2016-2017 ASEAN-U.S. TRADE AND INVESTMENT FRAMEWORK ARRANGEMENT (TIFA)
AND EXPANDED ECONOMIC ENGAGEMENT (E3) WORKPLAN
(The status below is based the on-going cooperation activities under ASEAN-U.S. TIFA -- which helps support the U.S.-ASEAN Connect initiative -as well as the comments and inputs received from ASEAN Member States and the United States. It is proposed that the Work Programme will be
ongoing for 2016-2017 unless mentioned otherwise)
No.
1.
Status
Areas of Cooperation
Investment
The AEM-USTR Consultations meeting in 24 August 2015 noted the difficulty for both sides to conclude
the negotiations for the Shared Principles on International Investment, which was proposed by the US in
April 2013and agreed for both sides to continue to explore acceptable “non-binding” language for these
initiatives, including the possibility to replace “shared principle” with the Malaysian proposal of
“strategic partnership/ international cooperation”.
The 24th SEOM AUSTR Consultations (7 April 2016, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia) agreed on the title of the
document as: “ASEAN-US Cooperation in Fostering International Investment. US reverted with its
counter proposal on 20 June 2016. ASEAN sent a revised proposal to the United States on 1 August
2016.
2.
Telecommunications
and Information
Technology Services
The 24th SEOM AUSTR Consultations agreed to change the title of the document to “ASEAN-US
Cooperation in Fostering Trade in ICT Services”.
A videoconference to discuss the ICT text between TISSWG and USTR was held on 20 May 2016. Good
progress was made. Both sides agreed to the name “ASEAN-United States Cooperation in Fostering
Trade in Telecommunications and Information Technology Services”. Both sides have been discussing
the text intersessionally. In the latest development, the US sent its proposal to ASEAN on 27 July 2016
and it is now under the TISSWG’s consideration.
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3.
4.
Transparency and
Good Regulatory
Practices
Trade and
Environment Dialogue
The 24th SEOM AUSTR Consultations agreed to the text and to change the title to “ASEAN-US
Cooperation in Fostering Transparency and Good Regulatory Practices
The 1st ASEAN- US Trade and Environment Dialogue: Workshop on Combating Illegal, Unreported and
Unregulated Fishing was held on 5-6 November 2015 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
At the 24th SEOM AUSTR, the US requested ASEAN to identify an AMS that could champion the next
workshop. Both sides are now working on the venue and date for the workshop.
5.
US-ASEAN Trade
Workshops
At the TIFA meeting on February 17, 2016, Ambassador Froman and the ASEAN Ministers agreed to
launch a new series of U.S.-ASEAN trade workshops helping ASEAN countries better understand the
commitments of high standard trade agreements such as in the TPP.
Both sides will continue to discuss intersessionally on the dates for the first workshop. The United
States is working to identify dates for workshops on e-commerce in late summer/early fall 2016, on
customs in fall 2016, intellectual property rights in early 2017, and SPS/food safety in spring 2017.
6.
AEM Roadshow to the
US
AEM Road show to the US was held on 17-18 February 2016 in San Francisco, back to back with a
Special ASEAN-US Summit in Palm Spring, California
Both side will continue to work on the follow-ups from the AEM Roadshow.
7.
ASEAN Single Window
The US supports this activity through ACTI program (The ASEAN Connectivity through Trade and
Investment is a joint program of USAID, the U.S. State Department and ASEAN). Over the life of the
project US-ACTI is assisting ASEAN to:
• Complete the basic ASW architecture and begin live operation;
• Provide assistance to expand the scope of the ASW over time;
• Finalize and adopt the necessary regional legal reforms to operate the ASW;
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• Incorporate ASW-transferred information into risk management systems; and
• Expand the public-private dialogue on the ASW and trade facilitation.
Ongoing in 2016:
 Live operation commenced February 2016, ASW Gateway training provided March 2016
 Support the establishment of the Regional Operations Team to operate the ASW
 Complete the data harmonization and business process review for the XML schema for the
ASEAN Common Customs Document relating to export information exchange
 Begin development of the necessary ASEAN agreements to support the exchange of additional
types of documents while preparing the message guides and specifications for those documents.
 Conduct a national level capacity building workshop for CLMV countries to support their NSW
implementation and interface with ASW enabling infrastructure
 Conduct a national level workshop on understanding the Protocol for the Legal Framework to
implement the ASW (PLF) for Laos PDR
 Support ASEAN in establishing needed agreements for the authentication of cross-border
electronic documents and messages
 Work with ASEAN Member States to provide easier access to National Single Windows for SMEs.
This may be through the promotion of value added services for SME access.
