WTO NON-AGRICULTURAL MARKET ACCESS SECTORS (NAMA):

UNCLAS VIENNA 000534 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ETRD AU WTO SUBJECT: WTO NON-AGRICULTURAL MARKET ACCESS SECTORS (NAMA): INPUT FROM AUSTRIA REFS: (A) STATE 17096; (B) 03 VIENNA 819 ¶1. All non-agricultural Austrian manufacturers and industries are mandatory members of the Austrian Economic Chamber (WKO). The WKO is in the best position to comment on which sectors are interested in sectoral tariff liberalization negotiations. WKO WTO Specialist Susanne Schrott told us that presently, no sector is willing to start talks on this issue. Schrott added, however, that the WKO is currently soliciting the views of industry members regarding NAMA tariff liberalization. She promised to provide us a list of interested industries as soon as it is available. Contact information: Susanne Schrott, Foreign Trade and WTO expert at the WKO, phone: +43-0590900-4211, e- mail: susanne.schrott@wko.at. ¶2. Another influential industry lobby group, which has expressed interest in WTO-NAMA progress, is the Austrian Association of Industrialists (IV). Contact information: Michael Loewy, Secretary for International Relations, phone: +43-1-71135-2412, e-mail: m.loewy@iv-net.at. ¶3. Schrott told us that one area in which the Austrians are definitely interested in reducing or eliminating tariffs is the export of environmental technologies. Companies that produce in these sectors are in one of two associations (also under the WKO umbrella): the Association of Chemical Industries, Managing Director Dr. Wolfgang Eickhoff, phone: +43-0590900-3371, e-mail: office@fcio.wko.at; and the Association of Machinery and Steel Industries, Managing Director Dr. Berndt-Thomas Krafft, phone: +43-0590900-3482, e-mail: krafft@fmmi.at. ¶4. Previous discussions (ref B) revealed that the clothing and textiles industries are the strongest opponents of tariff reductions. Contact info: Association of the Clothing Industry, Managing Director: Dr. Franz Pitnik, phone: +43-0590900-4903, e-mail: pitnik@fashion-industry.at; and the Association of the Textiles Industry, Managing Director: Dr. Wolfgang Zeyringer, phone: +43-1-53337-260, e- mail: FVTextil@FVTextil.wk.or.at. BROWN