Rules of Origin in ASEAN is the first in-depth exploration of the complex rules of origin in ASEAN’s trade agreements. Written by two leading practitioners, the book explains with clarity the existing ASEAN Rules of Origin (RoO) practices and their administration regimes in a comparative context and provide a recommendation for reform. The ASEAN RoOs can be simplified by imparting transparency and predictability to the legal drafting, focusing on a calculation method based on value of materials and lowering the regional value content required to qualify as ASEAN origin. The administration of ASEAN RoOs can be improved by expanding the use of self-certification, moving away from document-based verification to more modern post-entry audit and trade facilitation approaches. This is a timely and important topic which will be insightful to practitioners, policymakers and businesses in understanding how commerce and trade are conducted in Southeast Asia.

The book explains existing ASEAN practices for rules of origin and certification of origin and provides information on ASEAN trade practices, which have never before been documented, compares rules of origin for various ASEAN free trade agreements with trading partners, and proposes reforms to expand the usage of the ASEAN preferential trading agreements, with insights to how ASEAN can improve its trade policies

About the ASEAN Integration Through Law book series

Published by Cambridge University Press, this book series evaluates ASEAN’s community-building process and issues at the forefront of ASEAN law and policy. The series covers six themes: the general architecture and aspirations of ASEAN, the governance and management of ASEAN, the legal regimes in ASEAN, the ASEAN Economic Community, ASEAN and the world, and the substantive laws of ASEAN. Click here for the executive summaries of the books in this series.