Taiwan and China to Exchange Early-Harvest Lists for ECFA Next Week

Taipei, Oct. 27, 2009 (CENS)--Delegations from Taiwan and China will meet in Beijing next week for an unofficial discussion on Cross-Taiwan Strait Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA), when both sides will exchange lists for early harvests for the first time.

Huang Chih-peng, director general of the Bureau of Foreign Trade (BOFT), under the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA), reported yesterday (Oct. 26) that when he meet Tang Wei, director of the Department of Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macao Affairs, under China's Ministry of Commerce, during the two-day meeting, on Nov. 3 and 4, delegates from both sides will go over the lists of early harvest, or priority items of commodities eligible for tariff reduction, in a bid to reach a common ground.

The upcoming meeting will be the fourth such unofficial discussion for ECFA, held under the names of think tanks from both sides. Huang noted that there may need another unofficial discussion to further narrow the differences of both sides before the official launch of the talk on ECFA, which will be undertaken via Straits Exchange Foundation and its Chinese counterpart, the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits.

The Taiwanese version of early harvest will cover petrochemical (up- and midstream), machinery equipment and parts, textile (up- and midstream), auto, and flat panel display (FDP). In addition, Taiwan will call for the opening of the Chinese market for some services, including financial service, distribution/retail, civil aviation, computer service, and R&D.

The Taiwanese list will cover some 200 items, under the six-code classification (generalized classification between overall industry categories and individual commodities) of customs regulation. A standby list is also available, covering 500 items, under the eight-code classification (for individual commodities) of customs regulations.

On the other hand, China is likely to ask Taiwan lifting the import ban on some Chinese commodities, in order to achieve the "normalization of cross-Strait trade." An official of the MOEA noted that Taiwan stands to gain higher tariff-cut benefit than China, as the latter's tariffs are higher.