Database
on Basic Documents of Japan-ASEAN Relations
Department of
Advanced Social and International Studies,
FRAMEWORK FOR
COMPREHENSIVE
ECONOMIC PARTNERSHIP BETWEEN
THE ASSOCIATION OF
SOUTHEAST ASIAN NATIONS
AND JAPAN
WE, the Heads of
State/Governments of Brunei Darussalam, the Kingdom of Cambodia, the Republic
of Indonesia, the Lao People's Democratic Republic ("Lao PDR"),
Malaysia, the Union of Myanmar, the Republic of the Philippines, the Republic
of Singapore, the Kingdom of Thailand and the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam,
Member States of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (collectively, “ASEAN” or “ASEAN Member States”, or individually, “ASEAN Member State”), and Japan gathered today for the
ASEAN-Japan Summit;
RECALLING the
Joint Declaration made at the ASEAN-Japan Summit held on 5 November 2002 in
Phnom Penh, Cambodia to implement measures for the realisation
of a Comprehensive Economic Partnership ("CEP"), including elements
of a possible Free Trade Area ("FTA"), which should be completed as
soon as possible within 10 years, and to establish a Committee to consider and
draft a framework for the realisation of the CEP
between ASEAN and Japan (“ASEAN-Japan CEP”);
INSPIRED by the
significant progress made in ASEAN-Japan relations, which has spanned 30 years
of an economic partnership that has been expanding over a wide range of areas;
DESIRING to minimise barriers and deepen economic linkages between
ASEAN and Japan; lower business costs; increase intra-regional trade and
investment; increase economic efficiency; create a larger market with greater
opportunities and larger economies of scale for the businesses of both ASEAN
and Japan; and enhance our attractiveness to capital and talent;
SHARING the view
that the ASEAN-Japan CEP should benefit from and complementary to the economic
integration of ASEAN and considering that achievement of the ASEAN Free Trade
Area (“AFTA”) will enhance the
value of ASEAN as a regional market and attract investment to ASEAN and that it
is desirable that the Common Effective Preferential Tariff (“CEPT”) Scheme among
ASEAN Member States be implemented on a timely basis;
BEING confident
that the establishment of an ASEAN-Japan FTA covering trade in goods, services
and investment will create a partnership between ASEAN and Japan, and provide
an important mechanism for strengthening co-operation and supporting economic stability
in East Asia;
RECOGNISING the
important role and contribution of the business sector in enhancing trade and
investment between ASEAN and Japan and the need to further promote and
facilitate their co-operation and utilisation of
greater business opportunities provided by the ASEAN-Japan CEP;
RECOGNISING the
different stages of economic development among ASEAN Member States and between
ASEAN and Japan, and the need to facilitate the increasing participation of the
Kingdom of Cambodia, Lao PDR, the Union of Myanmar and the Socialist Republic
of Viet Nam, (collectively, “the newer ASEAN
Member States”) in the ASEAN-Japan CEP;
REAFFIRMING the
rights and obligations of the respective countries under the Marrakesh Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organization
("WTO Agreement"), and other multilateral, regional and bilateral
agreements and arrangements;
RECOGNISING the
catalytic role that regional trade arrangements can contribute towards
accelerating regional and global liberalisation and
as building blocks in the framework of the multilateral trading system;
HAVE DECIDED AS
FOLLOWS:
1
Objectives
The objectives of
the ASEAN-Japan CEP are to:
(a) Strengthen
economic integration between ASEAN and
(b) Enhance the
competitiveness of ASEAN and
(c) Progressively liberalise and facilitate trade in goods and services as
well as create a transparent and liberal investment regime;
(d) Explore new
areas and develop appropriate measures for further co-operation and economic
integration; and
(e) Facilitate the
more effective economic integration of the newer
2
Basic Principles
ASEAN and
(a) The
ASEAN-Japan CEP should involve all ASEAN Member States and Japan and include a
broad range of sectors focusing on liberalisation,
facilitation and co-operation activities, noting the principle of reciprocity,
transparency and mutual benefits to both ASEAN and Japan;
(b) The integrity,
solidarity and integration of ASEAN will be given consideration in the realisation of the ASEAN-Japan CEP;
(c) The
ASEAN-Japan CEP Agreement should be consistent with the rules and disciplines
of the WTO Agreement;
(d) Special and
differential treatment should be provided to the ASEAN Member States in
recognition of their different levels of economic development. Additional
flexibility should be accorded to the newer ASEAN Member States;
(e) Flexibility
should be given to address the sensitive sectors in each
(f) Technical
co-operation and capacity building programmes should
also be considered.
3
Measures for
Comprehensive Economic Partnership
The ASEAN-Japan
CEP should be realised by:
(a) Carrying out
the Measures for Immediate Implementation specified in Section 4;
(b) Implementing programmes on Facilitation and Co-operation between ASEAN
and
(c) Implementing
measures for Liberalisation in (1) trade in Goods;
(2) trade in Services; and (3) investment.
