Chairman: Nguyen Anh Tuan – Insurance Association of Vietnam (IAV) 

Vice – Chairman: Vasit Lamsam – Road Accident Victims Protection Co., Ltd. – Thailand

COB has continued to work on implementing Protocol 5 on the ASEAN scheme of compulsory motor vehicle insurance of the ASEAN Framework Agreement on the Facilitation of Goods in Transit (AFAFGIT). The COB has improved the coverage of compulsory cross-border motor insurance by enhancing the Compulsory Automobile Liability Insurance (CALI).

COB is a sub-committee which was established under Article 11 of Protocol 5 (ASEAN

Scheme of Compulsory Motor Vehicle Insurance) which was signed on 18 April 2001 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia to coordinate and supervise the legal, technical, administrative and financial operations of the National Bureaux of the Contracting Parties.

Referring to Article 12, on its composition the Sub-Committee shall consist of one representative from each National Bureau and a representative of the Transit Transport Coordinating Board. Further to it, its Chairman and Vice-Chairman are elected from among the members for a fixed term and according to the rotation principle. Regarding the activity, the COB itself has a fixed agenda to meet annually in its efforts to support the project.

Further on the Protocol, it is stated under Article 13 that COB serves these following functions:

  • Determine and adopt the form and content of the Blue Card
  • Establish its annual budget and fix the annual contributions to be paid by each National Bureau
  • Coordinate the operations of all the National Bureaux. Prepare an Inter-Bureaux Agreement which shall be signed by all the National Bureaux and which the Council alone may amend
  • Make recommendations to the relevant authorities, with a view to improving the ASEAN Scheme of Compulsory Motor Vehicle Insurance and strengthening road traffic accident prevention, where necessary, through amendments to the laws and regulations in force in the Contracting Parties
  • Settle disputes between any two or more National Bureaux relating to the application or interpretation of the provisions of this Protocol
  • Present a report annually to the ASEAN Insurance Regulators Meeting.
 

The COB Sub-Committee has established an official website which can be accessed at www.aseancob.org

Until the beginning of 2017, the registered National Bureaux in COB are as follow:

  • Brunei Land Transport – Brunei Darussalam
  • Insurance Association of Cambodia IAC – Cambodia
  • PT Jasa Raharja (Persero) – Indonesia
  • Allianz General Laos – Lao PDR
  • PIAM – Malaysia
  • Myanmar Insurance – Myanmar
  • Insurers & Reinsurers Association (PIRA) – Philippines
  • Special Risks Pool – Singapore
  • Road Accident Victims Protection Co., Ltd. – Thailand
  • Ministry of Finance (Baoviet Insurance Corporation) – Vietnam

To accelerate the completion of its assignment, the COB established a sub-initiative which is called the COB-Working Group. So far, the Working Group has conducted 11 meetings in total:

First was held in Bangkok, 15-16 June 2015; second in Bandung, 28-29 January 2016; third was in Bangkok, 25-26 August 2016; fourth in Udonthani, 28-29 August 2017, the fifth in Bali 11-12 Jul 2018, sixth in Seri Begawan on 11-12 April 2019, and four meetings were held through video conference on 15 September 2020, 16 September 2021, 2 June 2022, and 17 July 2023. Finally, this year an onsite meeting was held in Hoi An, Vietnam on 9 August 2024.

The meeting agenda also includes the involvement of Regulators from countries in ASEAN, as their attendance is compulsory to support the implementation of COB programs.

Further on the operations of COB, it is agreed that to improve the implementation of Protocol 5, the cross-border activities has been broken down into three sub-block regions:

  • Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Thailand, and Viet Nam
  • Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand
  • Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Philippines

ASEAN COB MOUs

(i)        Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Thailand, and Viet Nam (The Cooperation on Compulsory Motor Vehicle Insurance for Vehicles in Transit signed on 24 September 2009 by National Bureau and Regulators)

(ii)       Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, and Malaysia (Establishment of a Cross-Border Scheme for Compulsory Motor Insurance & Strengthen Cooperation on 26 November 2018 by National Bureau)

(iii)  Myanmar and Thailand (Cooperation on Cross-Border Motor Vehicle Insurance Underwriting and Claim Settlement Services on 12 March 2019 by National Bureau)

(iv) 10 Member Countries (MOU on Cooperation to Utilize ASEAN Compulsory Motor Vehicle Insurance (ACMI) on 11 October 2021