ASIA PACIFIC TRADE AGREEMENT

The Asia Pacific Trade Agreement is one of Asias oldest regional preferential trading arrangements designed earlier known as Bangkok agreement to liberalize and expand trade in the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) region. In July 1975, seven countries namely, Bangladesh, India, Laos, Republic of Korea, Sri Lanka, the Philippines and Thailand met in Bangkok and agreed to a list of products for mutual tariff reduction. This resulted in the signing of the first agreement on trade negotiations among developing member countries of ESCAP, known as the Bangkok Agreement which was ratified by five of the seven countries except the Philippines and Thailand. The Peoples Republic of China joined the Bangkok Agreement in 2001. The objectives of the Bangkok Agreement are to promote Economic Development through a continuous process of trade expansion among the developing member countries of ESCAP and to further enhance international economic cooperation through the adoption of mutually beneficial trade liberalization measures consistent with their respective present and future development and trade needs. Three rounds of negotiations have been completed under the Bangkok Agreement so far. The first round of negotiations was concluded in 1979, the second round in 1985 and the third round in 2004. The third round of negotiations aimed that offering a maximum of 50% Margin of Preference (MOP) on tariffs in respect of agreed items taking into account 2001 as the base year. The lists of

concessions agreed upon by the member countries during the third round of negotiations have been integrated with the previous rounds of negotiations into single (consolidated) lists of concessions. The consolidated national lists of concessions which are attached to the AsiaPacific Trade Agreement will come into force on 1 st July 2006.

While recognizing the great potential of the Bangkok Agreement particularly after the accession of China in 2001, the six member countries initiated a process to revitalize the agreement as a mechanism for strengthening the regional economic cooperation. Under the revitalization process, amendments were made to the text of Agreement to reflect changes in the International Trading system that have taken place since the agreement was signed in 1975. Under the revitalization process, the members countries established a Ministerial Council to provide the overall policy direction for the future negotiating agenda of the Agreement. Accordingly, the First Session of Ministerial Council of the Asia Pacific Trade Agreement was held on 2ndNovember, 2005 in Beijing, China. During this Session of the Ministerial Council, the APTA was signed by the Trade Ministers of the six member countries.

Member Nations
Bangladesh (original member, 1975)[4][5]

China (acceded in 2001) India (original member, 1975) Republic of Korea (original member, 1975) Lao People's Democratic Republic (original member, 1975) Sri Lanka (original member, 1975) Nepal Philippines

The Asia-Pacific Trade Agreement (APTA), previously named the Bangkok Agreement, signed in 1975 as an initiative of ESCAP, is a preferential tariff arrangement that aims at promoting intra-regional trade through exchange of mutually agreed concessions by member countries. APTA has five members namely Bangladesh, China, India, Republic of Korea, Lao People's Democratic Republic and Sri Lanka. ESCAP functions as the secretariat for the Agreement. 2. During the Second Session of the Ministerial Council at Goa on 26 October 2007 the following important decisions were taken :
i. ii.

To launch the 4th Round of Negotiations;

To adopt modalities for extension of negotiations in other areas such as non-tariff measures, trade facilitation, services, and investment; A common set of Operational Procedures for the Certificate and Verification of the Origin of Goods for APTA was approved and it was decided that the same would be implemented w.e.f. 1st January, 2008; and

iii.

iv. To explore the possibilities of expanding the membership of the Agreement.

initiated negotiations in the areas of tariff concessions with an average of 50% MOP on 50% of tariff lines along with framework agreements on

(i) trade facilitation (ii) trade in services (iii) investments and (iv) nontariff measures.
4. To move forward the 4th Round of Negotiations, the 35th Session of the

Standing Committee and the 3rd Session of the Ministerial Council were held in Seoul, Republic of Korea on December 13-14, 2009 and December 15, 2009 respectively. Mongolia, which has expressed its interest in acceding to APTA, was also invited to participate as an observer to the Session. The Indian delegation was led by Shri Jyotiraditya M. Scindia, Honble Minister of State for Commerce and Industry.
5. Under the 4th Round, the Standing Committee of Participating States has

finalised framework agreements in the areas of (i) trade facilitation, (ii) trade in services and (iii) promotion and liberalisation of investments. Offers of further tariff liberalisation in goods have also been exchanged. 6. The Standing Committee is also considering a framework agreement on non-tariff measures and a revision of the APTA rules of origin.

