New rules to promote the integration of the Association of South-East Asian Nations will be tabled as the 10-member group begins its annual meeting on Wednesday in Cebu, in the Philippines.

Regional leaders have warned that unless Asean adopts stricter rules to implement policies, it risks becoming irrelevant. The group has often been seen as failing to follow up on decisions because of a lack of power to impose compliance by its members.

An early test of whether Asean countries will agree to tougher proposals will come as they discuss joint measures to curb environmental pollution and combat terrorism.

The terrorism issue has already affected the annual meeting, which was postponed last month amid reports of security threats. Australia has issued a travel advisory for Cebu over the summit period, which ends next Monday, because of possible attacks.

A panel of elder regional statesmen, known as the Eminent Persons Group headed by Fidel Ramos, the former Philippine president, will present recommendations to strengthen internal rules that would be contained in a formal Asean charter.

The proposed measures would give Asean greater powers to monitor the compliance of group decisions, including penalties for breaching agreements such as temporary suspension of privileges, or expulsion in extreme cases.

The new policy would represent a retreat from the Asean countries' traditional stance of non-interference in each other's domestic affairs, which has often been cited by member countries in refusing to carry out Asean decisions.

“The only option for Asean is take some hard-nosed decisions on reinventing itself so as to stay an effective organisation,” said S. Jayakumar, Singapore deputy prime minister and a EPG member.

The inability of Asean to enforce decisions has crippled efforts to promote co-operation on issues affecting the entire region, he said.

A convention on counter-terrorism will be signed during the weekend summit among Asean leaders. It will call for the sharing of intelligence and extradition of suspects, but its implementation could be hampered by differing legal and judicial systems that exist in the region.

The group will also discuss ways to curb the seasonal haze caused by the burning of forests in Indonesia. Proposals discussed by Asean last year included providing funds to Indonesia to help fight forest fires started by farmers and plantation companies to clear land.

The meeting will endorse energy security goals to ensure a stable supply by promoting investments in regional infrastructure, such as power grids and gas pipelines, and creating fuel stockpiles.

The leaders will also consider plans to speed up the economic integration of Asean to a deadline of 2015, instead of an earlier goal of 2020, in response to the growing economic power of China and India.

The meeting will conclude on Monday with talks between Asean leaders and their counterparts from China, Japan, India, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand on other issues, such as North Korea's nuclear tests.