Factsheet of the Asia-Pacific Trade Agreement, Oct 2007 - Escap

Concession Before Third Round
After Third Round
Offering Country No. of MOP (%) No. of MOP (%)
Products
Products
Bangladesh 129 14.0 209 14.1
China b 902 (18) 15.4 (55.1) 1,697 (161) 26.7 (77.9)
India 188 (33) 52.6 (32.2) 570 (48) 23.9 (39.7)
Rep of Korea 214 (29) 30.3 (38.2) 1,367 (306) 35.4 (64.6)
Sri Lanka 288 (32) 17.8 (14.0) 427 (72) 14.0 (12.0)
Total 1,721 (112) 21.6 (32.2) 4,270 (587) 26.8 (58.8)
Note: numbers in brackets indicate special concessions for LDC members only
Rules of origin: 45 per cent local value addition, 35 per cent for LDC members. Cumulation: the
aggregate content originating in the territory of the Participating States is not less than 60 per cent of
its f.o.b. value (50 per cent for LDC members). The Second Session of the Ministerial Council adopted
a set of Operational Procedures for the Certification and Verification of the Origin of Goods under
APTA, which is a first among regional trade agreements in the Asia-Pacific region.
Implementation results: The utility and coverage ratios as well as the utilization rates are only
available for China and the Republic of Korea for the ten month period following the implementation
date of the Third Round (1 September 2006) in the table below.
Imports from all Coverage Ratio Utilization Rate Utility Ratio
APTA members by:
China 13.5 24.8 3.3
Rep. of Korea 27.8 13.4 3.7
ACCESSION PROCESS
1. Notification to UNESCAP secretariat
2. Agreement of existing members to start accession negotiations
3. Bilateral negotiations
4. Multilateralization of negotiation results
5. Deposit of instrument of accession
THE WAY FORWARD
Fourth Round of negotiations: At the Second Session of the Ministerial Council, APTA members
launched the fourth round of negotiations which covers deepening and widening tariff concessions and
include other areas such as non-tariff barriers, trade facilitation, services and investment among others.
The Fourth Round is scheduled for completion by October 2009.
Expansion of membership: APTA members have committed to take on direct responsibilities for the
expansion of membership to make APTA a truly Asian and Pacific trade agreement based on a list of
priority countries.