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ASEAN Ministers Sign Protocol on Temporary Tariff Exclusion
Economic ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) signed a protocol on temporary tariff exclusion list November 23 in Singapore which allows more flexibility in the implementation of the Common Effective Preference Tariffs (CEPT) scheme.
After a two-hour closed door meeting, the economic ministers signed the Protocol Regarding the Implementation of the CEPT Scheme Temporary Exclusion List.
The protocol, allowing more flexibility in member countries' participation in tariff reduction activities, made changes to the CEPT scheme signed by ASEAN leaders in Singapore in 1992.
The scheme, which lies at the heart of the ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA), is an integral part of the group's goal of achieving an AFTA by 2002.
The protocol was endorsed earlier at the 32nd ASEAN Economic Meeting held in October 5, in Chiang Mai, Thailand.
The objective of the protocol is to allow a member state to temporarily delay the transfer of a product from its temporary exclusion list into the inclusion list or to temporarily suspend its concession on a product already transferred into the inclusion list.
The modifications would be limited only to the last tranche of Temporary Exclusion List (TEL) manufactured products which were in the CEPT TEL as at December 31, 1999, or the relevant dates applicable to Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam.
The protocol also sets out the procedures by which member states can make submissions for consideration by the ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA) council and separately between the applicant member and other members having interest in the particular product.
The separate discussions may include provision for compensatory adjustment measures which may take any form, the protocol said.
Any compensatory adjustment negotiated shall be extended on a most favored nation basis to all other member states.
If no agreement is reached within 180 days of the date of receipt of the submission, and a member insists on proceeding with the delay of the transfer or suspension of the concession, substantially equivalent concessions may be withdrawn by the member state with principal or substantial supplying interest.
It also has in place mechanisms for annual review, that is, the AFTA council shall review the delay or suspension annually and the applicant member shall report each year to the council on the status of the delay.
On settlement of disputes, it said any dispute concerning the protocol shall refer to the Protocol on Dispute Settlement Mechanism for ASEAN.
It also said that any amendment to this protocol shall be made by consensus and shall be effective only if approved by all member states, namely Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Thailand, Singapore, and Vietnam.
The economic ministers' meeting, together with the foreign ministers' informal meeting on the same day here, are making preparations for the forthcoming fourth ASEAN Informal Summit.
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