Course summary ASEAN Free Trade Area AFTA:
Most of the Association Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) region is a free trade area.
Accounting for 96% of all international trade of the Association of Southeast
Asian Nations (ASEAN), the 1st six
signatories of the Common Effective Preferential Tariff scheme for the ASEAN
Free Trade Area have reduced their custom tariffs on intra-regional
trade to no
more than 5% for all export products in the "Inclusion list" or removed
them in total.
The objective of the ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA) is to
reach free trade products in
the Association of Southeast Asian Nations region in order to create a single market and production
base for the deeper economic integration of the ASEAN economies towards the
achievement of the ASEAN Economic Community by 2015.
The Agreement on the Common Effective Preferential Tariff (CEPT) Scheme
for the ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA) needs that tariff rates levied on a
huge range
of
foreign trade of export products within the ASEAN region be reduced to no more than 5%.
The member economies of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations should eliminate import duties on all
export products traded between them by 2010 for ASEAN-6 and by 2015, with flexibility to 2018, for CLMV
(Cambodia, Laos PDR, Myanmar and Vietnam.).
Example of the course ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA):
For ASEAN-6, by 1 January 2009 (Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia,
Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand)
- Import duties of at least 80% tariff lines are eliminated;
- Import duties on all Information and Communications Technology (ICT) products,
as defined in the e-ASEAN Framework Agreement, are eliminated;
- Import duties on all Priority Integration Sectors (PIS) products are at 0%,
- Import duties on all products are equal to or less than 5%;
For Lao PDR, Myanmar and Viet Nam, import duties on all products are
equal to or less than 5% by 2009;
For Cambodia, import duties of at least 80% tariff lines
are equal to or less than 5% by 2009;
ASEAN Economic Community - ASEAN Free trade agreements - Foreign direct investment FDI in ASEAN countries
