Policy Brief Paper on ASEAN - China Free Trade Area Essay

Policy Brief Paper on ASEAN - China Free Trade Area - Essay Example The policy belief will also explore the goals of the ASEA free trade and the rule of origin that applies to the goods. It will also explain how the trade is administered and how the countries solve the disputes that may come across on the way. The audience of the policy belief is a branch of international organization. Statement of the problem Should the ASEAN – China free trade area agreement benefit the people and the countries themselves? Background of the problem The ASEAN is a trade free trade which consists of eleven member states of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). The agreement was first signed on the 4th of November 2002 in Cambodia. The intention of the agreement was to start a free trade among the eleven countries by 2010. However, the agreement came in to effect on January 1st 2010. The trade area is the third largest in terms of GDP and the largest of all trade areas in terms of population. The trade area had a nominal GDP of 6 trillion US dollars a s at 2008. The combined population of the trade area is approximately 580 million. On the issue of tariffs, the agreement reduced the 90 % of the imported goods to zero. The importers did not have to pay anything for the importation of the goods. The amendment took effect immediately in China and other six countries in the agreement and the other four countries promised to effect the tariffs by 2015. The goals of the Association are to increase their competitive advantage through production of high quality goods and elimination of tariffs on all imported and exported goods. The other goal is the attraction of more foreign direct investment to the association. The administration of the association is handled by the trade authorities and also by the national customs within the association. The secretariat of the association has the responsibility of monitoring and ensuring that every member complies with the rules and the regulations of the association. The secretariat ensures that th ere is consistent in the application of the association measures to all the country members of the association. In the dispute resolution, the secretariat of the association is no allowed to resolve any dispute arising between any two member countries. The disputes arising between any two members of the organization are resolved through dispute resolution or through informal means bilaterally. If the two member countries cannot resolve the disputes, they can refer to Senior Economic Officials Meetings (SEOM). The SEOM establishes a panel of arbitrators who helps to resolve the disputes. The member countries can always appeal the decisions made by the panels if member countries feel dissatisfied by the decision. The member country can appeal to the ASEAN Economic Community Council. Statement of the Organization’s Interest in the Issue The issue at hand matters most because of the following factors. One reason why the free trade area matters the China Government is because it h as helped the Chinese Government in exportation and importation of its products. The Chinese Government has also benefited from the reduction of the tariffs for exportation and importation between the member countries. There has also been the exchange of technological knowledge between the member countries. The China Government has also benefited from the importation of goods from New Zealand. The elimination of ta