COMMERCE MINISTER UPBEAT ON FTA AFTER CONSULTANT'S

UNCLAS MUSCAT 000471 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS STATE FOR NEA/ARP, EEB/TPP/BTA STATE PASS USTR FOR JBUNTIN COMMERCE FOR COBERG E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ETRD ECON EINV PREL MU SUBJECT: COMMERCE MINISTER UPBEAT ON FTA AFTER CONSULTANT'S VISIT REF: MUSCAT 455 -------------- SUMMARY -------------- ¶1. (SBU) Oman's Commerce and Industry Minister and a USTR consultant discussed the progress made on outstanding U.S.-Oman Free Trade Agreement (FTA) implementation issues after a week-long set of meetings with relevant stakeholders. The Minister was very appreciative of the consultant's efforts and expressed his determination to complete remaining action items by this summer in order to bring the FTA into force. End Summary. ¶2. (U) On May 9, Econoff and USTR consultant Jennifer Hillman reviewed the progress of the FTA implementation process with Commerce and Industry Minister Maqbool bin Ali Sultan. During the week of May 5-9, Econoff and Hillman met with officials from the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Ministry of Health, Royal Oman Police - Customs, and the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority to discuss issues concerning anti-bribery, customs, intellectual property, government procurement, telecommunications, Omanization, transparency, the environment, and labor. -------------- Anti-Bribery -------------- ¶3. (SBU) On anti-bribery, Hillman told Maqbool that she had drafted a side letter from him to the U.S. Trade Representative providing further information on how Oman's laws addresses bribery in the context of matters affecting international trade and investment. According to Hillman, this letter, once signed and transmitted by the Minister, would close out the matter. Maqbool agreed to the contents of the letter and promised to provide his signature. -------------- Customs -------------- ¶4. (SBU) On outstanding customs issues, Hillman explained to Maqbool that she had taken the liberty of drafting a letter from the Royal Oman Police (ROP) Director General of Customs to the Minister of Commerce and Industry detailing how the Directorate General would enforce certain provisions of the FTA related to: temporary admission of goods, duties on temporarily admitted goods that are properly destroyed, goods re-imported after repair or alteration, and the expeditious release of goods. Hillman added that the final part of the letter regarding express shipments awaited input from the 
Directorate General of Customs. ¶5. (SBU) With regards to Rules of Origin requirements, Hillman noted that she had assisted the ROP and the Ministry of Commerce and Industry in identifying the appropriate agencies for the purpose of completing the documents needed to implement Oman's commitments. She further said that to complete the annex of the commitment, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry's Directorate of Industry would have to finalize plans to formalize a system to monitor the garment and textiles industry in Oman, including export certificates to be issued by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry and a rules of origin certificate to be issued by the Oman Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Given her finding that the proposed plan met Oman's commitments under the FTA, she urged Maqbool to formalize it as soon as possible. ¶6. (SBU) On the removal of consular fees pursuant to Article 2.9 of the FTA, Hillman stated that she had informed USTR of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry's instruction to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) to stop their collection of such fees. Hillman advised Maqbool that Oman's ambassador to the U.S., Hunaina al-Mughairy, should provide written confirmation to USTR that Oman no longer collects fees of this nature. Maqbool instructed his staff to follow-up with the MFA to ensure that the Omani Embassy in Washington received the necessary instructions to accomplish this. -------------- Intellectual Property -------------- ¶7. (SBU) Hillman explained to Maqbool that Oman was close to complying with the FTA's intellectual property provisions. She confirmed that USTR had agreed to Oman's submitted text on domain names, that Oman had acceded to the relevant intellectual property treaties, and that the ISP regulations had been completed. Hillman further noted, however, that Oman still needed to submit final comments on its industrial property regulations, as well as final drafts of its regulations on optical discs and government use of software. Hillman relayed to Maqbool that USG experts were reviewing Oman's copyright and industrial property laws, and were evaluating Oman's response to enforcement measures. ¶8. (SBU) On the issue of transitions, Hillman took note of Oman's request for a one-year transition to implement its commitments on all IPR issues, but remarked that Oman did not require a transition for copyrights and trademarks. She suggested that the two sides hold a teleconference to narrow down the issues of real concern. Hillman took on board Oman's reiteration of its concern over its perception that the USG is attempting to reopen Article 65, and promised to examine all of the underlying documents to provide suggestions for a resolution of this issue. Maqbool found Hillman's readout on intellectual property to be "fair," and endeavored to get the optical disc regulations to the Embassy by May 14. -------------- Government Procurement -------------- ¶9. (SBU) Hillman thanked Maqbool for the opportunity to review the draft Tender Law to ascertain if its provisions complied with the FTA. She reviewed with Maqbool the following areas containing possible discrepancies: -- Article 9.5: The draft establishes a maximum of 30 days for the preparation of certain bids under