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Asia Pacific Trade Agreement

Asia Pacific Trade Agreement


In 1963 the United Nations' Economic Commission for Asia and the Far East (ECAFE) convened the 1st Meeting of the Council of Ministers on Asian Economic Cooperation. The aim of the meeting was to allow countries to present their views to the ECAFE secretariat on ways and means to promote regional cooperation. Subsequently, the 4th Meeting of the Council of Ministers on Economic Cooperation held in December 1970 adopted a resolution now known as the Kabul Declaration, which called upon ECAFE (now ESCAP, for United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific) to develop measures for intra-regional trade expansion and other measures for economic cooperation.

ESCAP's International Trade Division began to identify possibilities for trade liberalization schemes in the region. In July 1975 seven countries, namely; Bangladesh, India, Lao People's Democratic Republic, the Republic of Korea, Sri Lanka, the Philippines and Thailand, met at Bangkok and agreed to a list of products for mutual tariff reduction. This resulted in the signing the First Agreement on Trade Negotiations Among Developing Member Countries of ESCAP, known as the Bangkok Agreement. The Agreement was ratified by five of the seven countries, excluding the Philippines and Thailand. China acceded to Bangkok Agreement in 2001.

In Nov 2005, the first session of the Ministerial Council of the Bangkok Agreement adopted the revised text of the Agreement and adopted the new name of "Asia-Pacific Trade Agreement" of the Agreement.

APTA is essentially a preferential trading arrangement designed to liberalize and expand trade progressively in the ESCAP region through such measures as the relaxation of tariff and non-tariff barriers and trade-related economic cooperation. The Agreement is not designed to divert or restrict trade from countries but to expand mutual trade through fuller exploitation of their trade potential, expansion of productive capacities and higher economic growth. It also aims at cooperation in matters such as customs administration, standardization of procedures and formalities relating to mutual trade, adoption of a common tariff nomenclature and harmonization of rules of origin and of dumping.

Posted by: Jeffrey M.

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