ASEAN ministers agree on trilateral process to task officials to look into haze issues

S Ramesh Channel NewsAsia 30 Jun 13;

BRUNEI: In a major step to resolve the transboundary haze problem, ASEAN's foreign ministers have agreed on a process to task officials from Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia to examine what is happening on the ground and to report to the leaders in managing it.

Singapore’s Foreign Affairs Minister K Shanmugam said the details would have to be worked out on how this trilateral process will be implemented.

China's new foreign minister, Wang Yi, also met his 10 ASEAN counterparts as a grouping for the first time at the ASEAN-China Ministerial Dialogue.

In a significant move, China has agreed to start formal consultations on the South China Sea territorial dispute by September.

On Saturday, Mr Shanmugam, together with his counterparts from Malaysia and Indonesia, met to discuss the haze issue and to recommend to the grouping ways to tackle the problem.

Mr Shanmugam felt it was a very positive development as it gave ASEAN a framework to move ahead on the matter.

He said: "It focuses on the importance of putting out the fires, it focuses on the importance of monitoring, verifying and prevent recurrence in the future, it tasks the officials to look at the issues and report to the leaders on the sidelines of the ASEAN Ministerial Meetings, so a number of concrete steps that are recommended and have been agreed upon.

"The focus is in two broad terms - to put out the fires and also to try and prevent recurrence in future and what concrete steps can be taken. All these processes, whether trilateral, multilateral or ASEAN-wide, is an agreement that we will all work together. Sovereignty is an exercise of sovereign power within your own country but that doesn't preclude you from going out to say what you will do in the international arena, how you will cooperate with others. But of course that doesn't mean other countries can come into your country and do what they like."

In their joint communique at the close of the ASEAN ministerial meeting, the foreign ministers also emphasised the importance of implementing steps to overcome the haze problem and one way, they said, is to strengthen national and regional capacities. Also important is for regional countries to uphold their international obligations and work together to tackle the haze pollution problem.

They have called on countries which have yet to ratify and operationalise the ASEAN Agreement on Trans-boundary Haze pollution to do so expeditiously.

Mr Shanmugam said discussions on the South China Sea territorial dispute were positive.

He said: "We have had cooperative, consultative good meetings at the officials’ levels with China and I believe that will continue. What China has said to us is that it believes in peaceful co-existence in development and being partner in peace."

"If there is an increase in tension, if there is conflict, it is not in anybody's interests. It is not in ASEAN's interest, it is not in China's interest. China recognises it, ASEAN recognises it, other countries recognise it. And that is why we have been talking about the DOC (Declaration on Conduct) and the importance of starting negotiations on the COC (Code of Conduct)."

2013 marks the 10th anniversary of the ASEAN-China Strategic Partnership and ministers are looking forward to the formal consultations between ASEAN and China at the senior officials meeting level on the Code of Conduct.

- CNA/fa/xq

Asean reaffirms commitment to fight haze
Senior officials directed to consolidate initiatives, propose preventive steps
Leonard Lim In Bandar Seri Begawan Straits Times 1 Jul 13;

ASEAN yesterday showed its resolve to tackle the haze that has choked the region in recent weeks, by directing its senior officials to both consolidate current initiatives and recommend steps to prevent a recurrence.

A joint communique issued after the 10 foreign ministers met here also said there would be a progress report on these efforts to top leaders at the next Asean summit in October.

Asean also reaffirmed its commitment to establish effective monitoring, rapid response and firefighting systems. It called on countries which have not ratified a 2002 Asean Agreement on Transboundary Haze Pollution - Indonesia is the only one - to do so "expeditiously".

The consensus was worked out by foreign ministers from Singapore, Indonesia and Malaysia during an informal meeting last Saturday, and agreed to by the rest during yesterday's Asean Ministerial Meeting.

Last Saturday's meeting, which involved the three countries worst hit by the haze, took place at the suggestion of Singapore's Foreign Minister K. Shanmugam. He said the haze paragraph in the communique focuses on "the importance of putting out the fires, of monitoring, verifying to prevent recurrences in the future".

Details have yet to be worked out but Singapore has emphasised as recently as a week ago that the long-term solution is for Indonesian farmers to adopt a more sustainable method of clearing plantations.

While it may not be possible to totally stop poor farmers from slash-and-burn practices, Emeritus Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong said on Facebook that it "should be easy" to prevent commercial plantation owners from doing so next year.

"With satellite technology, new laws if necessary, and political will, smoking guns can be identified, confiscated and made to pay if they are fired," he wrote, on a day when the Pollutant Standards Index in Singapore fell to its lowest level in a fortnight.

Separately, Mr Shanmugam said Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia had also agreed on a trilateral process where officials will look at what is happening on the ground and make recommendations on the way forward. These officials could come from the foreign affairs and environment ministries, and Indonesia's forestry ministry. The group will also give an update at the Asean summit.

Indonesia's Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa said it was good to have an outcome that recognises the haze as an issue that must be addressed at the national level, and in synergy with regional efforts.

Asked if Singapore's objectives had been achieved, Mr Shanmugam said: "What you really want is for the entire region to be free of haze, and that will involve actions over a period of time."

The challenge would be in implementation but "I would say our views as to how Asean needs to deal with it have come true".

Meanwhile, a spokesman for Indonesia's National Disaster Mitigation Agency said the number of hot spots has fallen from a peak of 265 last Monday to one last Saturday.

ESM Goh also thanked Indonesia's President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono for showing will, graciousness and dignified statesmanship in dealing with the haze.

"This is appreciated, in contrast with the boorish remarks of some of his ministers," he added.

Additional reporting by Zubaidah Nazeer in Pekanbaru (Riau province)