Committee on Trade and Tourism
Trade Liberalization
Significant progress was made in the field of
trade liberalisation. Under the ASEAN Preferential
Trading Arrangements (PTA), a set of 1,500
items exchanged during the Seventh Meeting of
the Trade Preferences Negotiating Group (TPNG)
and the Eleventh Meeting of the Committee on
Trade and Tourism (COTT) were approved by the
Tenth AEM Meeting, bringing the total number
of items exchanged under the PTA to 5,825.
Trade Preferences on these 1500 items were
implemented with effect from 25 January 1981.
Pursuant to the decision of the Eighth AEM
Meeting on deeper and wider tariff cuts under the
PTA, the Ninth AEM Meeting agreed that all
items with import trade value of less than
US$ 50,000 based on the 1978 trade statistics
be accorded a 20% margin of preference, subject
to national exclusion lists on sensitive items. At
the Eighth TPNG Meeting it was noted that all
exclusion lists had been submitted and that
Singapore's preferences were implemented with
effect from 22 July 1980 while all other countries
were in the process of implementing theirs.
To further accelerate the process of trade
liberalisation the Tenth AEM Meeting further
decided that in respect of items under the PTA, a
tariff cut of 20-25% margin of preference be
applied. To effect this decision the Eighth TPNG
Meeting agreed that all preferential rates of 20%
and above but below 25% will be raised to 25%
and all preferential rates of 25% and above will
remain unchanged. This will apply to all preferences
implemented as of 24 January 1981,
with the exception of the additional batch of
products with import values of less than
US$ 50,000 and will come into effect as of 1
April 1981.
At the Eleventh AEM Meeting, the Ministers
agreed on another innovative approach to ASEAN
trade liberalization which are as follows:
(a) Tariff concessions with a 20-25% preference
be extended to items where the import value
was equal to or less than US$ 500,000 (c.i.f.)
based on 1978 statistics, with an exclusion list
of sensitive items;
(b) COTT study the implications of raising the
concessions to the level of US$ 1,000,000 (c.i.f.)
or more ;
(c) COTT study how expansion of trade in food
products under the Customs Cooperation Council
Nomenclature (CCCN) be more intensified, considering
deeper tariff cuts and other means of tariff
preferences as measures promote this trade;
(d) Voluntary offers in tariff negotiations be expanded
to 800 items per member per year; and
(e) COTT study other measures to expand intra-ASEAN trade.
At the Eleventh Meeting, the
ASEAN Economic Ministers approved tariff
preferences on 750 items bringing the total number
of preferences exchanged under the PTA to 6581
items.
Tourism
At the Eleventh Meeting of the COTT the
following priority projects submitted by the
sub-committee on Tourism (SCOT) was approved
for UNDP funding:
(a) Research Studies on :
(i) Economic, Socio-Cultural and Environmental
Impact of Tourism
(ii) Foreign Markets
(iii) Convention Markets
(b) Specialised training for National Tourism
Organisation (NTO) Executives
(c) Programme Development and Technical Assistance
(d) Regional Research Resource Centre.
During the year, the Sub-Committee on Tourism (SCOT) completed
a number of marketing
activities. A brochure was produced for the first
time, promoting ASEAN as one tourist destination.
It was printed in English, German and
Japanese using the slogan "ASEAN - Five
Fabulous Countries. One Great Place To Go." An
ASEAN promotional Chapter was also formed at
the ASEAN National Tourist Organizations in
Tokyo, Sydney, Frankfurt, London and the West
Coast of USA. These promotional chapters undertook
a number of joint promotions to further
project the ASEAN image in their tourism marketing efforts.
Another accomplishment was the standardization
of the ASEAN Embarkation/Disembarkation
Card which as fully implemented in all five
member countries as of 1 March 1981.
For more information, please refer to the project details
