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Agreed Actions

APEC Ministers Responsible for Trade meeting in Darwin on 6-7 June 2000 ask, as part of our instructions in the Statement of the Chair, that Senior Officials:
Trade and Development Experience in the APEC Region
Develop further the interim report "APEC - a decade of progress" for final release in November, while also making the interim report available through placement on the APEC Secretariat and other web sites.
Trade and Investment Liberalisation and Facilitation
Individual Action Plans
  • Note that Ministers have endorsed the work done to date on the 2000 APEC IAP Format Guidelines and supported continued work on the electronic IAP for delivery in November;
  • Note that Ministers have recommended that APEC economies report as much of their 2000 IAPS as possible in the new format;
  • Note that Ministers have committed to fully utilising the new e-IAP system for the 2001 IAP reporting cycle;
  • Adopt a comprehensive approach in reviewing and building upon the OAA guidelines, taking into account developments and changes since 1995;
  • Submit, through the SOM Chair, a report on the final 2000 IAPs to Ministers in November.
Collective Action Plans
  • Note that Ministers have endorsed the CTI Chair's report;
  • Note that Ministers have reaffirmed their instruction from Auckland for CTI to review and strengthen CAPs;
  • Take prompt action in relation to Ministers' and Leaders' previous instructions to intensify work on NTMs, and to report to Ministers in November;
  • Continue APEC's work on strengthening markets with a particular focus on capacity building.
  • Note that Ministers have welcomed Japan's proposals on strengthening Economic Legal Infrastructure, in particular a symposium on this topic jointly organised with Australia and Indonesia and "Support for SMEs and New Business", a joint seminar by Japan and Brunei under the Initiatives for Strengthening Human Resources Development for Structural Reform; and that Ministers have requested that these initiatives be further developed and the outcomes reported back to the Ministerial and Leaders' Meeting in November.
Paperless trading and e-commerce
  • Note that Ministers have endorsed the report from SOM on progress towards implementation of APEC's paperless trading goals
  • Note that Ministers have (a) called on economies to consider steps towards placing government information services on-line including, as appropriate, government procurement and trade administration services; (b) called on those economies in a position to commit to specific target dates to do so; (c) called for a report on these issues at the next Ministerial Meeting in Brunei Darussalam in November, for subsequent consideration by Leaders;
  • Note that Ministers have called on economies to devote greater attention to user requirements for open standards and systems in government interaction with business and the public to facilitate interoperability;
    Note that Ministers have instructed relevant APEC fora to develop capacity building programs, particularly on skills required to enable economies to implement paperless trading, and to report to Senior Officials at their first meeting in 2001;
  • Note the crucial importance of strengthening the convergence in the development of a legal framework for e-commerce and paperless trading, especially in digital signature and electronic documents.
    Convene, noting that Ministers welcome China's offer to host, a High Level Symposium on Paperless Trading in 2001 to provide improved direction to, and coordination of, APEC activity to assist economies to meet the paperless trading goals, to be attended by high level officials from relevant agencies, and develop at SOM III an agenda for the Symposium for Ministerial consideration;
  • Note that Ministers have welcomed the Electronic Commerce Readiness Initiative as an important and evolving process that is being used by a growing number of economies and called on all APEC economies to participate in the E-Commerce Readiness Initiative and report back on how the assessments are strengthening readiness in the APEC region;
  • Recognise the outcomes of the E-commerce Convention held in Tokyo on 15-16 May 2000 and encourage APEC for a to consider these outcomes as a basis for developing the APEC e-commerce work program.
APEC services to business
Development of new internet information services for business in APEC
  • Note that Ministers have welcomed the creation and further development of a new APEC website for business, BizAPEC.com
  • Note that Ministers have instructed APEC fora to expand the amount of business information available through BizAPEC.com and to report to Ministers at their next meeting in Brunei Darussalam;
  • Develop a campaign to promote the availability of BizAPEC.com to business throughout the region, and to report to Ministers at their next meeting in Brunei Darussalam on the campaign.
Biotechnology
  • Note that Ministers have endorsed the report of the ATCEG, and have directed the ATCEG to develop the strategy and timetables that address implementation of its agreed work program in a timely manner.
Economic and Technical Cooperation
  • Note that Ministers have encouraged the efforts being taken by APEC officials to develop a more focused operational approach to HRD;
Note that Ministers have instructed APEC fora to launch a review of joint activities and dialogue since 1996, as outlined in Part II of the OAA.