Almost all Goods but...............

Beginning tomorrow, six Asean member countries namely Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand can import and export almost all goods across their borders at zero tariff.

As of Jan 1, 2010, an additional 7,881 tariff lines will come down to zero tariffs in the Asean-6, bringing the total tariff lines traded under the Common Effective Preferential Tariffs for ASEAN Free Trade Area (CEPT-AFTA) to 54,457 or 99.11 per cent.

Additionally, with the reduction, the average tariff rate for these countries is expected to further decrease from 0.79 per cent in 2009 to just 0.05 per cent in 2010, the Asean Secretariat said in a statement here today.

In 2008, intra-Asean import value of commodities for these 7,881 tariff lines amounted to US$22.66 billion, or 11.84 per cent of Asean-6 import value within Asean.

The tariff lines include final consumer products such as air conditioners; chilli, fish and soya sauces; as well as intermediate materials such as motorcycle components and motor car cylinders.

Other products include iron and steel, plastics, machinery and mechanical appliances, chemicals, prepared foodstuff, paper, cement, ceramic and glass sectors.

The statement said the elimination of tariffs by Asean-6 underscores Asean’s commitment to dismantle tariffs and keep intra-Asean trade open.

It would also serve as a catalyst for the development of the single market and production base projected by the Asean Economic Community (AEC) Blueprint.

The actual impact and how much this final instalment would be translated into savings for consumers would depend on the market dynamics of the respective Asean-6 countries, it said.

Asean Secretary-General Dr Surin Pitsuwan said: “We sincerely hope all parties will act to ensure that the man on the street will benefit from these reductions in tariffs.”

As for the business community, especially the downstream producers, Dr Surin said that they also stood to gain.

“Lower cost of inputs will allow the business community a wider choice of goods, and in the process, they will move towards becoming more competitive globally, as envisaged in the AEC Blueprint,” he added.

The CEPT-AFTA covers the entire range of products traded by the Asean member countries and provides for the gradual reduction in tariffs of these products, which has been ongoing since 1993.

Under the CEPT-AFTA schedule for tariff reduction, each member country is allowed to place their products in the normal track, where the commitment is for the tariffs to be reduced to zero by 2010 for Asean-6 and 2015 for Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam.

In 2010, these countries will also see tariff reductions under the CEPT-AFTA commitments to 5 per cent, where the average tariff rate will decrease from 3 per cent in 2009 to 2.61 per cent.

Under the CEPT-AFTA, agricultural products such as tobacco, coffee, live animals and animal products, which come under the Sensitive List (SL), will have their tariffs reduced to 5 per cent on 2010 and to zero tariff by 2015.

The Highly Sensitive List (HSL), comprising rice, will have their tariffs capped on a specified date. As for the General Exclusion List (GEL), the tariffs will remain based on factors such as national security and morals, health, aesthetic and archaeological grounds.

As of today, 487 tariff lines or 0.89 per cent of tariff lines for Asean-6 still remain in the SL, HSL and GEL categories. — Reuters