RCEP
The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) is a so-called mega-regional economic agreement being negotiated between the 10 ASEAN (Association of South-East Asian Nations) governments and their six FTA partners: Australia, China, India, Japan, New Zealand and South Korea.
The RCEP agreement is largely driven by ASEAN. Indeed, the RCEP originated in, and expands upon, the stitching together of five existing ASEAN+1 agreements, that brought ASEAN together with Japan, South Korea, China, India, Australia and New Zealand. The stated goal of the negotiations is to “boost economic growth and equitable economic development, advance economic cooperation and broaden and deepen integration in the region through the RCEP,” according to the ASEAN website. From what is known of the agreement’s contents, the proposed RCEP would cover almost every aspect of economy such as goods, services, investment, economic and technical cooperation, intellectual property rights (IPR), rules of origin and competition and dispute settlement.
The ninth negotiating round took place in Nay Pyi Taw, Burma, in August 2015. An earlier intention of concluding the talks by the end of 2015 has now been overtaken by a vaguer deadline.
Concerns about the RCEP have been voiced in a number of contexts and cover a range of issues. As with many negotiations, they have been conducted with a high degree of secrecy. A 2015 leaked text on intellectual property rights (IPR) proposed by Japan’s negotiators (and apparently supported by South Korea) confirms the concern that the proposed RCEP IPR provisions resemble the TRIPs-plus provisions in the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP). Patient groups including the Delhi Network of Positive People and the International Treatment Preparedness Coalition-South Asia have held rallies outside the Embassy of Japan in New Delhi to protest the risks that the RCEP poses to access to medicines.
The leaks also show that Japan and South Korea want to get all Asian countries into UPOV, the Union for the Protection of New Plant Varieties, under the terms of its 1991 convention. UPOV is a specialised system of seed patenting, which makes it illegal – indeed, a criminal offense — for farmers to save and reuse patented seeds. This has huge implications for food security and farmers’ rights in the region.
On copyright and digital rights, the deal could be “even worse than TPP or ACTA”, groups say.
The RCEP appears to overlap and compete with the higher-profile TPP agreement which has become heavily influenced by the US’ economic and geopolitical agenda in the Asia-Pacific. (7 of RCEP’s member governments belong to the TPP.) Additionally, China has recently decided to champion the Free Trade Area for the Asia-Pacific (FTAAP), an old US-initiated proposal to have a single free trade agreement covering all APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation) member states. So the competition and overlap are between the three deals: RCEP, TPP and FTAAP.
Last update: August 2015 / Photo: Siddharth Singh
Articles
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18-Aug-2017 Livemint RCEP meeting in September likely to discuss India’s proposal on services pact
India has made a counter-proposal to make the bilateral services agreement between Australia and New Zealand the basis of the services agreement under RCEP -
16-Aug-2017 DNA RCEP trade ministers to meet next month in Philippines
Trade ministers of 16 RCEP countries, including India and China, will meet next month in Philippines -
16-Aug-2017 IBON Duterte’s RCEP push at ASEAN, implications on Philippines economy & development
The more far-reaching implication of RCEP is for Philippines’s sovereignty in regulating foreign investments -
15-Aug-2017 Businessline India under pressure to ease protection of industry, agriculture at RCEP talks
India under pressure to raise its offer on eliminating tariffs on goods at the next RCEP round in Philippines -
11-Aug-2017 Vietnam Plus China propone acelerar negociaciones de RCEP
El ministro de Relaciones Exteriores de China, Wang Yi, exhortó a la Asociación de Naciones del Sudeste Asiático (ASEAN) a agilizar las negociaciones del Acuerdo de Asociación Económica Integral Regional (RCEP). -
11-Aug-2017 Ground Reality RCEP will undo the gains of food self-sufficiency built so assiduously over the decades
International trade negotiations currently underway hold a big threat to the future of Indian agriculture -
8-Aug-2017 bilaterals.org India: Hawkers will fight RCEP until the end
RCEP would destroy a whole part of the Indian economy and livelihoods, in favour of international markets. -
7-Aug-2017 Madhyam Why state governments must engage with RCEP
RCEP negotiations warrant a deeper engagement of state governments in India -
7-Aug-2017 Bangkok Post PM urges India to join regional trade pact
Thailand urges India to join RCEP -
4-Aug-2017 Electronic Frontier Foundation E-commerce RCEP chapter: Have big tech’s demands fizzled?
