Enforcement of the ASEAN Trade in Goods Agreement in Domestic Courts: Insights from Indonesia and Malaysia

This paper examines how domestic courts in Indonesia and Malaysia engage with and enforce the ASEAN Trade in Goods Agreement (ATIGA). Employing a mixed doctrinal and empirical methodology, it analyses judicial decisions alongside interviews with judges and legal experts involved in ATIGA-related disputes. The study highlights key cases, including Indonesian tax court rulings that overturned customs authorities’ import duty assessments on the basis of ATIGA provisions, and Malaysian decisions concerning the implementation of ATIGA tariff preferences through the Licensed Manufacturing Warehouse (LMW) scheme. The findings demonstrate that, notwithstanding ASEAN’s limited supranational enforcement mechanisms, domestic courts in both countries have emerged as important actors in ensuring compliance with regional trade commitments. By interpreting and applying ATIGA in domestic disputes, these courts function as de facto enforcement mechanisms and contribute to strengthening the effectiveness, predictability, and credibility of ASEAN’s regional legal order.