Article 14, which is 10 days shorter than the 40 days prescribed by the FTA. -- Article 9.7.1-2: It is unclear whether the draft provisions under Article 46 are compliant with the FTA. -- Article 9.10: The draft does not appear to establish procedures to disqualify suppliers that have engaged in fraudulent or other illegal actions relating to procurement. -- Article 9.11: The draft does not appear to establish procedures for the Administrative Judicature Court or any other body to serve as the impartial entity to review supplier challenges. Noting that Articles 38 through 45 were missing, Hillman requested that Maqbool furnish a copy of the draft Tender Law to USTR for a more comprehensive review, to which he agreed. -------------- Telecommunications -------------- ¶10. (SBU) Hillman recommended that Oman move forward quickly on enacting its amended Telecommunications Act, while at the same time moving forward to either develop licensing criteria or decide upon an impending application to indicate the basic criteria it intends to apply. She cautioned Maqbool that compliance of the law with the FTA could not be determined without the licensing criteria. In assisting the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) on developing licensing standards, Hillman provided a copy of licensing regulations established by Bahrain's counterpart entity. For his part, Maqbool indicated that the telecommunications revisions had just been transmitted to the cabinet for approval. ¶11. (SBU) On the development of submarine cable regulations, Hillman relayed her understanding that the TRA intends to implement regulations drawn from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) rules in this area by splitting the FCC regulations into "core" matters that would be enacted as law, followed by the issuance of ministerial regulations covering all remaining non-core matters. The TRA estimated that the applicable law would be enacted in June, with regulations following shortly thereafter. Given the complexity of this issue, Hillman recommended that the TRA provide a copy of the proposed law and regulations to USTR as soon as possible. She also encouraged Oman to look at the submarine cable regulations of other countries, in the event they were more suitable than those designed for the U.S. market. ¶12. (SBU) Hillman raised the issue of "reasonable rates" with Maqbool, noting that the TRA had questions on how the U.S. defined what was "reasonable." Hillman noted that the FCC did not have a formal definition of "reasonable" for the purposes of the FTA, and that Oman would need to develop a standard or methodology for determining what would be classified as reasonable. -------------- Omanization -------------- ¶13. (SBU) Hillman discussed with Maqbool her understanding of how Oman intended to implement its commitment to exempt managers, specialty personnel and U.S. financial services companies from the 80% Omani national reservation. She explained that the USG is reviewing this information and considering the means that Oman intends to use to implement this exemption commitment. -------------- Transparency -------------- ¶15. (SBU) Hillman commended the Ministry of Commerce and Industry's efforts to promote greater transparency with regard to public input concerning the development of regulations, as evidenced by the February 2006 letter sent by Maqbool to fellow colleagues at the Ministries of Health; Housing and Water; Agriculture and Fisheries; Regional Municipalities, Environment, and Water Resources; Transport and Communications; and the Muscat Municipality. She also commended the efforts shown by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry's Directorate General for Standards and Measurements to post draft regulations on the internet for public comment. ¶16. (SBU) Hillman expressed concern, though, that the practice of providing opportunity for public comment on the formulation of administrative proceedings appeared to be limited. She stated that follow-up efforts by the Minister would be essential to ensure that Oman could meet its transparency commitments. Maqbool replied that Oman "does not do (transparency) like the Americans; it's a different culture." He said that while it would take time for the ministries to set up a formal comment system along the lines of the USG, Oman already employed grass-roots methods to solicit comments from the public through quarterly meetings with the "walis" (local governors) and monthly gatherings with local councils. "We do it the Omani way," Maqbool added. -------------- Environment and Labor -------------- ¶17. (SBU) Hillman explained to Maqbool that she had drafted a note reflective of her understanding of the legal situation in Oman on the both the environment and labor, in addition to the responses to the majority of questions posed to Oman on issues in these fields. She stated that the USG would review her assessments and provide additional comments once finished. -------------- Comment -------------- ¶18. (SBU) Maqbool was visibly pleased with the outcome of the meeting. He greatly appreciated Hillman's visit to Muscat, calling it "one of the best things that has happened during the FTA process." The Minister found Hillman's readout to be "thoughtful," and appreciated her "neutrality" in analyzing the remaining actions that need to be taken to implement the FTA. With some apparent wind in his sails and the chart provided by Hillman, Maqbool is very motivated to quickly finish off remaining action items, including the draft copyright, industrial property, telecommunications, and tender laws, requiring the Council of Ministers' approval. (Note: the Council of Ministers most likely will not meet during the months of July and August. End note.) The Ambassador will follow-up with the Minister in two weeks to review the status of the remaining items. End comment. GRAPPO