ASEAN (r)

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ASEAN accelerates tariff reduction  
Updated 9:39 AM ET November 28, 1999 
ASEAN accelerates tariff reduction

MANILA, Philippines, Nov. 28 (UPI) Member countries of the 
Association of Southeast Asian Nations announced Sunday its six 
original members will eliminate import duties on most goods by 2010 
or five years ahead of schedule. 

Meanwhile, the four new ASEAN members will eliminate tariff on most 
goods by 2015, or three years earlier than planned, with some 
exceptions, an ASEAN statement issued after a summit meeting held in 
Manila Sunday said. 

Original members of the ASEAN are Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the 
Philippines, Singapore and Thailand. 

ASEAN's four new members are Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam. 

The program to eliminate tariff barriers is part of a plan to create 
a so-called ASEAN Free Trade Area, dubbed AFTA, in a region of more 
than 500 million people. 

The creation of AFTA will be a prelude to the establishment of a 
European-style common market with a single currency. 

As scheduled by Jan. 1, 2000, 90 percent of goods due for tariff 
reduction in ASEAN will have import duties of 5 percent or less. 

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