III. MECHANISMS FOR INTEGRATING ENVIRONMENTAL CONSIDERATIONS INTO AGRICULTURAL POLICY

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E. Mechanisms on trade and environment

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1. Regional institutional arrangements

ASEAN was created to: promote regional cooperation, accelerate economic growth, social progress and cultural development, and peace and stability; provide assistance to its member countries in the form of training and research facilities; and collaborate more effectively on issues on common regional interest such as trade and industry, transportation and communication, and improved living standards. Arrangements were also set up for coordination with trading partners or neighboring countries in terms of environmental policies. ASEAN cooperation on the environment, for example, began in 1977, when the ASEAN Sub-Regional Environment Programme 1 (ASEP) was drafted with assistance from the United Nations Environment Programme. ASEP 1, which was implemented by the ASEAN Expert Group on the Environment under the purview of the ASEAN Committee on Science and Technology, had six priority areas and listed over 100 projects on the environment. Subsequently, two other ASEPs were developed and implemented: ASEP II, covering the period from 1982 to 1987; and ASEP III, covering the period from 1988 to 1992.

The fourth meeting of the ASEAN Senior Officials on the Environment (ASOEN) was convened in Bangkok, from 6 to 8 July 1993. It was attended by senior ASEAN officials and representatives of the ASEAN Secretariat. The meeting reviewed the activities of the six ASOEN working groups as well as the status of ASEAN environmental cooperative programmes with its dialogue partners. Malaysia, having completed the three-year term as chairman of ASOEN, handed over the chairmanship to the Philippines. ASOEN has the following functions and responsibilities:

• To recommend policy guidelines and, in general, provide "catalytic impetus" towards the implementation of the principles of sustainable development to ASEAN governments and relevant ASEAN committees;
• To facilitate the incorporation of environmental considerations into the programmes and activities of ASEAN committees;
• To monitor the state of ASEAN natural resources and the quality of the ASEAN environment;
• To promote ASEAN cooperation on regional environmental matters, focusing upon common seas and resources, land resources and land-based pollution, tropical forests, air quality, urban and rural pollution; and the maintenance of genetic diversity in ASEAN members;
• To promote ASEAN cooperation in international forums through a common stand, in cooperation with other government agencies, the private sector, professional associations, NGOs and other organizations, with the objective of promoting the transfer of clean technology and solving common global environmental problems;
• To assist in obtaining financial support for ASEAN activities from within and outside ASEAN.

ASOEN meets once a year to consider the reports of the working groups and provide operational policy guidance on the various environmental programmes being pursued.

ASOEN cooperative programmes and projects are carried out in six areas: ASEAN seas and marine environment; environmental economics; nature conversation; environmental management; transboundary pollution; and environmental information, public awareness and education. The six working groups meet annually.

The January 1992 meeting in Singapore of the ASEAN heads of government decided to establish an ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA) over the next 15 years. AFTA will cover trade in manufactures, including capital goods and processed agriculture products. A common effective preferential tariff scheme will be established, leading to a progressive reduction of tariffs to levels of 0-5 per cent by the year 2008. There are two programmes of tariff reduction under the common effective preferential tariff scheme: a fast-track programme, which targets the reduction of tariffs to 0-5 per cent within seven to 10 years; and a normal-track programme which targets tariff reductions to 0-5 per cent within 10-15 years.

The link between international trade and sustainable development, where the latter is understood as development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs, is not always obvious. But such a link does exist, i.e., the common concern for improving resource allocation and quality of life.

Indeed, there is a potential development dilemma that needs to be carefully addressed. On the one hand, the goal of sustainable development requires that poverty be reduced. Increased trade, through the provision of higher incomes and greater employment, is a potentially powerful poverty-reduction measure, as the experience of the countries under the category of Newly Industrialized Economies has shown. However, where such trade involves natural resources, either as traded goods or as inputs to manufacturing industries, there is a danger of rapid resource depletion and increased pollution, and hence unsustainable development.

How ASEAN policy-makers will resolve that dilemma will determine how the next generation will judge the decision to implement AFTA. The solution lies in translating the principle of environmentally sound and sustainable development into concrete policies and implementable programmes. In addition, the application of environmental planning and assessment techniques, and the use of low- and non-waste manufacturing technologies, will also be important.

The Strategic Plan of Action on the Environment has the following five objectives:

• To respond to specific recommendations in Agenda 21 requiring priority actions in ASEAN;
• To introduce policy measures and promote institutional development that encourage the integration of environmental factors into all developmental processes, both at the national and regional levels;
• To establish long-term goals on environmental quality as well as work towards harmonized environmental quality standards for the ASEAN region;
• To harmonize policy directions and enhance operational and technical cooperation on environmental matters, and undertake joint actions to address common environmental problems;
• To study the implications of AFTA on the environment and take steps to integrate sound trade policies with sound environmental policies.

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