Indonesias Strategic Approach on Environmental Goods List Tariff Reduction Commitment in APEC Talks

Abstract

Abstract Indonesias Strategic Approach on Environmental Goods List Tariff Reduction Commitment in APEC Talks

ANDHIKA AMRI International Area Studies Graduate School of International Studies Seoul National University

Majority of economic experts believe that trade liberalization will promote advantages on production efficiency, which then lead to increased welfare among trading countries. As global economy growth emerges, international communities beginning to realize that environmental preservations have a significant role in establishing and supporting economic activity. To achieve environment sustainability, the transformation of old-fashioned and high-polluted economic activitiess into a better pro-environmental sustainable economic ativities indeed necessary to be recognized collectively by all countries in the world. The argument between trade and environment linkages centered on the fact that the world has experienced a lot of damage to ecosystems in different parts of the world, so that the creation of environmental provisions should not be hindered by the interest over trade policy. This idea met with resistance argument which state that world trade liberalization efforts started many years ago through hard multilateral negotiations which should not be restricted by new international regime on environmental preservation provisions. In international trade regime practice, the most recent breakthrough on trade-environment linkage achieved by APEC organization, when they agreed to voluntarily reduce the import tariff duties of 54 environmental goods to 5% or less. APEC Environmental Goods list demonstrate that trade liberalization and environmental concern could go hand in hand. The agreement has been hailed by many observers as a political breakthrough that represents the first international policy to liberalize trade on a set of goods that are considered environmental. However, tariff rates elimination in international trade still facing massive objection, in particular from developing countries like Indonesia. In practice, Indonesian government will keep implement APEC Environmental Goods list tariff reduction to the some level in 2015 due to protection effort by related stakeholder within the country

and in order to fulfill that commitment comprehensively, the government has form a scheme to achieve trade and investment liberalization by 2020 as stated in Bogor Goals.

Keywords: (WTO, Trade, Environment, APEC, Environment Goods, Tariff Reduction, Indonesia) Student Number: 2015-25103