Regulatory Excellence

A harmonised set of standards and regulations is needed for ASEAN to ensure a seamless flow of trade and investment. With a commitment to regulatory excellence, the Master Plan on ASEAN Connectivity (MPAC) 2025 will support the harmonisation of standards and development of mutual recognition agreements, as well as address the technical regulations in ASEAN Member States.

To promote transparency and support the region’s trade growth, the MPAC 2025 will develop a quantification and benchmarking approach, and establish good regulatory practices to address non-tariff measures (NTMs).

Micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) make up about 95 per cent of ASEAN business, but they only account for around 30 per cent of exports. Harmonising trade standards and regulations, developing appropriate benchmarks and ensuring good regulatory practices will create more opportunities for MSMEs.

“In our Thilawa Special Economic Zone (SEZ), we've got a lot of non-tariff barriers that have been tremendously reduced in many ways. One example is the licensing system. Another example is we have established one stop service centre at the SEZ and developed standard operating procedures to have predictable environment for investors.”

Mr. Set Aung

Chairman of the Thilawa Special Economic Zone (SEZ) Management Committee

Myanmar

[easy-video-share-events mode=”youtube” video=”t7RYIh2Glak” width=”500″ height=”550″ play=”false” pause=”false” end=”false” share=”true” share_pos=”insidevert” ]

[easy-video-share-events mode=”youtube” video=”t7RYIh2Glak” width=”” height=”” play=”false” pause=”false” end=”false” share=”true” share_pos=”after” ]

[easy-video-share-events mode=”youtube” video=”FesqpTLFHOY” width=”500″ height=”550″ play=”false” pause=”false” end=”false” share=”true” share_pos=”insidevert” ]

[easy-video-share-events mode=”youtube” video=”FesqpTLFHOY” width=”” height=”” play=”false” pause=”false” end=”false” share=”true” share_pos=”after” ]

"In our Thilawa Special Economic Zone (SEZ), we’ve got a lot of non-tariff barriers that have been tremendously reduced in many ways. One example is the licensing system. Another example is we have established one-stop service centre at the SEZ and developed standard operating procedures to have the predictable environment for investors."

Mr. Set Aung, Chairman of the Thilawa Special Economic Zone (SEZ) Management Committee, Myanmar

see other testimony

"For promoting imports and exports between Viet Nam and other ASEAN countries, we actively link pages on websites about ASEAN to help the businesses search the information through ASEAN portal instead of using manual methods, particularly on the tariff issues which ASEAN countries are committed to reduce. This will promote and facilitate the exchange of goods between ASEAN countries."

Mr. Dinh Ngoc Thang, Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Customs Department, Viet Nam

see other testimony

Regulatory Excellence | 27 July 2020

Eliminating Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) for Greater Growth in ASEAN

Non-tariff barriers including technical barriers posed by standards, technical regulations, and conformity assessment procedures can limit the flow of goods and the growth of businesses. ASEAN, through the ASEAN Consultative Committee for Standards and Quality (ACCSQ), is continuously working towards addressing these barriers to ease movements of goods across the…