CARICOM SINGLE MARKET ECONOMY

The CARICOM Single Market and Economy, also known as the Caribbean Single Market and Economy (CSME), is an integrated development strategy envisioned at the 10th Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community which took place in July 1989 in Grand Anse, Grenada. The Grand Anse Declaration[1] had three key Features: 1. Deepening economic integration by advancing beyond a common market towards a Single Market and Economy. 2. Widening the membership and thereby expanding the economic mass of the Caribbean Community (e.g. Suriname and Haiti were admitted as full members in 1995 and 2002 respectively). 3. Progressive insertion of the region into the global trading and economic system by strengthening trading links with non-traditional partners.

Key elements of the Single Market and Economy include: Free movement of goods and services - through measures such as eliminating all barriers to intra-regional movement and harmonising standards to ensure acceptability of goods and services traded; Right of Establishment - to permit the establishment of CARICOM owned businesses in any Member State without restrictions; A Common External Tariff - a rate of duty applied by all Members of the Market to a product imported from a country which is not a member of the market; Free circulation - free movement of goods imported from extra regional sources which would require collection of taxes at first point of entry into the Region and the provision for sharing of collected customs revenue; Free movement of Capital - through measures such as eliminating foreign exchange controls, convertibility of currencies (or a common currency) and integrated capital market, such as a regional stock exchange; A Common trade policy - agreement among the members on matters related to internal and international trade and a coordinated external trade policy negotiated on a joint basis; Free movement of labour - through measures such as removing all obstacles to intra-regional movement of skills, labour and travel, harmonising social services (education, health, etc.), providing for the transfer of social security benefits and establishing common standards and measures for accreditation and equivalency. Other measures: Harmonisation of Laws: such as the harmonisation of company, intellectual property and other laws. There are also a number of economic, fiscal and monetary measures and policies which are also important to support the proper functioning of the CSME. These include: Economic Policy measure: coordinating and converging macro-economic policies and performance;

harmonising foreign investment policy and adopting measures to acquire, develop and transfer appropriate technology; Monetary Policy measures: coordinating exchange rate and interest rate policies as well as the commercial banking market.

MEMBER NATIONS
Current 12 full members of both CARICOM and the CSME: Antigua and Barbuda Barbados Belize Dominica Grenada Guyana Jamaica Saint Kitts and Nevis Saint Lucia Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Suriname Trinidad and Tobago

Of the 12 members expected to join the CSME, Barbados, Belize, Guyana, Jamaica, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago were the first six to implement the CARICOM Single Market on January 1, 2006. [6] Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia and St. Vincent and the Grenadines were the next batch of members (six in all) that joined the CSM on July 3, 2006 at the recent CARICOM Heads of Government Conference.[7] Current full members of CARICOM and signatory for the CSME: Montserrat

Montserrat is currently awaiting entrustment (approval) of the United Kingdom with regards to the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas in order to participate.[8] Current full members of CARICOM but not the CSME: Bahamas Haiti

Haiti has not completed its accession to the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas and is therefore not a participant in the Single Market and Economy. Current 5 associate members of CARICOM but not the CSME:

British Virgin Islands (July 1991) Turks and Caicos Islands (July 1991) Anguilla (July 1999) Cayman Islands (15 May 2002) Bermuda (2 July 2003)

Current 7 observing members of CARICOM but not the CSME: Aruba Colombia Dominican Republic Mexico Netherlands Antilles Puerto Rico Venezuela