 Support ASEAN in establishing needed agreements for the authentication of cross-border
electronic documents and messages to ensure technical interoperability of authentication
schemes. Conduct a Risk Management workshop for AMS on how the ASW stakeholders, such as
Customs, Participating Government Agencies (PGA), Port Authorities, and Private Sector, can
work together to support an institutionalized risk targeting and profiling using NSW data
 Procure and implement the full-pledged ASW Pilot (2014) [November 2014 - December 2016
(Live operation commenced February 2016)]
8.
Trade Facilitation
The US supports this activity through the ACTI program (The ASEAN Connectivity through Trade and
Investment, a joint program of USAID, the U.S. State Department and ASEAN). US-ACTI focuses its
interventions in three areas: Trade in Goods, Trade in Services, and Investment.
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Ongoing in 2016:
 Support a workshop to evaluate and review ASEAN’s self-certification pilot programs.
(Completed January 2016)
 Support Cambodia, Myanmar, and Laos in developing separate Roadmaps so that each AMS can
implement the AMDD
 Organize an introductory briefing on green chemistry for the ACCSQ Automotive Product
Working Group (completed May 2016), and one other PWG
 Organize outreach to SMEs to Increase Awareness of ASEAN TMHS rules and to ensure that
existing programs support SME development
 Sponsor an Electrical and Electronic Equipment Workshop on Safety Requirements for New or
Innovative Consumer Electrical and Electronic Products
 Organize a regional workshop, in collaboration with the OECD, to promote the adoption of the
OECD TFI by ASEAN as its trade facilitation measure and to learn the new features of the TFI
 Provide in country capacity building on self-certification including the aspect of risk management
for CLMV
 Support for the Second ASEAN-US Trade and Environment Dialogue
 Provide technical inputs/speakers for a seminar on the ASEAN Economic Community for
Supreme Court Justices to be organized by the PROGRESS project (Technical Workshop
completed February)
 Organize a regional workshop on alternatives to arbitration and dispute prevention for
investment
9.
SME Development
The US supports this activity through the ACTI program (The ASEAN Connectivity through Trade and
Investment is a joint program of USAID, the U.S. State Department and ASEAN). SME Activities are
largely implemented through the U.S.-ASEAN Business Alliance for Competitive SMEs, a joint program of
the US-ASEAN Business council and the U.S. Government. Activities:
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Ongoing in 2016:
 Advanced Training on Supply Chain Integration, including Sector-focused Training on Market
Access and Supply-Chain Readiness and identifying (Completed automotive parts training in
Philippines, January; cosmetics and healthcare in Thailand, February)
 Study on Sector-specific Barriers and Proposed Actions to Facilitate Market Access and Supplychain integration
 Formally launch and promote the ASEAN SME Academy and then work on upgrading and
maintaining the Academy (Launched in May)
 Grant Program on SME Access to Finance and explore follow-on regional activities based on the
results of the research grant program (Four grants issued as of June)
 Complete a study on Policy Options and Good Practices for Equity Finance and Alternative
Financing for SME and Start-ups
 Support for the GREAT Women in ASEAN Initiative (Conducted coffee training in Philippines,
February)
 Promote and facilitate women’s entrepreneurial development (Supported AWEN Forum, March)
10.
Energy
Note: These activities have been approved by and are being conducted under the auspices of the SOMEnergy sectoral body as part of the U.S.-ASEAN Energy Cooperation Work Pllan 2016-2020.
The US supported this activity through the ACTI program (2015-2015). Future support will be provided
by the Department of Energy and the USAID Clean Energy Asia program.
11. Information and
Technology for
Development
Ongoing in 2016:
 Report out to the RE-SSN on the final two case studies on the impact of climate change on
hydropower facilities. (Completed April 2016) (The ASEAN Connectivity through Trade and
Investment is a joint program of USAID, the U.S. State Department and ASEAN).
Note: These activities have been approved by and are being conducted under the auspices the TELSOM
sectoral body as part of the U.S.-ASEAN ICT Workplan 2016.
The US supports this activity through the ACTI program (The ASEAN Connectivity through Trade and
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Investment is a joint program of USAID, the U.S. State Department and ASEAN). Activities:
Ongoing in 2016:
 Support for Universal Services Obligation Fund Modernization.
 Prepare a study of options for sharing data on frequency utilization to promote dynamic
frequency allocation
 Organize two workshops to develop a common regional approach to sharing data and
developing, if necessary, a draft agreement on data sharing
 Prepare a study on currently available technologies for broadband exchange of data for disaster
management
 Organize a workshop jointly with the ASEAN Committee on Disaster Management to identify
needs in this area available technologies for broadband exchange of data for disaster
management and to define a multiyear work program
 Organize a workshop on sharing of Experiences in Cybers Information Security and Incident
Response
 Organize a series of activities to promote the development of e-Commerce in ASEAN through
Private Sector Engagement
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