15th meeting of the AFTA Council in Ha Noi
Ha Noi, Sept. 14 (VNA) -- The 15th meeting of the ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA) Council was held in Ha Noi on Sept. 14 to review the progress in implementing the Common Effective Preferential Tariff (CEPT) scheme for AFTA.
The Council, chaired by Finance Minister Nguyen Sinh Hung of Viet Nam, agreed to implement the ASEAN Integration System of Preferences (AISP), in which the six founding members, Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand, are to extend tariff preferences to the new members, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, and Viet Nam (CLMV).
As of this year, the original members had reduced tariffs to zero from five percent on at least 90 percent of their tariff lines in the Inclusion List. A total of 40,911 tariff lines, representing 92.9 percent of the Inclusion List of the first six members, have tariffs of between zero to five percent. The average CEPT tariff rate for the six countries is now down to 3.21 percent. By next year, 42,377 tariff lines, representing 96.2 percent of the Inclusion List of the original six members, will have tariffs of between zero to five percent.
The original six members have also agreed to eliminate duties on 60 percent of the tariff lines in their Inclusion List by 2003. The CLMV will plan to maximise the number of tariff lines with zero to five percent and expand the number of tariff lines with zero percent.
The AFTA Council endorsed the indicative list of information and communication technology (ICT) products scheduled for the elimination of duties in 2003, 2004, and 2005 for the six original members and in 2008, 2009, and 2010 for the new members.
A total of 1,986 ICT products have been identified for elimination of duties with 1,464 products in the first tranche, 49 in the second tranche, and 190 in the third tranche.
The ministers agreed to unilaterally extend tariff preferences to ASEAN's new members beginning January 1, 2002. The ASEAN Integration System of Preferences (AISP) will be implemented on a bilateral and voluntary basis and will be based on products proposed by the new members.
Malaysia will grant preferences on 12 products from Laos, 345 products from Myanmar, and 172 products from Viet Nam. Thailand has finalised the lists of AISP originally proposed by Laos, Myanmar, and Viet Nam. Malaysia and Thailand are currently considering their lists with regard to Cambodia.
Total ASEAN exports grew by 19.9 percent to USD 423.6 billion in 2000 from USD 353.3 billion in 1999. Its imports rose to USD 306.1 billion from USD 293.1 billion in 1999 or a year-on-year increase of 22.8 percent.
Intra-ASEAN exports grew by 26.3 percent while intra-ASEAN imports grew by 27 percent last year. The level of intra-ASEAN exports last year, USD 97.8 billion, exceeded the previous peak of USD 85.4 billion in 1997.
However, the ministers expressed their concern that the economic slowdown in the US and the EU and the recession in Japan might lead to lower demand for ASEAN's exports.
Finance Minister Nguyen Sinh Hung, his nine ASEAN colleagues, and General Secretary Rodolfo Severino held a press conference to inform people about the outcome of the Council meeting.--VNA
