I.          OBJECTIVES

The objectives of integrating the e-ASEAN sector are as follows:

-          Liberalisation of trade in ICT products, ICT services and investments;

-          Develop, strengthen and enhance the competitiveness of the ICT sector in ASEAN;

-          Reduce the digital divide within individual ASEAN Member States and amongst ASEAN Member States; and

-          Promote cooperation between the public and private sectors in realising e-ASEAN.

II.         MEASURES

The initiatives build on those already undertaken (such as the elimination of tariffs on ITA1 products for ASEAN-6 countries by 1 Jan 2005), and incorporate additional recommendations in the Bali Concord II, the e-ASEAN Roadmap for Integration of ASEAN (RIA) matrix, and The Singapore Declaration - An Action Agenda, issued at the 3^rd ASEAN TELMIN meeting, as well as those gathered from private and public sector representatives from all ASEAN countries.

Full implementation of these recommendations is key for ASEAN to achieve our goal of integrating the e-ASEAN sector by 2010.  However they are not meant to be exhaustive, and ASEAN should continue to incorporate other necessary measures as and when appropriate.  This roadmap includes issues specific to the e-ASEAN sector, as well as horizontal issues cutting across all sectors. 

III.        COVERAGE

This roadmap will cover products in both the e-ASEAN Framework Agreement (ITA1 + 34 items), as well as other ITA products as shown in Attachment 1.

COMMON ISSUES

I

Tariff Elimination

1

Eliminate CEPT-AFTA tariffs for other ITA products in accordance with the ICT product list as shown in Attachment 2. 

Coordinating Committee on the Implementation of the CEPT Scheme for AFTA (CCCA)

ASEAN 6:  2007

CLMV: 2012

II

Non-Tariff Measures (NTMs)

2

Establish the Database of ASEAN NTMs to ensure transparency[1]

CCCA

30 June 2004

3

Establish clear criteria to identify measures that are classified as barriers to trade

30 June 2005

4

Establish a clear and definitive work programme for the removal of the barriers.

31 December 2005

5

Adopt the WTO Agreement on Import Licensing Procedures and develop implementation guidelines appropriate for ASEAN.

31 December 2004

III

Rules of Origin

6

Improve the CEPT Rules of Origin by:

Task Force on CEPT Rules of Origin (ROO-TF)

31 December 2004

-          making it more transparent, predictable and standardised taking into account the best practices of other Regional Trade Agreements including the rules of origin of the WTO; and

-          adopting substantial transformation as alternative criteria for conferring origin status.

IV

Customs Procedures

7

Extend the application of the ASEAN Harmonised Tariff Nomenclature (AHTN) for extra-ASEAN trade.

Expert Committee on Customs Matters (ECCM)

on-going

8

Develop a simplified, improved and harmonised customs declaration form.

31 December 2005

9

Ensure full implementation of the Green Lane System for CEPT Products, or similar systems, at entry points of all Member States.

31 December 2004

10

Develop implementation guidelines, as appropriate, for Member States which are not members of the WTO to fulfill the obligations of the WTO Agreement on Customs Valuation

31 December 2004

11

Adopt service commitment (client charter) by ASEAN customs authorities.

31 December 2004

12

Develop the Single Window approach, including the electronic processing of trade documents at national and regional levels

Inter-Agency Task Force on Single Window

31 December 2005

V

Standards and Conformance

13

Accelerate the implementation/ development of sectoral Mutual Recognition Arrangements (MRAs), as appropriate

ASEAN Consultative Committee on Standards and Quality (ACCSQ)

beginning 1 January 2005

14

Encourage domestic regulators to recognise test reports issued by testing laboratories which are already accredited by National Accreditation Bodies in ASEAN that are signatories to ILAC and APLAC MRA

on-going

15

Set clear targets and schedules for harmonisation of standards, wherever required; where international standards are not available, and when requested by industry, align national standards among Member States.

31 December 2005

16

Harmonise and/or develop, wherever appropriate, technical regulations for national application.

31 December 2010

17

Ensure compliance with the requirements, rights and obligations of WTO Agreements on Technical Barriers to Trade

on-going

18

Explore development of ASEAN policy on standards and conformance to further facilitate the realisation of the ASEAN Economic Community.

beginning 2005

VI

Logistics Services

19

Expedite the development of integrated transport logistics services within ASEAN through:

Senior Transport Officials Meeting (STOM)

beginning 2005

-          Promotion of efficient door-to-door cargo transport and cross-border transport facilitation through the expeditious implementation of the ASEAN Framework Agreement on the Facilitation of Goods in Transit, and the ASEAN Framework Agreement on Multimodal Transport;

-          Improvement of land transport network infrastructures and services to achieve better inter-connectivity, inter-operability and inter-modality with the national, regional and international maritime and air transport gateways;

-          Strengthening intra-ASEAN maritime and shipping transport services; and

-          Establishment of enabling and conducive policy environment for increased private sector involvement and/or public-private partnerships in the development of transport infrastructure and the provision and operation of transport logistics facilities and services.

