Atiga for Asean-6

Written by Estrella Torres / Reporter

Sunday, 03 January 2010 21:41

SIX member-countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) can now trade 99.11 percent of all their products across their borders at zero tariffs, with 7,881 tariff lines having gone down to zero rates beginning on January 1 under their regional trade deal. The Asean secretariat in Jakarta announced these countries are the Philippines, Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand—the founding members—bringing the total tariff lines traded to 54,457 or 99.11 percent. The tariff regime for Asean-6 is part of the Common Effective Preferential Tariffs for the Asean Free Trade Area (CEPT-Afta) signed in 1993. The deal, now known as the Asean Trade in Goods (Atiga), was amended in November 2007, implementation beginning this month. Dr. Surin Pitsuwan, Asean secretary-general, said the tariff elimination by Asean-6 is part of the members’ commitment to fully open intra-Asean trade and that it is also a step toward establishment of a single market economy by 2015 under the Asean Economic Community (AEC) Blueprint. He said the actual impact and how much this final installment will be translated into savings for consumers depends on the market dynamics of the respective countries. “We sincerely hope that all parties will act to ensure that the man on the street will benefit from these reductions in tariffs.”   He assured downstream producers they stand to gain in the tariff regime. “Lower cost of inputs will allow the business community a wider choice of goods, and in the process, they will move toward becoming more competitive globally, as envisaged in the AEC Blueprint.” With the tariff reduction, the average tariff rate for these six countries is expected to further decrease from 0.79 percent last year to just 0.05 percent this year. In 2008, intra-Asean import value of commodities for these 7,881 tariff lines amounted to $22.66 billion or 11.84 percent of Asean-6 import value within the bloc. The tariff lines newly covered include final consumer products such as air conditioners, chili, fish and soya sauces; as well as intermediate materials such as motorcycle components and car cylinders, iron and steel, plastics, machinery and mechanical appliances, chemicals, prepared foodstuff, paper, cement, ceramic and glass. The Atiga allows tariffs to be reduced to zero only in 2015 for the remaining four member-countries—Cambodia, Laos, Burma (Myanmar) and Vietnam.  This year, these four members will see tariff reductions under the CEPT-Afta commitments to 5 percent, where the average tariff rate will decrease from 3 percent in 2009 to 2.61 percent. Meanwhile, Surin said Asean is now working to formulate streamlined and simplified customs procedures for clearance of goods and eliminating nontariff measures. Surin said the regional bloc also seeks to establish a better intellectual-property rights (IPR) regime as well as the removal of all the hurdles to the movement of professionals and skilled workers across the region.