ASEAN STRUCTURE

In December 2008, the ASEAN Charter came into force. The Charter codifies existing ASEAN principles such as
non-interference, but also recognizes the importance of states adherence to democracy, the rule of law, the respect for
and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms.
ASEAN Charter-Based Bodies

The Chairmanship of ASEAN rotates on a yearly basis between the different Member States. The Chairmanship of most ASEAN
bodies, including the ASEAN Inter-governmental Commission on Human Rights, also follow this pattern. For a list of ASEAN
Chairmanships per year click here.
The ASEAN and National Secretariats
The ASEAN Secretariat is located in Jakarta and supports the day-to-day workings of ASEAN. Headed by the ASEAN SecretaryGeneral, the Secretariat plays an important role in drawing up plans of action in collaboration with ASEAN Senior Officials to
implement decisions made at ASEAN's high level meetings.

The Charter sets out the mandate and function of the different ASEAN bodies.
The ASEAN Summit is the supreme policy-making body of ASEAN. It meets twice a year and is comprised of the
ASEAN Heads of State or Government.
The ASEAN Coordinating Council is the second highest body within ASEAN and is comprised of the ASEAN
Foreign Ministers. Like the Summit, the Coordinating Council meets twice yearly. The Coordinating Council decides
the criteria and rules for ASEAN engagement with external entities, including civil society organizations.
The ASEAN Community Councils include the:

The Secretary General is appointed by the ASEAN Summit for a non-renewable term of five years. He or she is supported by
fourDeputy Secretary Generals (DSGs) from four different Member States. Two DSGs are nominated by Member States on a
rotational basis for a three year non-renewable term. The other two DSGs are openly recruited based on merit for a renewable term of
three years and are appointed by the ASEAN Coordinating Council. There is a DSG responsible for implementing each of the ASEAN
Communities. The fourth DSG is responsible for Community and Corporate Affairs; providing guidance on research, public affairs
and outreach programmes for the ASEAN Community.
One important role of the Secretariat is to facilitate ASEAN cooperation with external partners. The relevant Directorate for this is
theCommunity Affairs Development Directorate. Find more information on how non-government organizations can engage with
ASEANhere.
See an organogram of ASEAN Secretariat here.

1.

ASEAN Political-Security Community Council

2.

ASEAN Economic Community Council

Each ASEAN Member State also has an ASEAN National Secretariat whose role is to coordinate the implementation of ASEAN
decisions at the national level. They also support any ASEAN meetings or activities that are held in-country.

3.

ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community Council

ASEAN Diplomatic Representation

These councils comprise of one Ministerial representative per ASEAN Member State. Each Councils role is to
coordinate the work of the different sectoral bodies within their respective community in order to achieve the
objectives of the ASEAN pillars. Each Community Council meets twice annually. The Councils must implement
ASEAN Summit decisions but can also submit reports and recommendations to the Summit for consideration.
The ASEAN Sectoral Ministerial Bodies bring together the ministers of specific sectors (for example, all of the
labour ministers of all the member countries will make up one sectoral ministerial body). They report to the
Community Councils and are tasked with strengthening cooperation within their sector and implementing decisions
from the ASEAN Summit.
Each ASEAN Sectoral Ministerial Body has relevant senior officials committees (known as Senior Officials Meetings
or SOM) and technical bodies to assist it in its work. A list of these subsidiary bodies can be found here.
The ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR) and the ASEAN Foundation are also
ASEAN Charter-based bodies. The Foundation was established in 1997 to support social development programs
aimed at reducing poverty and economic disparities within ASEAN, and to facilitate greater interaction among the
people of ASEAN.

The ASEAN Charter requires that each Member State will have a Permanent Representative to ASEAN with the rank of Ambassador
based in Jakarta. The Committee of Permanent Representatives (CPR) is tasked with supporting the work of the ASEAN
Community Councils and ASEAN Sectoral Ministerial Bodies, and coordinating with the ASEAN National Secretariats and the
ASEAN Secretariat. The Permanent Representatives must also facilitate cooperation with external partners.
ASEAN External Relations
Dialogue
Partners
ASEAN Dialogue Partners are States or inter-governmental organizations with which ASEAN interacts on a formal basis. There are
currently 10 dialogue partners: Australia, Canada, China, the European Union, India, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea, Russia and
the United States of America. The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) also has dialogue status and Pakistan is a sectoral
dialogue partner. ASEAN has concluded free trade agreements with the majority of its dialogue partners, and holds regular meetings
with groupings within these 10 partners such as the ASEAN +3 annual meeting that involves ASEAN plus Japan, South Korea and
China.
ASEAN
Regional
Forum
The ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) is a forum through which ASEAN engages with non-ASEAN states on political and security
matters. It was formed in 1992 by way of the Singapore Declaration at the ASEAN Summit. The ARF consists of the 10 ASEAN
Member States, the 12 ASEAN Dialogue Partners and one ASEAN Observer Country.
The ARF countries interact on a formal basis (Track I) through annual meetings and on an informal basis (Track II) through nonofficial seminars and workshops.

