49th ASEAN Economic Ministers Meeting (AEM)

The 49th Meeting of the ASEAN Economic Minister (AEM) was held in Pasay City, the Philippines.
This meeting also includes other related meetings with the ASEAN Dialogue Partners (Australia, China, India, Japan, Korea, New Zealand, Russia and U.S.). 

Highlights of the meeting

• Import duties on 99.2% of tariffs of Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand (ASEAN 6) have been eliminated, under the ASEAN Trade in Goods Agreement (ATIGA).
• The Ministers adopted the ASEAN Seamless Trade Facilitation Indicators (ASTFI), which was designed to measure and monitor the extent to which trade facilitation measures are implemented in the region through various ASEAN agreements
• The endorsed “Terms of Reference (TOR) on the Engagement of Private Sector in ASEAN Customs Meetings,” which provides clear guidelines to the private sector and addresses the increasing number of requests for consultations, and the Strategic Action Plans for Customs Integration Key Performance Indicators to guide ASEAN Member States in the implementation of ASEAN Customs Broad Direction for 2016-2025 was welcomed by Ministers.
•  a Task Force for the development of the legal instrument for the implementation of the ASEAN Food Safety Regulatory Framework (TF AFSRF) to be established