4
Measures For Immediate Implementation
1. ASEAN and
(a) Technical
assistance and capacity building to ASEAN, particularly for the newer ASEAN
Member States, so as to improve their competitiveness to meaningfully
participate in the partnership and to assist ASEAN Member States who are not
members of WTO and World Customs Organization (“WCO”) to work towards becoming members of the
aforementioned organizations;
(b) Trade and
investment promotion and facilitation measures;
(c) Trade and investment
policy dialogue;
(d) Business
sector dialogue;
(e) Measures to facilitate the mobility of
business people;
(f) Exchange and
compilation of relevant data such as customs tariff and bilateral trade
statistics; and
(g) Any other measures delivering immediate
mutual benefits.
2. ASEAN and
5
Facilitation and
Co-operation
1. ASEAN and
(1) Trade Related
Procedures
Facilitation of
trade-related procedures will be implemented in such areas as co-operation on
custom procedures by computerisation, simplification
and harmonisation, as far as possible, to relevant
international standards.
(2) Business Environment
Recognising
that the satisfactory business environment is an indispensable part of the
attractiveness to investors, each
(3) Intellectual
Property Rights (“IPR”)
(4) Other Areas of Co-operation:
- Energy
Co-operation
in oil stockpiling, natural gas utilisation and
promotion of energy efficiency.
- Information and
Communications Technology (“ICT”)
Co-operation in
developing ICT infrastructure, Information Technology (“IT”)-related legal systems, and IT-related human
resource, and promoting exchanges of IT researchers and engineers.
- Human Resource
Development (“HRD”)
Co-operation among
the relevant organisations in each
- Small and Medium
Enterprises (“SMEs”)
Co-operation
in exchanging views on policies relating to SMEs and
expanding business opportunities of SMEs.
- Tourism and
hospitality
Co-operation
in implementing seminars or information exchange on tourism and hospitality.
- Transportation
and logistics
Co-operation
for efficient cargo transport system, safe and sustainable shipping and safe
and efficient air transport.
- Standards and
conformance and mutual recognition arrangement
Exchange
of information concerning the standards and conformance policies, and capacity
building of standardisation organisations
in each
- Other possible
technical co-operation projects, including environment, automobile,
bio-technology, science and technology, sustainable forest management,
competition policy, food security and financial services co-operation.
2. ASEAN and
6
Liberalisation
1. ASEAN and
2.
ASEAN and
3. During the negotiation, those ASEAN
Member States that have not concluded bilateral Economic Partnership Agreement
(“EPA”) with
(1) Trade in Goods
ASEAN and Japan
decide to progressively eliminate duties and other restrictive regulations of
commerce (except, where necessary, those permitted under Article XXIV (8) (b)
of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1994 in Annex 1A to the WTO
Agreement (“GATT”)) on
substantially all trade in goods in order to establish an FTA between ASEAN and
Japan which will include, but will not be limited, to the following:
(a) Cumulative rules of origin;
(b) Detailed rules
governing the tariff reduction or elimination programmes
including principles governing reciprocal commitments;
(c) Non-tariff
measures including technical barriers to trade; and
(d) Trade remedy
measures based on the principles of the WTO Agreement.
(2) Trade in
Services
ASEAN and
(a) Progressive
elimination of substantially all discrimination between or among ASEAN and
Japan and/or prohibition of new or more discriminatory measures with respect to
trade in services between ASEAN and Japan, (except for measures permitted under
Article V(1)(b) of the General Agreement on Trade in Services (“GATS”) in Annex 1B to
the WTO Agreement);
(b) Expansion in
the depth and scope of liberalisation of trade in
services;
(c) Facilitation of the entry and
temporary movement of business people; and
(d) Enhanced co-operation in services
between ASEAN and
(3) Investment
In order to
promote investment, ASEAN and
(a) Create a
liberal and competitive environment;
(b) Strengthen
co-operation in investment, facilitate investment and improve transparency of
investment rules and regulations; and
(c) Provide for
the protection of investors and investment.
7
Most-Favoured-Nation Treatment
For ASEAN Member
States which are not yet WTO members,
8
General Exceptions
Subject to the
requirement that such measures are not applied in a manner which would
constitute a means of arbitrary or unjustifiable discrimination between or
among ASEAN and Japan where the same conditions prevail, or a disguised
restriction on trade within the ASEAN-Japan CEP, nothing in this Framework
should prevent any individual ASEAN Member State and/or Japan from adopting or
enforcing measures, in accordance with the rules and disciplines of the WTO
Agreement, for:
(a) The protection
of the national security of each
(b) The protection
of articles of artistic, historic and archaeological value; or
(c) Such other
measures which each
9
Consultation
Any differences
concerning the interpretation or implementation of this Framework should be
settled amicably by consultations and/or mediation.
10
Timeframes
1. ASEAN and
2. ASEAN and
3. The
implementation of measures for the realisation of the
ASEAN-Japan CEP, including elements of a possible free trade area, should be
completed as soon as possible by 2012, taking into account the economic levels
and sensitive sectors in each country, including allowing additional five (5)
years' time for the newer ASEAN Member States.
11
Institutional
Arrangements for this Framework
1. The ASEAN-
2. AJCCEP may
establish other bodies as may be necessary to co-ordinate and implement this
Framework, including the supervision, co-ordination and review of the
implementation of other measures undertaken pursuant to this Framework.
3. The ASEAN
Secretariat will provide the necessary secretariat support to the AJCCEP
whenever and wherever the meetings are held.
SIGNED
on the Eighth Day of October in the year Two Thousand and Three in