Asean: Indonesian haze not a sovereignty issue

But, at the same time, the controversy demonstrates the obstacles in Aseans path towards environmental
regulatory effectiveness.

June 21, 2013 11:07 pm

by Amado S. Tolentino Jr.

Illustrative of Asean cooperation on the principle of sovereignty over natural resources is the Asean
response to the recurring Indonesian haze, which has been affecting the neighboring countries
specifically Singapore, Malaysia and southern Thailand since 1982.
It is the result of land-clearing fires for palm plantations and the practice of swidden (kaingin)
agriculture particularly on peat lands in Indonesia.
Only in 2002 did Asean formulate a hard law instrument on the issue: the ASEAN Agreement on
Transboundary Haze Pollution (ATHP). Although generally applicable to all Asean states, it was
formulated in response to the Indonesian haze. It took effect in November 2003 with the ratification by
nine member states. Indonesia has yet to ratify, which rendered the Agreement essentially ineffective.
In October 2006, Singapore decided to raise the issue at the UN General Assembly, a permissible move
under Article 2 of ATHP, which specifically states that the Agreements objective is to prevent and
monitor transboundary haze pollution through concerted national efforts and intensified regional and
international cooperation. Indonesia, however, invoked the principle of sovereignty and non-interference
in domestic affairs. (A word must be said about the Asean way of doing things. Cooperation is done
through consensus. There is no Asean Parliament to issue laws, regulations and directives to its members
and no enforcement agencies. Non-interference in the domestic affairs of a member State is the rule of
conduct.)
This controversy illustrates the complex political and economic dimensions of the haze problem as well
as the conflict between national and regional interests confronting the Asean. The successful adoption
and ratification of ATHP attests to Aseans growing stature as a transnational environmental lawmaker.

Perhaps it is time for Asean to take a strong stand, that the principle of sovereignty be modified in the
context of environmental law. Far from undermining state sovereignty, enhanced cooperation in the area
of environment will strengthen states sustainable development. By adopting a flexible engagement
approach to transboundary environmental issues, Asean member states could discuss complex problems
such as the Indonesian Haze without being accused of interfering with the internal affairs of the country.
Flexible engagement is not yet an accepted principle in the Asean, but its application to transboundary
environmental issues is relevant. Flexible engagement is an attempt to delimit the range of situations in
which individual member states would be justified in appealing to non-interference to ward off outside
involvement in their internal affairs. As serious threats to sustainable development and human security
more broadly, transboundary environmental issues would be classified as beyond the scope of internal
affairs and would be subject to regional governance despite sovereignty.
It is interesting to compare Aseans response to the Haze issue with the threat posed by zoonotic
diseases, e.g. SARS, avian flu, swine flu (H1N1) during the last 7 years which raised not only issues of
human security but also challenged animal protection, the protection of biodiversity and ecosystems and
the pursuit of sustainable development, i.e. sustainability of the chain of animal food production.
The threat of a pandemic drove Asean to act with prompt response with no less than 25 Asean soft law
instruments. Possibly, Aseans response to zoonotic diseases was more successful as a result of the threat
of pandemic not only in the region but also in many parts of the world. In the words of eminent Asean
law expert, Koh Kheng Lian, Asean should use its rich history of cooperation among States to build
environmental cooperation . . . This would enhance respect for sovereignty, not undermine it; it can be
argued that the inability to avert an environmental disaster is a greater loss of sovereign authority than
cooperation in agreed programs to control the harm. Aseans deferential approach to others domestic
affairs can inadvertently lead to violations of Principle 21 of the UN Declaration on the Human
Environment in which all States acknowledge that each must act so as not to harm the environment of
each other.