Caretaker Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra is considering whether to sign the Japan-Thailand Economic Partnership Agreement in September as requested by Tokyo, a member of the Thai negotiating team said.

However, Thaksin has not yet determined whether his caretaker government has the authority to do so, said the negotiator who asked not to be named. However, Japan has urged Thaksin to sign the agreement in September as scheduled, because Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's term expires at the end of that month.

"Japan is pushing for Thailand to ink the agreement, but Thaksin is on the edge of a dilemma as to whether his caretaker government should sign any international agreement or make commitments, since it has no mandate," the negotiator said.

The text of the agreement was concluded last month, and it awaits only the official signing ceremony. Thaksin had recently held talks with Japanese officials about concluding all of the pact's relevant documents, the negotiator said.

Meanwhile, negotiators on both sides will study the immediate positive and negative effects of signing or not signing on schedule.

The study will help the Thai government make a final decision as to whether it should wait for the new government or sign now.

The negotiator said the government would hold a public seminar on the agreement soon.

Once the agreement has been signed by the prime ministers of both nations, it will take six months to a year to be implemented.

Meanwhile, a Commerce Ministry official said that overall there are few advantages for Thailand in the agreement.

The official, who asked not to be named, said the agreement was very general in terms of technology transfers from Japan to the Kingdom.

The official also warned that Thailand would lose a large amount of revenue after import tariffs on several categories of goods were cut drastically for Japanese products.

In contrast, Japan would only lower import tariffs for a small number of Thai agricultural products, the official said. Moreover, many non-tariff barriers for Thai exports to Japan would remain and even increase in the future, such as rules of origin and high sanitary standards, while Thailand would be obliged to allow Japanese goods to be imported here more easily.

Steel would be the main Japanese product import tariffs would be drastically reduced on, while Thai tuna, textiles and some agricultural products would face strict rules of origin and sanitary standards under the agreement.

"The agreement would not create concrete benefits for Thailand," said the official, adding that Thailand would be the obvious loser in the long run.

Petchanet Pratruangkrai

The Nation