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In accordance with the ASEAN Trade in Goods Agreement (ATIGA) and the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1994 (GATT 1994) including its Notes and Supplementary Provisions contained in Annex 1A to the Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organization (WTO Agreement), the Guidelines for the Implementation of ASEAN Commitments on Non-Tariff Measures (NTMs) on Goods(hereinafter referred to as the Guidelines) are hereby adopted. The Guidelines shall not add to, alter, or constitute any reinterpretation of the rights and obligations of ASEAN Member States as stipulated in the ATIGA and in the WTO/GATT 1994.
Non-tariff measures are generally defined as policy measures other than ordinary customs tariffs that can potentially have an economic effect on international trade in goods, changing quantities traded, or prices, or both (UNCTAD/DITC/TAB/2009/3). Since this definition is broad, a detailed classification is of critical importance so as to better identify and distinguish among the various forms of non-tariff measures.
The classification of non-tariff measures presented here is a taxonomy of all those measures considered relevant in today’s situation in international trade. It is based on the UNCTAD Coding System and was developed by several international organizations forming what was called the MAST group (Multi-Agency Support Team) to support the Group of Eminent Persons on Non-tariff Barriers established by the Secretary-General of UNCTAD in 2006. The final proposal by the MAST group was revised by UNCTAD and all relevant Divisions of the WTO Secretariat. The classification was tested in the field by UNCTAD and ITC for data collection. The work ranged from 2007 to2012. This version is presented as the 2012 version, the outcome of that discussion and testing. The classification is seen as evolving and should adapt to the reality of international trade and data collection needs.
In collaboration with the Department of Economic Integration and ASEAN of the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF), the ARISE+ Cambodia project and Cambodia National Trade Repository (NTR) and Non-Tariff Measures (NTM) secretariats have co-organized the NTM identification and classification training which was held from 26-28 January 2021 at the MEF main building. Foreseeing the necessity of the guideline to the secretariats as well as the focal points at all line ministries, the project decided to support the translation and the publication of the guidelines to distribute to all relevant stakeholders for further absorbent of the knowledge.
