share of the market. I have heard in the media that if Tonga becomes a member of WTO Wal-Mart (biggest retailing chain in the World from US) will established itself in Tonga and elimiante the little Tongan shops. Apart from the report of Financial Times this week that Wal-mart is selling all its franchise in Germany and before that, South Korea, I dont think Wal-Mart will be expanding to Tonga for some time in the future. This should be good for the small businesses in Tonga. The Tongan people can buy whatever is offered in the shops in Tonga. Besides, who would like to buy a better quality product besides from the dusty products the few shops sell in Tonga now. I like it the way it is.

Thirdly, Health and Education is of utmost importance to the Tongan people. The key word here is ‘public accessibility’. If Tonga becomes a member of the WTO, these two important service sector will be open for any potential foreign hospital and university to come and establish in Tonga. This is not acceptable to the overwhelming majority of people who participated in the public opinion survey. We Tongan people like it the way it is (as Lucky Dube sings in one of his songs), we go to the hospital to see the doctor because you have a stomach ache, the doctor gives you panadol, arriving later on, a Tongan old man with cold, the doctor gave him panadol! Of course I am exagerating but my point is, I do not want any foreign hospital that might provide (complement or supplement service) lacked by our hospitals, I prefer it the way it is. Many people with serious health cases are send to New Zealand or Australian hospitals for our hospital do not have the appropriate equipment, I like it like that. I want the hospital to remain free of charge and remain accessible to everybody including rich and poor. So for rich people, Im afraid you have to put up with our ideologilical ‘state-owned’ health system we have now. It should be a fair system, we should all have access to the current standard or technology in Tonga. My point is, I do not want any introduction of foreign hospitals that can help treat our poor people and give jobs to others, I like it the way it is.

Fourthly, education is very dear to our heart. King Tupou 1 once stated that ‘my people perishes for they lack knowledge’ (forgive the poor tonga-english translation), but you get the idea, people should be getting a good education. Today, about 60% or more of the education institutional especially at secondary level is offered by non government institution such as Religous Institution.

However, the problem with education service now is that , more and more school leavers are dropping out after Form 6 & 7 certificates and can not find job. Why? because our educational system is not focussing well enough on professional education tailored for the needs of businesses and foreign countries like Australia and New Zealand. WTO membership might open doors for foreign educational institution but I dont like it, I like it the way it is.

Oxfam said that Tonga has a bad WTO trade deal. I believe them with all my heart, as they have more expert and expereince on commenting on other countries bad accession deal than I am. It was good for Oxfam to have come up with all these critique of the accession package in Hong Kond in December 2005, makes you wonder where were they in the last 10 years when Tonga was negotiating the WTO Accession process.

Overall, this WTO is exactly like ‘globalisation’. I don’t like it at all. I like things to remain exactly the way they are. They say we can not stop the tide of globalisation/trade liberalisation under the multilateral trading system, I say we can. All we need to do is to autonomously decide that we isolate ourselves from the outside world and problem solved. We dont need this legally binding international trade rule, for it is too predicatable, accountable, and transparent. I like it the way it is. This is the law of the jungle which gives space to poor economic policies and corruption. I like it the way it is.

Sincerely Yours,

Viliami F. Lomipeau - Nuku‘alofa, Tonga