The Ministry of International Trade and Industry today tabled a bill to enact a new Act (Safeguards Act 2006) to make provisions for investigation and determination of safeguard measures on products imported into Malaysia.

This Act shall be applied in conformity with the obligations of Malaysia under the Agreement Establishing the WTO, done in Marrakesh, on 15 April 1994, including the GATT 1994, and the Agreement on Safeguards.

It also deals with the appointment of an investigating authority to take action in respect of the initiation of safeguard measures on imported product into Malaysia.

Last session, several DAP MPs raised concern over the opening up of the water management services to foreign interests and called on the government to be extra careful over the possibility of losing our sovereignty.

We also expressed concern over the ongoing negotiations on the US-Malaysia FTA because we do not want to see our domestic industry losing out in this era of globalization.

While such safeguards are necessary, the country should look into improving ourselves and to have the competitive edge over our neighbours.

In essence, it is not how much we protect our industries from world competition but to ensure our products are competitive. Government policies, private initiatives and human resources development are all important aspects.