Within the context of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) Scorecard mechanism developed by the ASEAN Secretariat to monitor the implementation of the AEC Blueprint, the study focuses on the current state, performance and impact of investment liberalization and facilitation, trade facilitation,...

With rising globalization and advances in technology, the interrelationship between trade and the environment has increasingly become a pressing issue across the globe. This paper seeks to contribute to the discussion, mainly by looking at some theoretical underpinnings, learning from some...

The paper aims to add to the understanding of the issues and suggests a framework to move toward the use of best practice in ROOs. Rules of origin (ROO), originally designed as uncontroversial and neutral devise for authentication and statistical purposes, have evolved over time to accommodate...

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...

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...

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...

With less than two years after its ratification, many of the economic gains expected under JPEPA have yet to be realized. But while critics may be quick to judge its failure due to this seeming lack of progress, neither have there been costs and dislocations that should have been more...