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The 46th Meeting of the Coordinating Committee on the Implementation of the ASEAN Trade in Goods Agreement (ATIGA) and related meetings will take place from December 4 to 7, 2024, in Pattaya, Thailand, to discuss the implementation issues of the ASEAN Trade in Goods Agreement.
Under the ATIGA, the Coordinating Committee on the Implementation of theATIGA (CCA) was established to assist ASEAN Senior Economic Officials (SEOM) and the ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA) Council in ensuring the effective implementation of the ATIGA.
Since its entry into force on May 17, 2010, ASEAN Member States have substantially completed their market access commitments and fully implemented other obligations under the Agreement. Specifically, ASEAN countries have so far eliminated an average of 98.64% of tariff lines, with Viet Nam eliminating around 98.2% (currently retaining about 1.8% of tariff lines covering 111 items classified under highly sensitive categories related to defense, security, and social concerns, as well as 55 sensitive agricultural products with non-zero tariff rates). Despite the high elimination rate of tariffs within ASEAN, intra-regional trade accounts for only about 23% of the bloc’s total trade. Therefore, finding solutions to boost intra-regional trade has been a key priority for ASEAN, specifically under CCA’s agenda, in recent years.
The 46th meeting is scheduled at the year-end to focus on several issues, namely annual priorities of the CCA for 2025, long standing implementation issues, and agendas to improve the effectiveness of ATIGA implementation in the future, particularly on measures that can help to increase ATIGA utilization rates.
Additionally, according to the roadmap for Timor-Leste to become a full ASEAN member, the ATIGA will be one of the ASEAN economic agreements it must join. Thus, at this meeting, the CCA will discuss with Timor-Leste its readiness to join the ATIGA.
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After 29 years joining ASEAN, the region remains a crucial economic and trade partner for Viet Nam. Economic and trade relations between Viet Nam and the ASEAN have consistently developed over recent years, achieving significant results. Currently, the AFTA is one of the frameworks in which Viet Nam has made the strongest commitments to liberalize its market. Viet Nam’s tariff elimination rate under the ATIGA reaches 98.2% (other ASEAN countries eliminate about 98.7% of tariff lines for Vietnamese exports).
According to data from the General Department of Customs, in the first nine months of 2024, Viet Nam’s export turnover to ASEAN reached nearly $27.6 billion (accounting for 9.2% of Viet Nam’s total exports), up 13.1% compared to the same period in 2023.
Currently, ASEAN are conducting ATIGA upgarde negotiation to ensure its modernity and to address emerging challenges in the current context. ASEAN aims to conclude ATIGA upgrade negotiations by 2025. |
