Third US-Mongolia TIFA Joint Council, March 12, 2007, Part

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 05 ULAANBAATAR 000276 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS GENEVA FOR USTR STATE PASS USTR, USTDA, OPIC, AND EXIMBANK STATE FOR EAP/CM AND EB/IFD/OIA USAID FOR ANE FOR D. WINSTON MANILA AND LONDON FOR ADB, EBRD USEDS TREASURY FOR USEDS TO IMF, WORLD BANK USDA FAS FOR N. SAKLAH E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ETRD PREL EAID ECON EFIN PGOV MG SUBJECT: Third US-Mongolia TIFA Joint Council, March 12, 2007, Part 1 of 3 SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED - NOT FOR INTERNET DISTRIBUTION ¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY: At the third annual round of TIFA talks held in Ulaanbaatar on March 12, Mongolian trade representatives continued to lobby for a roadmap towards an FTA with the U.S. and requested USG support on joining APEC. Rather than a roadmap, AUSTR Stratford instead recommended focusing on near-term steps to improve trade and promised to report back to the GOM within two months with a suggestion for a concrete step. He asked for the GOM's help in getting China to live up to WTO obligations, and said the U.S. wanted to be helpful on Mongolia's request to the WTO for a 5-year extension of its waiver on elimination of raw cashmere export taxes. The U.S. delegation discussed trade highlights of previous year, encouraged Mongolia to take smarter advantage of GSP benefits, and exchanged plans for agricultural and commercial sector capacity building to improve Mongolia's standards system. Both sides agreed to revive the bilateral 1996 Mutual Customs Assistance Agreement. Septels will report on discussion of U.S. concerns about the Mongolian trade and investment climate and a joint road trip to promote greater use of GSP by Mongolian exporters. End summary. Open, Frank and Business-like Talks -------------- ¶2. (U) Vice Minister of Industry and Trade (VMT) Ya. Sodbaatar opened the talks by thanking the U.S. for its past support during Mongolia's transition to a market economy. He hoped that the meeting would be held in a very open, frank and business-like manner. He then laid out Mongolia's goal of diversifying exports from its current mineral and animal products base. ¶3. (U) The Ambassador commented that TIFA represented one of the central pillars of the bilateral relationship. He also noted that this year's meeting was especially notable as it was taking place during the 20th anniversary of U.S.-Mongolian diplomatic relations. ¶4. (U) V. Enkhbold, Director of the Ministry of Industry and Trade's Trade, Economic Cooperation and Policy Coordination Department, laid out the agenda and then made the day's first pitch for an FTA, saying it would increase U.S. foreign direct investment (FDI) in Mongolia along the lines of NAFTA and might give the U.S. additional access to large, growing markets in Russia and China. ¶5. (SBU) AUSTR Timothy Stratford opened saying the USG's overall trade priority was concluding a successful Doha round of the WTO, which would benefit all WTO member states. Stratford noted that members had engaged in much quiet diplomacy to get Doha back on track since the last official session had broken down. Other priorities for USTR included working to renew the Trade Promotion Authority that expires in July and getting China to live up to its WTO obligations. ¶6. (SBU) AUSTR Stratford then addressed GOM requests for support with joining APEC, which he promised to relay back to Washington, and the request for U.S. support for Mongolia's application to the WTO for an extension of its waiver to eliminate its export tax on raw cashmere. Stratford said USTR wanted to help on the extension but required answers to USTR questions on the export tax, answers which would help the USG better formulate its position. (Note: Since TIFA, MIT has responded to these questions.) Finally, AUSTR Stratford announced that USTR would soon post a full-time representative in Beijing, which would allow greater engagement with Mongolia. USTR: Focus on Next Steps Rather than Roadmap to FTA -------------- -------------- ¶7. (SBU)Enkhbold argued that an FTA would be benefit the U.S. by ULAANBAATA 00000276 002 OF 005 creating a stable business and legal environment for American companies already invested in Mongolia and attract more firms. FTA, he added, would be a powerful political statement supporting Mongolia's democratization-one that might signal the benefits derived from market liberalization and cooperation with the U.S. to North Korea. Frustrated at the perceived lack of U.S. enthusiasm for an FTA, Enkhbold urged, "We should not just talk. Words can be forgotten so we need to act. In the future we could turn TIFA meeting into FTA meeting, drawing a roadmap, establishing a joint group on capacity building etc." ¶8. (SBU) AUSTR Stratford responded that crafting an FTA is a long-term, comprehensive process. Further he reminded the Mongolians that Trade Promotion Authority expires in July 2007, complicating matters even further. Stratford noted that Mongolia must still address policy, procedural and legal gaps that block its path to FTA negotiations. As important, he stated that private sector support for an FTA was crucial to educate Congress on the need for a US-Mongolia FTA. However, preceding this support, Mongolia would need to improve its business environment to attract the very American companies that would provide the business support for any bi-lateral agreement. Simply, U.S.