Asean adopts expanded uniform tariff lines list

The Bureau of Customs and its counterparts in nine neighboring countries are adopting an expanded common list of tariff lines starting January 1 next year.

The move is in line with the objective of building unified customs processes for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean).

According to Singapore Customs, which led the Asean task force that developed the Asean Harmonized Tariff Nomenclature (AHTN) 2012, the new list increased the number of items covered to 9,558 tariff lines from 8,300 in the version that was adopted in 2007.

In a statement, the agency said most of the additional tariff lines were on products relating to fishes, machinery and vehicles.

“The AHTN is now more comprehensive with additional tariff lines included,” said David Foo, head of Singapore Customs’ tariffs and trade services unit.

“This helps to provide more predictability and transparency when it comes to tariff code declarations for the trading of goods among Asean countries,” he said.

Asean-based traders who are shipping goods within and outside the region are expected to benefit from a single system of classifying goods, since the tariff codes used to make import declarations are the same for all Asean countries.

Asean groups the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam.

This means an easier and more transparent way to determine the applicable import tariffs for cargoes, as well as whether goods are eligible for preferential tariffs under the different free-trade agreements (FTAs).

As a group and as individual countries, Asean members have entered into FTAs with partners like China, Japan, Australia and New Zealand.

Further, the AHTN serves as the basis for negotiations on FTAs and customs treaties, as well as the collection of trade statistics.

Also, customs authorities use the AHTN to monitor the movement of goods, for purposes such as food security, public health, environmental protection and counterterrorism.

The adoption of an even more comprehensive AHTN is seen as a milestone toward the realization of the Asean Economic Community, or AEC, by 2015.

AEC is envisioned to have the following key characteristics: a single market and production base; a highly competitive economic region; a region of equitable economic development; and a region fully integrated into the global economy.

It is hoped to transform Asean into a region with free movement of goods, services, investment, skilled labor and freer flow of capital.