TAIPEI: The government has completed a tentative early-harvest list to be included in the proposed cross-Straits economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA). A spokesman says Taiwan is ready to negotiate details of the list with the mainland.

The list will only be made public after it is finalized through negotiations between the two sides, according to Huang Chih-peng, director-general of external trade affairs.

Although Huang declined to disclose the goods and services included on the list, he did mention the principles that guided the selection of the targeted items.

In the service sector, the MOEA has targeted areas that the mainland agreed to open when gaining accession to the World Trade Organization but still remain inaccessible to Taiwan, Huang said.

Others targeted are services for which the mainland has granted preferential tariffs to other trade partners, and those that are favorable to Taiwan, Huang said.

According to an ECFA impact assessment report released recently by the MOEA, the government may request the mainland to open up its market to financial, computer-related, R&D, logistics, civil aircraft maintenance and freight forwarding services from Taiwan.

In terms of products, Taiwan expects the mainland to open its market to export items that are favorable to Taiwan but are subject to high tariffs, Huang said.

Others are those for which Beijing has granted preferential duties to its free trade agreement partners, and sensitive goods that Taiwan hopes can be opened up flexibly, he said.

At the closing ceremony of an annual conference of the World Taiwanese Chambers of Commerce Tuesday, Taiwan leader Ma Ying-jeou said the government hopes an "early harvest" clause can be included in the proposed ECFA to reduce the impact on Taiwan businesses of the new China-Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) free trade area.

After the China-ASEAN economic integration, which begins January 1, 2010, petrochemical products, textiles, automobile parts and machinery exports from ASEAN members to the mainland will enjoy tariff-free treatment, which will seriously undermine the competitiveness of similar products from Taiwan, Ma said.

China Daily/CNA

(HK Edition 10/01/2009 page2)