ASEAN agrees to eliminate nontariff trade barriers

ASEAN agrees to eliminate nontariff trade barriers

Adianto P. Simamora, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations
(ASEAN) have agreed gradually to eliminate nontariff trade
barriers as part of the effort to boost intraregional trade, a
top official at the Indonesian Ministry of Industry and Trade
said.

The agreement was reached during the ASEAN Economics Ministers
Meeting in Laos last week.

"All of the trade ministers have agreed to remove nontariff
barriers before the year 2005," Pos M. Hutabarat, director
general for industry and international cooperation at the trade
ministry, said on Wednesday.

"The ministers have promised to identify the nontariff
barriers in their respective countries and register them with the
ASEAN secretary," he said.

Pos said nontariff barriers continued to hamper efforts to
boost intraregional trade, although the grouping began the
process of implementing the ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA) in 1993.

The full implementation of AFTA was completed in January this
year, with import tariffs on almost all products traded in the
region slashed to between 0 and 5 percent.

ASEAN members, however, still impose nontariff barriers to
protect local producers against an influx of imported products.

These nontariff barriers include import licensing and quota
systems for certain products.

According to data from the ASEAN Secretariat, the value of
intra-ASEAN exports was US$97.8 billion in 2000, compared to
$77.4 billion the previous year. Intra-ASEAN imports were valued
at $77.6 billion in 2000, compared to $61 billion in 1999.

In comparison, total ASEAN exports to countries outside the
regional grouping reached $423.6 billion in 2000, while imports
amounted to $293.1 billion.

ASEAN, which groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos,
Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and
Vietnam, has a combined market of more than 500 million people.

Pos said removing nontariff barriers was also aimed at
boosting ASEAN's competitiveness ahead of the establishment of
the ASEAN Economic Union in 2010.

Under the program, ASEAN countries must further slash import
tariffs on several products to zero.

ASEAN countries have established a high-level task force to
help find ways to boost competitiveness in the region.

The task force members will meet in Kuala Lumpur next month.

"Aside from the problem of nontariff barriers, the task force
will also discuss various issues ahead of the ASEAN Summit in
Bali in October," Pos said.

One of the main items on the agenda for the ASEAN Summit is to
appoint President Megawati Soekarnoputri as ASEAN chairwoman for
the period of October 2003 to October 2004.