For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
October 27, 2002
Fact Sheet: APEC Leaders Meeting-Day Two U.S. Accomplishments
Presidential Action
Today, APEC Leaders joined in issuing an unprecedented
statement calling on North Korea to 'visibly honor its commitment to
give up nuclear weapons programs.'
President Bush also secured
agreement on three U.S.-driven economic initiatives, committing APEC
economies to adopt Transparency Standards, implement the APEC Trade
Facilitation Action Plan to cut transactions costs by 5 percent over 5
years, and remove barriers to Trade and the Digital Economy.
President Bush secured the commitment of APEC Leaders to meet agreed
timelines to ensure successful conclusion of the World Trade
Organization's Doha negotiations by the January 1, 2005 deadline.
APEC Leaders endorsed an important U.S. goal of the Doha negotiations:
the elimination of all forms of agricultural export subsidies.
STATEMENT ON NORTH KOREA
Leaders Call on North Korea to 'Visibly Honor its Commitment to
Give Up Nuclear Weapons Programs: Expressing the concerns of the Asia
Pacific community, APEC leaders issued a joint statement that directly
calls on North Korea to 'honor its commitment to give up its nuclear
weapons programs.'
This commitment includes the Nuclear
Non-Proliferation Treaty, the Agreed Framework, the North-South Joint
Declaration on Denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, and the
Japan-DPRK Pyongyang Declaration.
ACTION ON TRADE AND INVESTMENT
Translating Commitments into Action: Today, President Bush and
other APEC Leaders translated into action the pledges they made in last
year's Shanghai Accord. Revitalizing momentum toward free and open
investment in the Asia Pacific region, the Leaders took action to
increase transparency, cut red tape and trade transaction costs, and
encourage development of the Digital Economy.
APEC Transparency Standards: Transparency is critical to APEC's
vision of free and open trade and investment. The Transparency
Standards committed to by APEC Leaders will enhance good governance,
increase regulatory certainty, and attract investment in APEC
economies. Key elements of the Leaders' Statement commit APEC
economies to:
Promptly publish laws, regulations, and administrative
rulings, which affect the flow of goods, services, and capital.
Provide public notice and an opportunity for comment on proposed laws
and regulations.
Establish fair administrative procedures and
review by impartial and independent tribunals.
Trade Facilitation Action Plan: President Bush and other APEC
Leaders endorsed concrete trade facilitation measures as part of an
Action Plan to reduce red tape and other trade transaction costs by 5
percent across the APEC region over 5 years. The Action Plan calls on
APEC Members to implement specific trade facilitating reforms, and
estimate the cost-savings they will generate. There are over 50
reforms included in the Action Plan that fit into four categories:
Movement of goods, including speeding customs clearance.
Standards, including harmonizing rules, procedures, and codes affecting
acceptance of goods and services.
Business mobility, including
streamlining arrangements for intra-company transferees.
E-commerce, including facilitating the use of secure methods for
electronic payments.
Trade and the Digital Economy: President Bush and most other APEC
Leaders committed to a U.S.-driven initiative to remove barriers to
information technology products and services, and increase intellectual
property protection. This initiative will help stimulate investment
and growth in the Digital Economy. Specifically, the Leaders'
Statement on Trade and the Digital Economy commits participating APEC
members to:
Reduce barriers to market access in telecommunications and
information technology products and services.
Protect
intellectual property by prohibiting government use of pirated
software, curtailing copyright infringement over the Internet,
enforcing the WTO Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual
Property, and joining the World Intellectual Property Organization
(WIPO) Copyright and Performance of Phonograms Treaties.
Commit
to a long-term moratorium on customs duties on electronic
transmissions.
Significant Potential Benefits: A recent study estimates that trade
facilitation measures in port logistics, standards harmonization,
transparency and professionalism, and e-business, could lead to a
permanent gain in annual intra-APEC trade of $280 billion, or 13
percent of intra-APEC trade in 2001.
Commitment to the Doha Development Agenda: President Bush
underscored his Administration's commitment to a successful completion
of the World Trade Organization's Doha Development Agenda. As set
forth in the Leaders' Declaration, he secured the commitment of APEC
Leaders to meet agreed timelines to ensure successful conclusion of the
negotiations by the January 1, 2005 deadline.
Elimination of Agricultural Export Subsidies: The President also
highlighted his Administration's ambitious WTO agriculture proposal,
and through the Leaders' Declaration, secured APEC endorsement of an
important U.S. goal of the Doha negotiations: the elimination of all
forms of agricultural export subsidies.
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