| China and ASEAN Will Launch Tariff Reduction Plan Formally in July |
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| Thursday,June 30,2005 Posted: 17:12 BJT(0912 GMT) Ministry of Commece |
On the 19th session of China-ASEAN Trade Negotiation Committee held in Beijing from June 22 to 23, China and ASEAN confirmed to launch tariff reduction plan in China- ASEAN FTA in July as scheduled. The two sides will spend 20 days carrying on technical verification on the tariff reduction form for each other, and adjust relevant Customs data system. From July 20, the two sides will provide preferential tariffs to the products which originate in China and ASEAN, according to the time table of agreement on trade in goods, so as to realize tariff reduction in FTA and guarantee goods to go through the Customs.
China-ASEAN FTA is the free trade arrangement set up by China and 10 ASEAN members. On November 29, 2004, the two sides signed "agreement on trade in goods" in Vientiane, Laos. According to the agreement, from July 2005, the two sides will reduce tariffs of about 7000 categories of goods, except the products that already implemented tariff reduction in 2004 and a small amount of sensitive products. By 2010, China and such 6 old ASEAN members as Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand will cancel the tariff of most products, to build up a free trade area. China and such 4 new ASEAN members as Kampuchea, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam will have the transitional period of 5 years, and realize free trade by 2015.
It is learnt that Brunei, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore finished examination and approval for "agreement on trade in goods", Indonesia and Thailand will finish it soon. China and above-mentioned countries will provide preferential tariffs for each other from July 20. After Kampuchea, Laos, the Philippines and Vietnam finished examination and approval, China and they will implement tariff reduction plan for each other. The implementation of tariff reduction plan will promote the trade between China and ASEAN remarkably, and will have a positive and profound impact on future development of trading relations of the two sides.
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