The first formal consultation on a cross-strait trade pact will open later this month, an official of the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said Tuesday. MAC Vice Chairman Liu Teh-shun said the Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) and its Chinese counterpart, the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS) were discussing the time and venue of the first meeting on the signing of the proposed economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA). Liu said that after the consultation, the MAC and the Ministry of Economic Affairs will report the content to the Legislative Yuan. Meanwhile, the SEF issued a press release that day to clarify reports by the Liberty Times, a local newspaper, that cited an SEF monthly publication as saying that after the signing of the ECFA, each side of the Taiwan Strait will be open to 90 percent of the goods from the other within 10 years. The monthly ran an article in December by Lin Chien-pu of National Taiwan University on the effect on cross-strait financial cooperation after the signing of a financial MOU. The article said that under the framework of the World Trade Organization, the ECFA is an interim agreement and is not mandatory. Usually, however, both sides will offer tariff-free treatment for around 90 percent of goods and services within a decade. The SEF said the article is objectively stating 'usual' norms, but added that it is not mandatory and that both sides have yet to begin formal consultations on the matter. Although the WTO has asked the signatories of the FTA to gradually cut all trade tariffs within 10 years, this is only a principle and it is not mandatory. The SEF said that since the inauguration of President Ma Ying-jeou, all cross- strait talks have been conducted under the principle of 'Taiwan as the centerpiece and to the benefit of the people.' The Ma administration has repeatedly said it will not allow more Chinese agricultural produce or Chinese laborers into Taiwan, the SEF said. 