Brussels, 18/03/2003 (Agence Europe) - After an initial discussion with those concerned early in the year (see EUROPE of 29 January, p.4), the European Commission is holding interservice consultations - which tend to be taking some time - around a document aimed at updating relations between the Union and ASEAN, including a draft agreement intended to give fresh impetus to trade and investment between the two regions. It is not running the risk, for now, of suggesting a deadline for presenting this communication or strategy paper (the title has not yet been decided), initially scheduled for early spring. "This kind of consultation (which) normally takes less time, is a victim of the way general interest has concentrated on the situation in Iraq", it is explained at the Commission. Pascal Lamy is expected, however, to present the broad guidelines for the future trade agreement to his ASEAN counterparts whom he is to meet in Laos, early April. With these countries, other sources say, cited by the Business Times of Singapore, "customs duties are not the problem" but rather the "convergence of rules and standards, including health and plant health standards". We are therefore far from the free trade area hoped for, especially by Singapore, which should be confined to the future pact described as "intermediary" in services. The Commissioner will not examine the issue of a free trade area until after the conclusion of the multilateral negotiations on the Doha Development Agenda, the same sources say. In the immediate future, emphasis should be placed, among other things, on the elimination of non-customs barriers and the granting of financial aid for aligning health and safety testing carried out before Asian products are exported to Europe.