User-friendly system to allow quick, easy checks for tariff rates under the Common Effective Preferential Tariff (CEPT)

(Manila, Philippines, and Washington, DC, 30 May 2002) The ASEAN Secretariat and the US-ASEAN Business Council today unveiled an on-line database that will allow importers and exporters to quickly and easily check tariff rates for goods shipped within the ASEAN region under the Common Effective Preferential Tariff (CEPT) of the ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA). The facility, developed cooperatively by the Council and the Secretariat, allows users to input harmonized system (HS) codes for each of the ten ASEAN countries, and immediately retrieve the corresponding tariff rates for those goods. Searches can also be conducted using keywords.

"It is our goal to make as much information on AFTA as readily available to the business community and general public as possible. This new Web-based facility supports that effort and is an important supplement to the information that the Secretariat has already made available," said ASEAN Secretary-General Rodolfo C. Severino, who announced the facility today at the AFTA 2002 Symposium in Manila.

"The US-ASEAN Business Council has long supported the ASEAN Free Trade Area," said Ernest Z. Bower, President of the US-ASEAN Business Council. "Business sees an integrated ASEAN market, with ten countries and a population in excess of half a billion, as a much more attractive destination for direct investment than ten segmented markets. This is the type of information that business is asking for, and we are very pleased that we can support the Secretariat's work, and get the word out on AFTA."

The tariff database is available on the US-ASEAN Business Council Web site at http://www.us-asean.org/aftatariffs.asp. It allows users to select the country for which they are seeking tariff information, and then provides a form into which the user can enter either an HS code or a product description using keywords. The results are displayed back to the user within seconds. The page contains links back to additional information on the ASEAN Secretariat Web site, including ASEAN countries' entire tariff schedules, which can be downloaded as zipped files.

Based in Jakarta, the ASEAN Secretariat provides for greater efficiency in the coordination of ASEAN organs and for more effective implementation of ASEAN projects and activities. The US-ASEAN Business Council, based in Washington, DC, with regional offices in Jakarta and Singapore, is America's leading private business organization dedicated to promoting increased trade and investment between the United States and the member nations of ASEAN.