China may notify WTO of Taiwan trade agreement: official

With Taiwan and China both playing a significant role in world trade, the economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA) that they signed in June has drawn the attention of many WTO members, and the two sides recently discussed whether they should formally notify the WTO of the ECFA, according to the official.

During the meeting, the Chinese representatives said China would not rule out the possibility of doing so, the official said.

Because the ECFA was signed by Taiwan's Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) and China's Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait (ARATS) — two semi-official bodies responsible for handling two-way exchanges — Taiwan will send the WTO a letter signed by Minister of Economic Affairs Shih Yen-shiang, explaining that the trade pact was inked with the authorization of the two governments.

The ECFA is considered a regional free-trade agreement, therefore, notification of the WTO is required, according to WTO rules.

Meanwhile, the official said, since the Legislative Yuan ratified the ECFA earlier this month, the economics ministry has been carrying out follow-up work on the pact. The ministry has published an English version of the ECFA and confirmed the accuracy and validity of its contents, the official said.

Taiwan will hold further talks with China to confirm the content of the English version and to discuss when the pact will go into effect, he added.

SEF Vice Chairman Kao Koong-lian said the ECFA is likely to formally take effect and be implemented in September after an exchange of instruments between Taiwan and China.

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