FTAAP as an APEC Process to Achieve Bogor Goal

Abstract

FTAAP became an official agenda of APEC. APEC needs a credible trade agenda to restore its identity and FTAAP would ultimately achieve it. However, APEC has to abandon its working mechanism in order to form a WTO-consistent regional agreement and an attempt to establish FTAAP may jeopardize APEC. In this paper, we have explored an acceptable type of FTAAP for APEC without abandoning its basic principles. APEC retains the Bogor goal as its ultimate goal while it regards FTAAP as an APEC process to achieve the Bogor goal. It is a process in the sense that FTAAP is a mechanism based on APEC principles in which APEC members provide specific commitments between 2010-20. The Bogor goal is achieved after APEC successfully implements FTAAP. FTAAP as a WTO consistent RTA is impossible under the working mechanism of APEC. The APEC-type FTAAP could function as a vehicle to move APEC toward the Bogor goal by establishing a credible trade agenda. Although FTAAP as an APEC process may contain lower commitments than even a low-quality RTA, it would help revive APEC’s credibility greatly. There are several minimum requirements for an acceptable FTAAP. First, FTAAP needs to contain some tangible TILF initiative on-board measures. Second, APEC should keep “voluntarism” if it wants to avoid disintegration of APEC in the process of implementation of FTAAP. Third, open regionalism needs to be kept because we are actually re-defining FTAAP.