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From the IP-PTA to a CEPA
The two governments have set a target of a comprehensive economic partnership, a CEPA, by 2027. Until one is signed and in force, every shipment still moves under the 2013 preferential trade agreement, and nothing about your duty has changed.
Where it stands
- On 9 December 2025, during President Prabowo's state visit to Pakistan, the two leaders agreed to hold an early meeting of a joint negotiating committee and to upgrade the IP-PTA to a CEPA by 2027, with deeper tariff concessions and the removal of non-tariff barriers.
- On 9 January 2026, Indonesia's Deputy Minister of Trade proposed to Pakistan's Minister of Commerce that negotiations resume early in 2026.
- Since then we have found no published record of a negotiating round, agreed terms of reference or a draft text on either government's site. When one appears, it goes on this page.
What you trade under today
The Indonesia–Pakistan Preferential Trade Agreement, in force since 1 September 2013 and amended with effect from 1 March 2019. It covers goods only, and only listed tariff lines: 279 on Indonesia's side and 320 on Pakistan's since the amendment.
A preference needs three things: your 8-digit line on the importing country's list, goods that meet the origin rules (wholly obtained, or no more than 60% non-originating content by FOB value), and a certificate of origin from the authorised government body. How to check your line.
The agreement stays in force until a bilateral free trade agreement replaces it. A target date for a CEPA does not change the rate on a shipment that sails today.
How it got here
| Date | What happened |
|---|---|
| 24 Nov 2005 | The trade ministers sign a Framework Agreement on Comprehensive Economic Partnership. A full partnership was the stated aim from the start. |
| 3 Feb 2012 | The IP-PTA is signed in Jakarta. |
| 1 Sep 2013 | The IP-PTA enters into force. |
| 27 Jan 2018 | A protocol amending the IP-PTA is signed in Islamabad. The leaders agree to widen it into a trade in goods agreement covering all products, known as IP-TIGA. |
| 1 Mar 2019 | The amended IP-PTA enters into force. |
| 8–9 Aug 2019 | First IP-TIGA negotiating round, in Islamabad. Terms of reference agreed. |
| 28–29 Apr 2021 | Second IP-TIGA round, held online. No third round has been published. |
| 9 Dec 2025 | The leaders agree to upgrade the IP-PTA to a CEPA by 2027. |
| 9–10 Jan 2026 | Indonesia proposes resuming negotiations in early 2026. A memorandum on a Joint Trade Committee is signed. |
| 20 Jan 2026 | Pakistan's Minister of Commerce raises the late kinnow import quota and the expired rice memorandum with Indonesia's ambassador. |
What a CEPA is meant to add
Only what the two governments have said so far:
- Goods. Deeper tariff concessions and the removal of non-tariff barriers.
- Services. Information technology, cybersecurity and fintech, to be explored. Indonesia has also proposed health services, including doctors and nurses.
- Halal. BPJPH and the Pakistan Halal Authority signed a memorandum on halal trade and certification on 9 December 2025.
No draft text, chapter list or tariff offer has been published. Until one is, any rate quoted "under the CEPA" is a guess.
Where the limits are today
For some goods the tariff is not what holds trade back, and a CEPA would have to deal with that too:
- Kinnow into Indonesia. Pakistan's Ministry of Commerce points to the import quota, which has arrived late, and to testing that rose from 8 tests to 24.
- Rice into Indonesia. The 2015 government-to-government rice memorandum expired in 2019; Pakistan has sent a revised draft. What is closed this year.
What we watch
- Indonesia's negotiation record with Pakistan, Ministry of Trade. A negotiating round would be listed here first.
- Indonesian Ministry of Trade press releases.
- Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Pakistan press releases, for joint statements and visits.
- The WTO's record of the agreement. A CEPA would appear as a new notification.
We re-check this page with the other corridor notes every month.