The Chinese Government formally disclosed the detailed rules on new
tariff quotas for agricultural imports on Friday.
The move fulfilled another commitment made by Beijing last year to
the World Trade Organization.
Under the new rules, drawn up by the State Development Planning
Commission, the country's imports of 10 key agricultural products
will be decided in accordance with both the demands of the Chinese
market and the tariff quotas promised by Beijing during
negotiations with the WTO.
The key products are corn, cotton, palm oil, rapeseed oil, rice,
woollen yarn, soya-bean oil, sugar, wheat and wool.
The agricultural imports covered by the tariff quota limit will
enjoy a favorable tariff of less than 10 percent.
The total amount of the key agricultural imports may be above or
below the quota limit under the new rules but a tariff of around 70
percent will be imposed on the excess amount, according to
commission officials.
The new rules will expire by 2005, when WTO member countries are to
further discuss the rules on agricultural trade between members,
said the commission.
Chen Xiwen, an expert with the Development Research Center under
the State Council, said: "Market forces dominate the country's
agricultural imports under the new rules.''
Such a tendency will not change even after 2005, said Chen.
The Chinese Government will be deprived of the power to decide
whether or not to import a certain kind of agricultural
product.
Nor will the government be allowed to decide the amount of imports
of these agricultural products as it did before, said Chen.
Qualified domestic importers -- including agricultural enterprises
and wholesalers -- can apply to be included under the preferential
tariff quotas at the State Development Planning Commission and its
provincial branches between October 15 and 30 each year.
The commission will divide the total quotas among the applicants on
the basis of their requests, previous import records and production
capacity, according to the rules.
More detailed information on this year's tariff quotas for
agricultural imports will be published by the commission on its
website at www.sdpc.gov.cn in the coming weeks.
A
commission official surnamed Liu said the quotas for the next few
years were also set during Beijing's negotiations with WTO
members.
According to Liu, the tariff quotas for imported grains --
including corn, rice and wheat -- come to a total of 18.3 million
tons for this year.
The State Development Planning Commission published the drafts of
the rules last November to determine public opinion.
China has made a commitment to the WTO that it will publish drafts
of all economic, investment and trade laws and regulations to
determine the views of the public before deciding on the final
versions.
According to the international practice of WTO members, draft laws
and regulations should be made available to the public for three
months to seek suggestions.
(China
Daily February 2, 2002)