VII

Outsourcing and Industrial Complementation

20

Identify and develop specialisation of production processes, research and development (R&D), and testing facilities based on comparative advantages of individual Member States

Working Group on Industrial Cooperation (WGIC), with inputs from the private sector

on-going

21

Develop guidelines to promote outsourcing arrangements among Member States, as applicable.

VIII

ASEAN Integration System of Preferences

22

Endeavour to expand the coverage of the ASEAN Integration System of Preferences (AISP) Scheme by including products in the priority integration sectors

CCCA

on-going

IX

Investments

23

Accelerate the opening up of sectors currently in the Sensitive List (SL) by transferring these sectors into the Temporary Exclusion List (TEL) under the Framework Agreement on the ASEAN Investment Area, using the ASEAN-X formula.

Coordinating Committee on Investment (CCI)

beginning 2004

24

Reduce restrictive investment measures in the SL

beginning 2004

25

Complete the progressive elimination of restrictive investment measures in the TEL

on-going[2]

26

Identify programmes and activities to promote investments in ASEAN

31 December 2005

27

Promote manufacturing processes across different ASEAN countries to take advantage of their comparative strengths through:

-          the establishment of a network of ASEAN free trade zones to facilitate outsourcing activities

beginning 2005

-          undertaking more efficient joint ASEAN facilitation and promotion measures to promote FDI

on-going

28

Promote and facilitate joint/cross border investments in manufacturing activities through:

on-going

-          special incentives, where appropriate, to be given by CLMV for investments from ASEAN

-          special measures, where appropriate to be given by ASEAN 6 to promote and facilitate relocation of investment to CLMV countries especially for labour intensive manufacturing activities

X

Trade and Investment Promotion

29

Intensify intra- and extra ASEAN joint promotion efforts regularly

CCI; ASEAN Chambers of Commerce and Industry (ASEAN-CCI); and relevant Industry Clubs/ Associations

on-going

beginning 2005

30

Organise regular private sector initiatives to undertake:

CCI;

ASEAN Business Advisory Council (ASEAN-BAC);

and ASEAN-CCI

on-going

beginning 2005

-          more efficient joint ASEAN facilitation and promotion measures to promote FDI ASEAN selling-buying missions; and

-          promotional activities to assist CLMV countries

31

Undertake more effective joint ASEAN facilitation in promotion measures and develop new sources of inward foreign direct investments, particularly from potential countries such as the People’s Republic of China, India and the Republic of Korea

on-going

XI

Intra-ASEAN Trade and Investment Statistics

32

Establish an effective system to monitor intra-ASEAN trade and investment through:

Working Group on Statistics; Working Group on Foreign Direct Investment Statistics; and CCCA

on-going

-          provision of updates to the ASEAN Secretariat of the latest trade (goods and services) and investment statistics

-          preparation of consolidated industry profile, by the respective associations, which among other matters, cover information such as production capacity and product range

XII

Intellectual Property Rights

33

Expand the scope of ASEAN intellectual property rights cooperation beyond trademarks and patents by including cooperation in copyrights information exchange and enforcement

ASEAN Working Group on Intellectual Property Cooperation (AWGIPC)

31 December 2004

XIII

Trade in Services

34

Member States shall accelerate the liberalisation of trade in services earlier than 2020.  This could be achieved through:

-          Setting clear targets and schedules of services liberalisation for each priority sector and each round towards achieving freer flow of trade in services by 2010;

Coordinating Committee on Services (CCS) and CCI

on-going

-          Accelerating the development of Mutual Recognition Arrangements (MRAs);

before 2008

-          The application of the ASEAN-X formula; and

on-going

-          Promotion of joint ventures and cooperation, including in third country markets.

on-going

XIV

Movement of Business Persons, Skilled Labour, Talents and Professionals

35

Develop an ASEAN Agreement to facilitate the movement of business persons, including the adoption of an ASEAN Travel Card, taking into account Member States’ domestic laws and regulations.