-Mongolian economic relations remained insufficient to justify an FTA roadmap; instead, Stratford recommended the two sides concentrate on the near-term steps, which could then be analyzed at next year's TIFA meeting. He promised to report back to the GOM within two months with suggestions for a concrete step. Finally, he cautioned the Mongolians against citing the USG's FTA with Jordan as a possible model: Signed under entirely different circumstances, Congress was not likely to approve a similar FTA again. GOM Requests U.S. Support on WTO Export Tax Waiver -------------- -------------- ¶9. (SBU) Enkhbold sought U.S. support for a Mongolian request to the WTO that its waiver on the export tax elimination requirement be extended another 5 years. WTO obligations require Mongolia to eliminate export taxes by 2007. However, Mongolia justifies its request by arguing that China's unbridled importation of raw Mongolian cashmere was destroying Mongolia's textile industry. Mongolia's plan to build a complex cashmere factory could not succeed if China's predatory purchasing practices continued to suck Mongolia dry of its raw materials. Enkhbold said Mongolia valued participation in the WTO and hoped that the organization would take the interests of each of its members into consideration when reaching decisions. Stratford responded that Washington knew of the request and wanted to be helpful, but that it was urgent that the GOM respond to six questions USTR had submitted to them so that the USG could better understand Mongolia's position. (Note: Mongolia has since sent responses to USTR's questions.) Economic Cooperation Up but Trade is Down -------------- ¶10. (U) The U.S. delegation catalogued some of the major events of the past year including visits from Agriculture Secretary Johanns, Ex-Im Bank Vice President McAdams, and the agricultural counselor and attache from the U.S. Embassy in Beijing. Also of note were the U.S. Embassy Ulaanbaatar's organization of 17 construction firms to attend CONEXPO 2006 in Beijing, the 44 person strong trade delegation to the National Association of Homebuilders International Builder's show in Orlando, Florida, and the quarterly trade promotion discussions hosted by the DCM. Commoff listed the 2008 Las Vegas World of Concrete Expo and the Builder's Expo in Orlando as major U.S projects on tap for the next year. Efforts to promote imports of U.S. cosmetics and health supplements into Mongolia, along with the export of Mongolian organic botanicals to U.S. processors are also in the works for 2007/2008. ULAANBAATA 00000276 003 OF 005 ¶11. (U) The Mongolians expressed satisfaction with the cooperation they have received from the U.S., pointing out that the U.S. firms were fourth among Mongolia's FDI providers and had invested some U.S. $37 million last year alone. The recent interest of some big-name U.S. corporations (Peabody Energy, Citigroup, JP Morgan, Freeport-Phelps Dodge) in Mongolia was also a good sign. However, a MIT official noted that overall trade with the U.S. had decreased some 33 percent last year, blaming it on expiration of the multi-fiber agreement. He hoped that future cooperation with the U.S. would take on "new forms," i.e. an FTA. As for its near-term plans, the official said that Mongolia intended to support its relatively young mortgage industry and organize more trade fairs, business meetings and Chamber of Commerce seminars. GOM Pledges to Develop GSP Eligible Exports -------------- ¶12. (U) Marideth Sandler, USTR's Executive Director for the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) program, presented ways Mongolian producers could take advantage of GSP benefits for products that they may have overlooked. She encouraged the Mongolians to ramp up efforts to export GSP-eligible products and to enter into the bilateral certified handicraft arrangement. She also briefly talked about the plans for her post-TIFA GSP seminars in Ulaanbaatar, Erdenet and Darhan to educate producers and exporters about exporting more products duty-free under GSP. The Mongolians promised to more vigorously seek out GSP-eligible products, but they expressed consternation over the myriad U.S. import regulations and over the mixed answers they received on Certificate of Origin requirements for goods passing through U.S. Customs. Both sides agreed to closer cooperation in the future, while Sandler agreed to look into the issue of Certificates of Origin. DVCs, Training Exchanges Mark Capacity Building -------------- -- ¶13. (U) Department of Commerce's International Trade Administration Officer for China and Mongolia, Zhen Gong Cross, described DOC capacity building plans for the next year: a) organizing the 2007 U.S. - Mongolian Business Forum in Washington in late April; b) continuing the digital video conferences (DVCs) with GOM trade representatives on standards; and c) developing a possible study/training tours to build on the DVCs. She also noted