Improving Customs Transit Systems
In the Islamic Countries
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Singapore, the Kingdom of Thailand and the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam, Member States of
the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) agreed, under Protocol 7, to establish the
ACTS and to apply the provisions of this Protocol to the transit of goods in their territories51.
All AFAFGIT protocols52 have been signed and ratified, except for Protocol 253, which has been
signed in January 2019 and was already ratified by four AMS out of the required six. It is
expected that Protocol 2 will be ratified by all six AMS by the end of July 2019, which will
establish the legal framework for operations of ACTS in the ASEAN region. Participating AMS
have either already prepared and adopted or are currently finalizing national guidelines,
implementing regulations decrees and/or SOPs to operationalize ACTS nationally.
The following list is presenting the Status of Protocols of the ASEAN Framework Agreement on
the Facilitation of Goods in Transit54:
 Protocol 1: Designation of Transit Transport Routes and Facilities – signed in 2007;
 Protocol 2: Designation of Frontier Posts –ratified by 4 ASEAN MS in January 2019;
 Protocol 3: Types and Quantity of Road Vehicles – signed in 1999;
 Protocol 4: Technical Requirements of Vehicle – signed in 1999;
 Protocol 5: ASEAN Scheme of Compulsory Motor Vehicle Insurance – signed in 2001;
 Protocol 6: Railway Border and Interchange Stations – signed in 2011;
 Protocol 7: Customs Transit System – signed in February 2015;
 Protocol 8: Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures – signed in 2000;
 Protocol 9: Dangerous Goods – signed in 2002.
Protocol 7 to AFAFGIT and its Technical Appendix establishes the legal and technical provisions
for ACTS to operate as an effective and efficient Customs transit system within ASEAN MS. The
Protocol has been signed by all AMS and is awaiting national ratification by all the AMS. Protocol
7 and its technical appendix cover pertinent areas for the operationalization of the ACTS,
including:
 Customs Transit Declaration Procedures and Processes;
 Use of Information Technology for Automation of Transit Declaration Processes;
 Duty Exemption for Goods in Transit;
 Guarantee for Potential Customs Debt;
 Managing Incidences en-route;
 Offenses;
 Simplified Procedures;
 Administrative Assistance and Recovery of Customs Debt;
 Institutional Arrangements.
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