The first protocol to amend the ASEAN-Japan Agreement on Comprehensive Economic Partnership (AJCEP) officially took into effect in Japan and the five ASEAN member states of Laos, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam on August 1.
Tokyo (VNA) – The first protocol to amend the ASEAN-Japan Agreementon Comprehensive Economic Partnership (AJCEP) officially took into effect inJapan and the five ASEAN member states of Laos, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailandand Vietnam on August 1.
Those countries had completed all necessary legal proceduresfor the entry into force of the document.
Vietnam ratified the first protocol on June 26, while Japancompleted its legal procedures on June 16.
The protocol is expected to become effective in the fiveremaining ASEAN countries, namely Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia and thePhilippines, once they complete their legal procedures.
ASEAN members and Japan began talks on the AJCEP in 2005.The agreement took effect three years later, focusing on trade, while talksregarding investment and services were underway.
It was the first multilateral free trade agreement of Japan.
The First Protocol to Amend the Agreement on ComprehensiveEconomic Partnership was signed by Japan on February 27, 2019, and by ASEANmembers in March and April, 2019.
Article 8 of the Protocol stipulates that it shall enterinto force on the first day of the second month following the date by which thenotifications in writing that legal procedures necessary for entry into forceof the Protocol have been completed have been made by Japan and at least oneASEAN nation.
In relation to an ASEAN member who will make suchnotification in the coming time, including Vietnam, the Protocol shall enterinto force on the first day of the second month following the date on which thenotification is made.
According to Japan’s Ministry of Finance, ASEAN is currentlyJapan’s third largest trade partner, following China and the US. In 2019, thecountry earned 11.58 trillion JPY (110 billion USD) from exports to ASEAN,while purchased goods worth 11.76 trillion JPY./.
Japan has completed its legal procedures necessary for the entry into force of the First Protocol to amend the ASEAN-Japan Agreement on Comprehensive Economic Partnership (AJCEP), announced the country’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs on June 16.
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Illustrative image (Source: AFP/VNA) 
