Indonesia cuts tariffs

Indonesia cuts tariffs

JAKARTA (JP): As of Jan. 1 Indonesia has reduced import
tariffs on some 3,557 items from other members of the Association
of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to a range of between 2.5
percent and 30 percent from five percent and 45 percent.

The Ministry of Finance announced late last week that the
tariff reduction plan is in line with the mutual tariff reduction
agreements among the ASEAN member countries.

Agus Haryanto, a spokesman for the ministry, said that the
Indonesian government reduced import tariffs on 1,941 items in
January of last year.

ASEAN's six members -- Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the
Philippines, Singapore and Thailand -- agreed in January 1992 to
form the ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA), which calls for the
reduction of import tariffs to a maximum of five percent by the
year 2003 in the region under the Common Effective Preferential
Tariff (CEPT) scheme.

The tariff reduction will be carried out under two
programs -- to a range of zero to five percent within seven years
on items included in the "fast track" category, and to 20 percent
within five to eight years on those falling under the "normal
track" category.

Excluded from the CEPT scheme are agricultural goods and 14
items which a member country wants protected.(hen)