Da Nang, 5 April 2018: ‘While tariff rates have declined significantly, the number of NTMs has risen,’ noted Dr Doan Thi Thanh Ha, an economist with the Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA), who delivered a presentation on the ASEAN-CER Integration Partnership Forum 2018 in Da Nang, Viet Nam on 5 April 2018.

Dr Ha laid the foundation for the day’s discussion with her presentation Good Regulatory Practice for NTMs Monitoring. She started off by making sure that everyone was on the same page by clarifying the definition and objectives of NTMs. She followed it up by elaborating the development and current situation regarding NTMs especially on how it has shown a tendency to rise. She pointed out the challenges in managing NTMs along with how Good Regulatory Practice (GRP) helps.

Dr Ha provided a brief explanation on the review of ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand Free Trade Agreement (AANZFTA) currently being undertaken by ERIA as well as the ASEAN NTM Database created by ERIA and UNCTAD, in order to discuss the impact of NTMs on trade. She discussed the main findings, which she divided into two key categories, namely areas of good practices and areas that can be obstacles for trade.

Her presentation was praised by the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade as a ‘thought-provoking and expert perspective on these issues.’

The ASEAN-CER Integration Partnership Forum is a collaboration between ASEAN member states, New Zealand, and Australia as a platform to share experiences and expertise around regional economics. The forum this year is the sixth one and it focused on the theme ‘Good Regulatory Practice and Non-Tariff Measures’.

The event was attended by various high ranking members of academia and governmental bodies such as Peter Keogh the Director of Economics and Trade, Australian Food & Grocery Council, Peter Ladegaard the Global Lead of Regulatory Policy and Management World Bank, and Mark Steel the Director of Regulatory Systems, Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment, New Zealand.