Facilitating ASEAN Trade in Goods

To move forward trade facilitation agenda in ASEAN, this brief presents three recommendations that focus on rules of origin, transparency of non-tariff measures (NTM), and NTM streamlining. Although the ASEAN Trade in Goods Agreement's rules of origin have a relatively simple structure, these require supervision as recent research puts their ad valorem equivalent at about 3.40%. Meanwhile, the transparency of NTMs rests on two pillars: accurate data, and open dissemination and dynamic disciplines. Last but not least, the move for NTM streamlining should not be viewed as a trade negotiation issue because NTMs are not purely trade policy instruments.

ERIA-PB-2017-07