DOC's desire to see Mongolia craft a transparent, fair and predictable system for creating and executing both product and process standardizations. ¶14. (U) A USAID representative reviewed efforts to develop Mongolia's business and trade capacity, including the crafting of tax reform and anti-corruption legislation last year. In addition, AID reported on its work with multiple GOM agencies-including Customs, the Tax Authority, the State Special Inspection Agency, the Ministry of Health, and the Ministry of Trade-to create the "Single Window" for trade. The "Window" aims to streamline and regularize the export-import processes for traders, which should lower the opportunities for corruption and increase efficiency. ¶15. (U) USTR's Timothy Wineland announced approval for a U.S. Trade Development Agency project to bring 14 Mongolian officials to the U.S. on an orientation visit to study federal, state, and local methods for setting standards for health and safety, environmental control, and products in the mining, construction, and equipment manufacturing sectors. The GOM was pleased with the news and pledged to start preparations for the visits. The GOM hoped to see the idea applied to other areas where Mongolia needed capacity building, such as in trade analysis, budget and finance or mining sector management. Both sides agreed to maintain a dialogue on the issue. ULAANBAATA 00000276 004 OF 005 ¶16. (U) D. Gerel from the Mongolian National Center for Standardization and Metrology then updated the group on efforts to improve standards applications and development, including two DVCs with U.S. counterparts last year and a new draft law on revising standards legislation to be submitted to the Mongolian Parliament in May. APHIS Continues Capacity Training -------------- ¶17. (U) Dr. Theresa Boyle, from APHIS Beijing, reported a U.S. agricultural firm's interest in exporting bovine semen to Mongolia. APHIS would be working with Mongolian counterparts to negotiate the required protocols. Dr. Boyle also highlighted recent and future capacity building training programs sponsored by APHIS for Mongolian participants; "Avian Influenza (AI)," "International Foreign Animal Disease Diagnostic (IFADD) Course," "High Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) Diagnostic Training" and a "Pest Risk Analysis Workshop." ¶18. (U) Ts. Purevkhuu from the Ministry of Food and Agriculture agreed that Mongolia had benefited from the knowledge and experience it had received from the U.S. and was currently working to disseminate throughout Mongolia what it had learned from the APHIS-sponsored events. All provinces in Mongolia, for example, had received training on Avian Influenza (AI). Perevkhuu requested more training on highly infections animal diseases, noting that Mongolia recently saw its first case of Ovine Pulmonary Adenomatosis. (Note: APHIS has offered to test Mongolian samples for this and other animal diseases gratis, if the Mongolians can get the samples to the US.) He also said the GOM would work to translate APHIS materials for educational purposes, but they were unsure of the copyright issues involved. Reviving the 1996 Mutual Customs Assistance Agreement -------------- -------------- ¶19. (SBU)Both sides agreed to reinvigorate the bilateral 1996 Mutual Customs Assistance Agreement, which had fallen dormant since the expiration of the Multi-Fiber Agreement in 2005. Econoff voiced disappointment that the relationship had waned and pledged to work with the GOM to increase cooperation. He then reviewed some of the training programs the Embassy had sponsored over the past year as evidence of continued U.S. commitment to aid Mongolian Customs in fighting IPR violations and illicit trafficking: a) a workshop on IPR enforcement sponsored by INL and delivered by a DHS/CBP and PTO team; b) PTO support of the attendance of two Mongolian representatives at the APEC IPR seminar in Los Angeles; c) attendance of a Mongolian Customs official at the PTO's IPR Enforcement Academy; and d) a conference on illicit trade in wildlife conducted by representatives from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. ¶20. (SBU) Econoff highlighted several areas where improvement of Mongolian performance was necessary-including but not limited to the prevalence of corruption among customs officials, the lack of proactive enforcement of IPR regulations, and the antiquated state of customs processing. Ms. Chinbat of the Customs General Administration (CGA) responded, noting CGA commitments to comply with international best practices: a) Mongolia's acceptance of the WCO Framework of Standards; b) joining the Kyoto Convention on Simplification; c) posting customs-related laws on the Internet; and d) cooperation with the South Korean government, USAID and ADB (Note: the ADB is providing a US$ 5 million loan to upgrade CGA systems. Chinbat finished by asking for increased U.S. assistance, either bringing trainers to Mongolia or sending Customs personnel to the U.S. for long term training on issues such as commercial fraud, management, money laundering, safety standards and trade in ULAANBAATA 00000276 005 OF 005 prohibited goods. ¶21. (U) This cable has been cleared by USTR, ITA, and APHIS. Goldbeck