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On September 10, according to the Viet News Agency:

At the 35th meeting of the ASEAN Free Trade Area Council (AFTA 35) held in the form of video on September 8, the ministers of the 11 ASEAN member states summarized the implementation of the ASEAN Commodity Trade Agreement (ATIGA). So far, in accordance with ATIGA's commitment, the ASEAN tariff cancellation rate in 2021 has reached 98.6%.

This is one of the activities within the framework of the 53rd ASEAN Economic Ministers Meeting held from September 8th to 15th. A Vietnamese delegation headed by Chen Guoqing, Vice Minister of Industry and Trade, attended the meeting.

The purpose of the 35th meeting of the ASEAN Free Trade Area Council is to examine the implementation of the ASEAN Commodity Trade Agreement and discuss future deployment issues.

So far, in accordance with ATIGA's commitment, the ASEAN tariff cancellation rate in 2021 has reached 98.6%.

Among them, Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand and other ASEAN countries have a tariff cancellation rate of 99.3%, while Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam have a tariff cancellation rate of 97.7%.

The ministers have approved the amendments to certain provisions of the "Operational Procedures for Certification of Rules of Origin" in the First Protocol of the ASEAN Commodity Trade Agreement.

Regarding the handling of non-tariff measures in ASEAN, the meeting believed that in the past year, as the chairman of the ASEAN Trade in Goods Coordination Committee, Vietnam has dealt with problems related to non-tariff measures and has made some progress.

In the context of ASEAN facing the challenges of the new crown epidemic, the ministers at the meeting believed that the upgrade of the ASEAN Commodity Trade Agreement will make a positive contribution to ASEAN’s integration into global integration, further promote the development of intraregional trade and the stable development of regional supply chains, and help post-epidemic Economic recovery.

In a speech at the meeting, the Vietnamese delegation welcomed the results achieved in the handling of non-tariff measures in ASEAN, and believed that with ASEAN’s internal tariff cancellation rate reaching a high level, the upgrade of the ASEAN Commodity Trade Agreement should support all companies to fully Use the benefits of the agreement.

At the meeting, the participating ministers included 107 types of agricultural foods in the list of essential commodities in accordance with the "Hanoi Action Plan on Strengthening ASEAN Economic Cooperation and Smooth Supply Chains—Memorandum of Understanding on the Implementation of Non-tariff Measures for Essential Commodities", so that the number of commodities on the list reached 257 categories.