Component 1: Trade Facilitation and Transparency

This component supports the regulatory transparency of trade-related laws, regulations and procedures, as well as the streamlining of non-tariff measures (NTMs) and the removal of non-tariff barriers (NTBs) through the ASEAN Trade Repository (ATR) and the ASEAN Solutions for Investment, Services and Trade (ASSIST). It also extends support to the Coordinating Committee on the Implementation of the ATIGA (CCA) and to the ASEAN Trade Facilitation Joint Consultative Committee (ATF-JCC), with particular regard to private sector engagement.

Support towards trade facilitation and transparency is being extended through three main focus areas. The first focus is on the ASEAN Trade in Goods Agreement (ATIGA), with focus on regulatory transparency and NTMs. Activities focus on the effective implementation of the ATIGA, especially in the area of trade-related regulatory transparency, with the full operationalisation of the ATR and of the network of ASEAN Member States (AMS) National Trade Repositories (NTRs), and in relation to the identification, classification and notification of NTMs. Enhanced transparency and the progressive streamlining of NTMs should also contribute towards the removal of NTBs within the ASEAN region. These efforts will translate into enhanced trade facilitation within the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC), freer flow of goods within the region as a consequence of diminished trade barriers, deeper economic linkages among AMSs, lower business costs, and greater economies of scale for businesses.

The second focus will be on trade facilitation and private sector engagement, particularly to the benefit of MSMEs and primarily through the ASEAN Business Advisory Council (ABAC) and related business councils, in line with the objectives of the AEC Blueprint 2025. Considerable efforts will be made to fully operationalize ASSIST, as the primary tool of public-private cooperation and trade facilitation. ASSIST will be rolled-out to cover trade in services and trade-related investment measures. A stronger interface between ASEAN institutions and the private sector will also be facilitated, particularly through enhanced discussions within the series of ARISE Plus Roundtable Discussions on Trade Facilitation. ARISE Plus will also play its part in assisting AMSs to adopt solid legal frameworks regionally and nationally on e-commerce, known as a powerful enabler of trade facilitation. These efforts are intended to achieve enhanced private sector engagement through increased participation in the activities of the ATF-JCC and other ASEAN sectoral bodies.

The third focus will be on additional activities catering to on-demand support to ASEAN in the areas that are intimately linked, conducive and relevant to the trade facilitation agenda of ASEAN. The specific tasks under these activities shall be defined and prioritized on a rolling basis and on the basis of the request by ASEAN. Legal certainty, commercial predictability and trade facilitation are to be enhanced within the region through specific on-demand support by ARISE Plus for, inter alia, self-certification of goods of ASEAN origin, the trade facilitation related activities of the ASEAN Consultative Committee on Connectivity, and the transposition of regional agreements at national level.

 

Implementation Strategy

 

To support greater economic integration in ASEAN through the full implementation of the ASEAN Trade in Goods Agreement (ATIGA) and of the ASEAN Economic Community Blue Print 2025 (AECB)

Sub-Component 1.1	ATIGA implementation with focus on transparency and Non-Tariff Measures (NTMs)
	Enhanced trade-related regulatory transparency and progressive NTMs?? streamlining through the effective operationalization of the ASEAN Trade Repository (ATR) and the network of AMSs?? National Trade Repositories (NTRs)
Sub-Component 1.2	Trade Facilitation and Private Sector Engagement
	Private sector engagement is enhanced through increased participation in the activities of ATF-JCC and other ASEAN sectoral bodies, in line with the applicable Guidelines for Private Sector Engagement, and by greater usage of ASSIST, including in the areas of trade in services and trade-related investment measures
Sub-Component 1.3	On Demand Activities
	Legal certainty, commercial predictability and trade facilitation are enhanced through specific on-demand support for, inter alia, self-certification of goods of ASEAN origin, the trade facilitation related activities of the ASEAN Consultative Committee on Connectivity, and the transposition of regional agreements at national level