Striking a balance between trade facilitation and preventing trade deflection is the single most difficult challenge with regard to the issue of rules of origin (ROO). ASEAN ROO is already considered as among the simplest in the world and still, in practice, results fall short of expectations....

With globalization and advances in information and communication technology (ICT) leading to growing international production sharing, amidst the increasing trend in preferential trading arrangements (PTAs), rules of origin (ROO) has been beset with difficult recurring issues. First and foremost...

This paper examines the economy-wide impacts of a Free Trade Area of the Asia Pacific (FTAAP) on the Philippine economy. In particular, it uses an applied general equilibrium model to determine the effects of alternative scenarios on aggregate and sectoral outputs, consumption, and international...

In moving toward the East Asian vision of a community, a rational, enabling regime of rules of origin (ROOs) that would encourage deeper economic integration and shared prosperity should be established. This means a set of ROOs that is trade facilitating even as it attempts to prevent trade...

This paper develops a modality of liberalization for APEC, based on a sectoral level, as an alternative to the politically sensitive Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific (FTAAP). This model, originally developed by Wonnacott (1994), argues for the liberalization of sectors on an MFN basis, where...

Rules of origin (ROO) set the criteria in determining the nationality of a product and where a product was made. The importance of ROO has increased in the past years as more countries engage in free trade agreements (FTAs) and begun treating goods differently according to where the product was...

The formation of free trade agreements (FTAs) has been set in motion worldwide and its conclusion does not appear imminent in the near future. In the face of such developments, the Philippines is hard pressed to formulate a more rational FTA policy framework to deal with not just external, but...

The Asia and Pacific region and Latin American and Caribbean region are two regions divided not only by vast geographic distance, but also by disparities in economics, politics, culture, and history. Most recently, a number of forums explored the possibility of closing such gaps and linking the...

The East Asian region is a major global economic player, given its economic size and potential. As such, Regional Economic Integration in East Asia could be considered as an important building bloc toward integration of the Asia-Pacific region. East Asia has made significant progress in creating...

The Common Effective Preferential Tariff (CEPT) scheme represents the main mechanism to remove barriers to intra-ASEAN trade. Its adoption will entail intraregional tariffs ranging from zero to five percent. AFTA and the increasing globalization (which occurs through trade and foreign direct...