Nearly 7,000 tariff lines of AKFTA product specific rules need to be transposed

illustration image. Source: Internet

Within the framework of the ASEAN-RoK Free Trade Agreement under the Framework Agreement on comprehensive economic cooperation between the Governments of ASEAN countries and RoK, the ASEAN-RoK Economic Cooperation Subcommittee organized the Conference on Origin of Goods to transpose the List of Product Specific Rules (PSR) following the Harmonized System (HS) of the World Customs Organization (WCO).

The conference took place from March 25 to 27, with the participation of more than 80 delegates from Republic of Korea, 10 ASEAN countries and the ASEAN Secretariat to review and discuss nearly 7,000 tariff lines, progress and mechanism for implementing rules of origin under the new HS. The Vietnamese delegation includes representatives from the Import-Export Department (Ministry of Industry and Trade) and the General Department of Vietnam Customs (Ministry of Finance).

Mr. Nguyen Anh Son, Director of the Import-Export Department, emphasized the goal of converting nearly 7,000 tariff lines of the PSR list in AKFTA. This transposition requires high focus and great consensus from ASEAN countries and Korea.

Information about synthesizing the content of the exchange, Trinh Thi Thu Hien, Coordinator of the ASEAN-Korea PSR Transposition Project, said that the countries reviewed chapters 1 to 97 of the PSR list and agreed on the origin criteria for the majority of tariff lines.

According to Mrs. Sasikanya Ponien, co-head of the ASEAN-Korea Sub-Committee on Tariffs and Rules of Origin, the meeting results are an important premise for the Subcommittee on Taxes and Rules of Origin to submit to the AKFTA Executive Committee to approve the List of specific rules for products under the new HS.

The representative of the Vietnamese delegation said that, on that basis, the Ministry of Industry and Trade would develop and issue a Circular regulating the implementation of AKFTA rules of origin to update the PSR list; thereby creating favorable conditions for taking advantage of AKFTA's special preferential tariff rates.

On the sidelines of the Conference, Vietnam had bilateral meetings with the delegations of Thailand and Republic of Korea. Mrs. Siriporn Ulao, Head of the Thai delegation, expressed her concerns about implementing the seal and electronic signature model within the framework of the ASEAN Trade in Goods Agreement (ATIGA) and the ASEAN-India Agreement (AIFTA).

Mr. Min-ho Son, head of the RoK delegation, proposed that the two sides should strengthen coordination in implementing rules of origin, especially verifying the origin of goods.

Closing the meeting, Mr. Min-ho Son, head of the RoK delegation, on behalf of Korean partners and ASEAN member countries, highly appreciated the host country Vietnam in organizing this conference, as well as promoting consensus on PSR within the framework of the AKFTA Agreement.