Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia


The Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia is a peace treaty among Southeast Asian countries established by the founding members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, a geo-political and economic organisation of 10 countries located in Southeast Asia.

History

On 24 February 1976, the treaty was signed into force by the leaders of the original members of ASEAN, Lee Kuan Yew, Ferdinand Marcos, Datuk Hussein Onn, Kukrit Pramoj, and Suharto. Other members acceded to it upon or before joining the bloc. It was amended on 15 December 1987 by a protocol to open the document for accession by states outside Southeast Asia, and again on 25 July 1998, to condition such accession on the consent of all member states. On 23 July 2001, the parties established the rules of procedure of the treaty's High Council, which was stipulated in Article 14 of the document. On 7 October 2003, during the annual summit, a declaration was released that says:
India and China were the first countries outside ASEAN to sign the treaty in 2003 at Bali, Indonesia., sixteen countries outside the bloc have acceded to the treaty. On 22 July 2009, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton signed the TAC on behalf of the United States. The European Union announced in 2009 its intention to accede as soon as the treaty would be amended to allow for the accession of non-states and joined accordingly on 12 July 2012.
The treaty has been endorsed by the General Assembly stating that:

Principles

The purpose of the Treaty is to promote perpetual peace, everlasting amity and co-operation among the people of Southeast Asia which would contribute to their strength, solidarity, and closer relationship. In their relations with one another, the High Contracting Parties shall be guided by the following fundamental principles;

Parties

The following table lists the parties in the order of the dates on which they entered into the treaty:
CountryDate
Indonesia24 February 1976
Malaysia24 February 1976
Philippines24 February 1976
Singapore24 February 1976
Thailand24 February 1976
Brunei7 January 1984
Papua New Guinea5 July 1989
Laos29 June 1992
Vietnam22 July 1992
Cambodia23 January 1995
Burma 27 July 1995
People's Republic of China8 October 2003
India8 October 2003
Japan2 July 2004
Pakistan2 July 2004
South Korea27 November 2004
Russia29 November 2004
New Zealand25 July 2005
Mongolia28 July 2005
Australia10 December 2005
France20 July 2006
East Timor13 January 2007
Bangladesh1 August 2007
Sri Lanka1 August 2007
North Korea24 July 2008
United States23 July 2009
Canada23 July 2010
Turkey23 July 2010
European Union12 July 2012
United Kingdom12 July 2012
Brazil17 November 2012
Norway1 July 2013
Chile6 September 2016
Egypt6 September 2016
Morocco6 September 2016
Iran1 August 2018
Argentina1 August 2018
Republic of Peru31 July 2019