Trade facilitation has improved significantly, and the elimination of tariffs contributes to lower product costs. Nevertheless, non-tariff barriers, including technical barriers to trade continue to hinder seamless trade in goods. Such technical barriers include different product specifications or standards, regulations on safety, quality and efficacy, and technical requirements including pre-market approval requirements. This underscores the imperative to advance the harmonisation of standards, technical regulations, and conformity assessment procedures as a core pillar of ASEAN’s economic integration efforts.

Specifically, the reduction, if not total elimination of technical barriers to trade (TBT) is mandated to the ASEAN Consultative Committee for Standards and Quality (ACCSQ). The ACCSQ was established in 1992 to support the realisation of the ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA) and subsequently in pursuit of greater economic integration. In line with the ASEAN priority integration initiative and ASEAN connectivity master plan, priority sectors have been identified as the focus of TBT elimination, namely: automotive, electrical and electronics, prepared foodstuff, rubber-based, building and construction, digital trade, and healthcare sectors such as medical devices, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, traditional medicines and health supplements. The ACCSQ has established product working groups for each of the priority sector to discuss and address trade impediments. Working groups on standards, conformity assessment, and legal metrology are also in place to develop policies that cuts across product sectors for elimination of TBT.

The elimination of TBTs consistent with international principles such as: (i) transparency/exchange of information, (ii) harmonisation of standards, (iii) mutual recognition arrangements (MRA) of conformity assessment results, (iv) harmonisation of regulatory regimes, and (v) technical cooperation and capacity building. Reduction of technical barriers has also been extended to the free trade area agreement (FTA) partners through the TBT or Standards, Technical Regulations and Conformity Assessment (STRACAP) chapter of the ASEAN plus 1 FTAs, while capacity building programs have been established with ASEAN Dialogue Partners on Standards and Conformance.

The initiatives and measures on reducing TBT constituted the realisation of AFTA in 2010, as well as aligns with the realisation of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) in December 2015, AEC Blueprint 2025, and the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) Strategic Plan 2026-2030. The AEC Strategic Plan 2026-2030 forms as foundational basis of the ASEAN Consultative Committee for Standards and Quality (ACCSQ) Sectoral Plan 2026-2030.