The views expressed in this presentation are the views of the author and do not necessarily reflect the

views or policies of the Asian

Development Bank Institute (ADBI), the Asian Development Bank (ADB), its Board of Directors, or the governments they represent. ADBI
does not guarantee the accuracy of the data included in this paper and accepts no responsibility for any consequences of their use.
Terminology used may not necessarily be consistent with ADB official terms.

Non-tariff Measures
and Regional Integration in ASEAN

Ha Thi Thanh Doan

Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia

8th OECD-AMRO-ADB/ADBI-ERIA Asian Regional Roundtable on Macroeconomics and

Structural Policies
Tokyo, 13-14 February 2020
Background
• NTMs are on the rise
• NTMs are legitimate public policy tools
• Poor design and implementation of NTMs could
incur significant trade costs

2
 Figure 1: NTMs by Type and Country, ASEAN+6
8000

7000

6000

5000
Number of NTMs

4000

3000

2000

1000

0
2015 2018 2015 2018 2015 2018 2015 2018 2015 2018 2015 2018 2015 2018 2015 2018 2015 2018 2015 2018 2017 2017 2017 2017 2017 2017

Brunei Cambodia Indonesia Lao PDR Malaysia Myanmar Philippines Singapore Thailand Viet Nam AustraliaChina India Japan Korea, New
Darussalam Republic
Zealand
of

Others Export-related measures TBT SPS

Source: ERIA-UNCTAD NTMs in ASEAN+6 database, available at trains.unctad.org

Note: Numbers are not comparable across countries.
3
 Figure 2: Incidence and Prevalence of Import NTMs in ASEAN
by Sector, 2018

Source: Doan and Rosenow (2019)

Note: Trade data is retrieved from UNCOMTRADE database at HS 2017 6-digit level. NTMs with partial coverage are
excluded. Frequency index represents the ratio of 6-digit HS products affected by at least 1 NTM. Coverage ratio
represents the share of trade value affected by at least 1 NTM. Prevalence Score shows the average number of NTMs
per traded product.
4
Figure 3: Incidence and Prevalence of Export NTMs in ASEAN by Sector,
2018

Source: Doan and Rosenow (2019)

Note: Trade data is retrieved from UNCOMTRADE database at HS 2017 6-digit level. NTMs with partial coverage are
excluded. Frequency index represents the ratio of 6-digit HS products affected by at least 1 NTM. Coverage ratio
represents the share of trade value affected by at least 1 NTM. Prevalence Score shows the average number of NTMs
per traded product.

5
Figure 4: Complementarity Between Tariffs and Non-tariff Measures

MFN = most favoured nation, NTM = non-tariff measure.

Source: Doan and Rosenow (2019)

Note: The fitted line is obtained from a linear regression of coverage ratio or frequency index of NTMs on tariffs. The
shaded area captures confidence interval of the mean. 6
 Figure 5: Similarity in NTM structure in ASEAN-
Top 10 country pairs
IDN-KHM

KHM-VNM

BRN-LAO

SGP-THA
Country pair

MYS-SGP

MYS-THA

BRN-THA

LAO-MMR

BRN-MYS

BRN-SGP

0 5 10 15 20 25 30

Similarity index, in %

Note: Similarity index represents the ratio of overlapping NTMs between two countries, following Cadot et al (2015). IDN, KHM, VNM, BRN,
LAO, SGP, THA, MYS, MMR represents Indonesia, Cambodia, Vietnam, Brunei, Laos PDR, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia and Myanmar,
respectively.
7
Source: Authors' calculation based on ERIA-UNCTAD raw NTMs in ASEAN database. Data is for year 2018.
Progress on NTMs management in ASEAN (1)

ASEAN TRADE IN GOODS AGREEMENT

Article 11 (Notification Procedures)
Article 12 (Publication and Administration of Trade
Regulations)
Article 13 (ASEAN Trade Repository)
Article 40 (Application of Non-Tariff Measures)
Article 42 (Elimination of Other Non-Tariff Barriers)

8
Progress on NTMs management in ASEAN (2)
AEC 2025 Trade Facilitation Strategic Action Plan

Strategic Objective on NTMs:

“Put in place an effective and responsible regional approach to efficiently

address the trade distorting effect of NTMs with a view to pursuing
legitimate policy objectives while reducing cost and time of doing business in
ASEAN.”

• Updating existing ASEAN NTMs database (completed)

• Enhancing cross-notification (2018-2019)
• Development of NTMs guidelines (2018 – endorsed AFTA Council)
• Strengthening NTFC capacity (2019-2020)
• Improving accessibility of information (2017-2025)
• Encouraging consultation before enforcement (2018-2020)
• Enhancing private sector engagement through ASSIST (2018)

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Guidelines for the Implementation of ASEAN
Commitments on Non-Tariff Measures on Goods (3)

Principle 1: Principle 2: Principle 4: Non-

Principle 3: Principle 5:
Necessity & Consultations & discrimination &
Transparency Periodic review
proportionality engagement impartiality

Principle 3:
Principle 1: Ex- Principle 2: Notification, Principle 5: Ex-
ante regulatory Public publication, Principle 4: NTBs post regulatory
review consultations classification review
(database)

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Sector-specific initiatives (1)
Existing MRAs
 ASEAN Sectoral MRA for Electrical and Electronic Equipment (2002)
 ASEAN Sectoral MRA for GMP Inspection of Manufacturers for
Medicinal Products (2009)
 ASEAN MRA on Bio-Equivalence (BE) Study Report (2017)
 MRA on Inspection and Certification System on Food Hygiene for
Prepared Foodstuff ( 2 more AMS to sign)
Forthcoming MRAs
 ASEAN MRA on Type Approval for Automotive Product (for
finalisation in 2018)
 ASEAN MRA on Building and Construction Materials (for finalisation
in 2018)

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Sector-specific initiatives (2)
Harmonised Regulatory Regimes / Directives
 Agreement on the ASEAN Harmonised Cosmetic Regulatory
Scheme (2003) with ASEAN Cosmetic Directive
 Agreement on the ASEAN Harmonised Electrical and
Electronic Equipment Regulatory Regime (2005)
 ASEAN Medical Device Directive (2014)

Agreement on the Harmonised Technical Requirements

(forthcoming)
 ASEAN Agreement on Regulatory Framework for Traditional
Medicines
 ASEAN Agreement on Regulatory Framework for Health
Supplements

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ERIA’s ongoing work on NTMs
• Capacity building for AMS’ government officials
• Development and application of UNCTAD’s NTMs
toolkit
• Research on the impact of NTMs on trade and
competitiveness in ASEAN and East Asia

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Alignment, Coordination, Collaboration: Managing NTMs

Academia

Research
support Tariffs almost 0%

• Prior measurement of
the trade impact of
NTMs, e.g. Ad-valorem • Unnecessary Regulatory
Burden; • Reduce
Governments
equivalent • Lack of transparency; • Review
• Multi-agency processes •
• Analysis of broader Institutionalise

trade and welfare

impact
• of selected
Clarify impact
•
NTMs and products
Prioritise
• Monitor outcomes Push for
• greater
transparency
• Harmonization
of standard
• Reducing
Private sector regulatory
burden
8

14
Global NTM database available at
https://trains.unctad.org/

“NTMs in ASEAN- An Update” report

http://www.eria.org/publications/

15