Directors-General of Immigration Departments and Heads of Consular Affairs Division of the Ministries of Foreign Affairs (DGICM)

31 December 2005

36

Develop an ASEAN Agreement to facilitate the movement of experts, professionals, skilled labor and talents, taking into account Member States’ domestic laws and regulations

CCS

31 December 2005

37

Accelerate completion of MRAs to facilitate free movement of experts, professionals, skilled labor and talents in ASEAN, taking into account Member States’ domestic laws and regulations

31 December 2008

XV

Facilitation of Travel in ASEAN

38

Harmonise procedures for the issuance of visas to international travelers

DGICM

31 December 2004

39

Provide visa exemption for intra-ASEAN travel by ASEAN nationals

2005

XVI

Human Resource Development

40

Develop and upgrade skills and capacity building through joint trainings and workshops

Senior Labour Officials Meeting (SLOM)

on-going

SPECIFIC ISSUES

XVII

Trade in Services

41

Lay out specific timelines for the adoption and implementation of regulatory principles described in the WTO Basic Telecommunications Reference Paper, taking into account Member States' domestic laws and regulations. 

CCS

1 January 2006

42

Eliminate limitations in stages on market access and national treatment for modes 1 and 2 (cross-border supply and consumption abroad) for computer related and telecommunications services.

Stage 1:31 Dec 2006

Stage 2:31 Dec 2008

Stage 3:31 Dec 2010

XVIII

Movement of Business Persons, Skilled Labour, Experts, Talents and Professionals

43

Promote networking of ICT skills development entities to explore possible collaboration amongst these entities

Telecommunication Senior Officials Meeting (TELSOM) Working Groups on e-Society and ICT Capacity Building; and ASEAN CCI

on-going

44

Facilitate establishment of a regional mechanism for promoting ICT certification programmes and the cross-certification of these programmes by ICT skills competency centres/agencies

beginning 2005

45

Complete Mutual Recognition Arrangements (MRAs) for qualification in IT professional skills, e.g., project management and software designing

CCS

1 January 2008

46

Minimise immigration requirements for ICT professionals travelling within ASEAN for ICT work purposes

DGICM

on-going

XIX

Standards and Conformity

47

Align conformity assessment procedures for ICT products

ACCSQ Working Group on Accreditation and Conformity Assessment

31 December 2006

48

Establish MRAs for ICT products

ACCSQ Working Group on Standards and MRAs

31 December 2008

49

Accelerate implementation of Mutual Recognition Arrangement (MRA) for telecommunications equipment (Phase I: Procedures for Mutual Recognition of Testing Laboratories as Conformity Assessment Bodies and Mutual Acceptance of Test Reports)

ASEAN Telecommunication Regulators Council (ATRC)

 by 31 December 2005

50

Identify specific timelines for the adoption of suitable international standards (e.g., telecommunications and cyber-security standards) as being equivalent to existing domestic standards

TELSOM Working Group on ASEAN Information Infrastructure (AII); and ASEAN Telecommunication Regulators Council (ATRC)

on-going

XX

ASEAN Information Infrastructure (AII)

51

Develop convergence guidelines and best practices

TELSOM Working Group on ASEAN Information Infrastructure (AII) and e-ASEAN Working Group (EAWG)

31 December 2005

52

Develop common reference framework for e-Commerce and e-Government technical architectures, so as to ensure interoperability of information systems and networks

31 December 2007

53

Expand the coverage of the NII database, to include bandwidth capacity of each Member State.

30 June 2005

54

Develop infrastructure recommendations for CLMV based on the e-Readiness Study and global best practices

on-going

55

Develop region-wide web applications including Digital Libraries and Tourism Portals 

TELSOM Working Group on Universal Access Digital Divide (UADD) and e-government

on-going

56

Develop region-wide web services including Distance Education & Learning, Healthcare, Environmental Monitoring, Collaboration in Basic R&D Investment

on-going

XXI

Capacity Building

57

Promote an ‘e-Society’ to assist in bridging the digital divide for all parts of society

TELSOM Working Groups on e-Society and ICT Capacity Building

on-going

58

Member states to increase the quality and quantity of ICT human resources

59

To assist in bridging the digital divide for all parts of society

TELSOM Working Group on Digital Divide

on-going

XXII

e-Government

60

Encourage development of a system for online application of (i) birth, death, marriage certificate, (ii) driver’s and business licenses, and (iii) car and land registration

TELSOM Working Group on Universal Access Digital Divide (UADD) and e-government

on-going

61

Encourage development of projects on  ASEAN  e-Visa and e-Passport

62

Encourage development of  Smart Card Projects

XXIII

e-Commerce

63

Enact domestic legislation to provide legal recognition of electronic transactions (i.e., cyber-laws) based on common reference frameworks

TELSOM and EAWG

31 December 2008

64

Facilitate cross-border electronic transactions and the use of electronic signatures

31 December 2009

65

Encourage enterprises to adopt e-commerce by setting up common portals

EAWG

beginning 1 January 2005

66

Identify suitable international common protocols in the area of trade facilitation for possible adoption

EAWG

beginning 1 January 2005