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 Home > News & Policies > October 2002

For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
October 27, 2002

Fact Sheet: APEC Leaders Meeting-Day Two U.S. Accomplishments

Presidential Action

  • Today, APEC Leaders joined in issuing an unprecedented statement calling on North Korea to 'visibly honor its commitment to give up nuclear weapons programs.'

  • President Bush also secured agreement on three U.S.-driven economic initiatives, committing APEC economies to adopt Transparency Standards, implement the APEC Trade Facilitation Action Plan to cut transactions costs by 5 percent over 5 years, and remove barriers to Trade and the Digital Economy.

  • President Bush secured the commitment of APEC Leaders to meet agreed timelines to ensure successful conclusion of the World Trade Organization's Doha negotiations by the January 1, 2005 deadline.

  • APEC Leaders endorsed an important U.S. goal of the Doha negotiations: the elimination of all forms of agricultural export subsidies.

    STATEMENT ON NORTH KOREA

  • Leaders Call on North Korea to 'Visibly Honor its Commitment to Give Up Nuclear Weapons Programs: Expressing the concerns of the Asia Pacific community, APEC leaders issued a joint statement that directly calls on North Korea to 'honor its commitment to give up its nuclear weapons programs.'

  • This commitment includes the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, the Agreed Framework, the North-South Joint Declaration on Denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, and the Japan-DPRK Pyongyang Declaration.

    ACTION ON TRADE AND INVESTMENT

    Translating Commitments into Action: Today, President Bush and other APEC Leaders translated into action the pledges they made in last year's Shanghai Accord. Revitalizing momentum toward free and open investment in the Asia Pacific region, the Leaders took action to increase transparency, cut red tape and trade transaction costs, and encourage development of the Digital Economy.

    APEC Transparency Standards: Transparency is critical to APEC's vision of free and open trade and investment. The Transparency Standards committed to by APEC Leaders will enhance good governance, increase regulatory certainty, and attract investment in APEC economies. Key elements of the Leaders' Statement commit APEC economies to:

  • Promptly publish laws, regulations, and administrative rulings, which affect the flow of goods, services, and capital.

  • Provide public notice and an opportunity for comment on proposed laws and regulations.

  • Establish fair administrative procedures and review by impartial and independent tribunals.

    Trade Facilitation Action Plan: President Bush and other APEC Leaders endorsed concrete trade facilitation measures as part of an Action Plan to reduce red tape and other trade transaction costs by 5 percent across the APEC region over 5 years. The Action Plan calls on APEC Members to implement specific trade facilitating reforms, and estimate the cost-savings they will generate. There are over 50 reforms included in the Action Plan that fit into four categories:

  • Movement of goods, including speeding customs clearance.

  • Standards, including harmonizing rules, procedures, and codes affecting acceptance of goods and services.

  • Business mobility, including streamlining arrangements for intra-company transferees.

  • E-commerce, including facilitating the use of secure methods for electronic payments.

    Trade and the Digital Economy: President Bush and most other APEC Leaders committed to a U.S.-driven initiative to remove barriers to information technology products and services, and increase intellectual property protection. This initiative will help stimulate investment and growth in the Digital Economy. Specifically, the Leaders' Statement on Trade and the Digital Economy commits participating APEC members to:

  • Reduce barriers to market access in telecommunications and information technology products and services.

  • Protect intellectual property by prohibiting government use of pirated software, curtailing copyright infringement over the Internet, enforcing the WTO Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property, and joining the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Copyright and Performance of Phonograms Treaties.

  • Commit to a long-term moratorium on customs duties on electronic transmissions.

    Significant Potential Benefits: A recent study estimates that trade facilitation measures in port logistics, standards harmonization, transparency and professionalism, and e-business, could lead to a permanent gain in annual intra-APEC trade of $280 billion, or 13 percent of intra-APEC trade in 2001.

    Commitment to the Doha Development Agenda: President Bush underscored his Administration's commitment to a successful completion of the World Trade Organization's Doha Development Agenda. As set forth in the Leaders' Declaration, he secured the commitment of APEC Leaders to meet agreed timelines to ensure successful conclusion of the negotiations by the January 1, 2005 deadline.

    Elimination of Agricultural Export Subsidies: The President also highlighted his Administration's ambitious WTO agriculture proposal, and through the Leaders' Declaration, secured APEC endorsement of an important U.S. goal of the Doha negotiations: the elimination of all forms of agricultural export subsidies.