The latest information is that the e-commerce chapter of RCEP will be far less ambitious, dealing mostly with familiar and uncontentious issues such as standards for electronic payments and signatures. -
4-Aug-2017 Business Standard RCEP talks: India stands firm on market access in govt contracts, rejects binding commitments
India managed to restrict the scope of talks on government procurement to exchange of information and transparency amongst members during the 19th round of RCEP talks -
3-Aug-2017 Jakarta Post RCEP misses deadline, again
The world’s biggest economic pact, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), will not make its deadline this year as a result of unsettled disagreements on various topics involving 16 countries with different economic levels. -
2-Aug-2017 DNA Medicines in India likely to be costlier due to RCEP trade pact
However, the key issues holding the final text of these negotiations don’t seem to be getting resolved. -
1-Aug-2017 The Wire New Zealand negotiator at Asia trade pact talks says countries should analyse TRIPS-Plus
The negotiator’s comments were non-committal but indicated that for now, the RCEP talks have not yet moved decisively into a TRIPS-plus scenario. -
1-Aug-2017 GRAIN Peoples’ Summit against FTAs and RCEP
Hundreds of people gathered in Hyderabad, India, between 22 and 26 July 2017, in opposition to the 19th round of negotiations of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP). -
28-Jul-2017 People’s Forum against FTAs and RCEP Tell us who gains from RCEP: People’s Forum demands as RCEP talks end
“Tell us at least now who gains from RCEP,” People’s Forum challenges the Indian government as the 19th round of RCEP negotiations comes to an end -
28-Jul-2017 Live Law RCEP IP chapter: A serious threat to access to knowledge/cultural goods?
RCEP stands to adversely affect nearly half of the world’s population on areas like access to knowledge and access to medicines. We would like to highlight five issues related to access to knowledge/cultural goods, based on the leaked IP chapter. -
28-Jul-2017 Jakarta Post Why RCEP is more dangerous than bilateral investment treaties
Crucial to RCEP’s investment protection chapter is the highly controversial Investor-State Dispute Settlement mechanism, a system of privatised justice characterised by international arbitration tribunals outside of the reach of domestic legal systems, explains Cecilia Olivet of TNI -
26-Jul-2017 The Hindu Zero duty to hit Indian dairy industry: Amul
‘15 cr. farmers will be impacted by FTA’ -
26-Jul-2017 Newsclick, PSI, TNI and Focus on the global south Video: "Can’t trade with our lives and livelihood" Hyderabad says no to RCEP
A massive protest march was organised in Hyderabad on July 24 at People’s Plaza against Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership with the slogan "You can’t trade with our lives and livelihoods." The march is part of a week long activities of People’s convention against FTAs and RCEP.
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AFTINET RCEP page
Australia Fair Trade and Investment Network’s campaign page on RCEP -
MSF RCEP page
Medecins Sans Frontiere’s access to medecine campaign page on RCEP -
NO RCEP regional week of action
Facebook page maintained by the Asia-Pacific Forum on Women, Law and Development for the regional week of action against the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, 10-15 October 2016. -
RCEP Legal
Legal documents and analyses relating to the Regional Economic Comprehensive Partnership (RCEP)
Links
RCEP resistance
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15-Aug-2017 bilaterals.org
Entrevista con Loon Gangte
Loon Gangte es un activista de la India que vive con VIH y hepatitis C. Es el fundador del Delhi Network of Positive People [una red de personas seropositivas en Dehli].
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15-Aug-2017 bilaterals.org
Interview de Loon Gangte
Loon Gangte est un militant indien atteint du VIH et de l’hépatite C. Il est le fondateur du Delhi Network of Positive People (un réseau de personnes séropositives à Delhi).
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8-Aug-2017 bilaterals.org
India: Hawkers will fight RCEP until the end
RCEP would destroy a whole part of the Indian economy and livelihoods, in favour of international markets.
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4-Aug-2017 bilaterals.org
Interview with Loon Gangte
Loon Gangte is an Indian activist living with HIV and hepatitis C, founder of the Delhi Network of Positive People.
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1-Aug-2017 GRAIN
Peoples’ Summit against FTAs and RCEP
Hundreds of people gathered in Hyderabad, India, between 22 and 26 July 2017, in opposition to the 19th round of negotiations of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP). -
28-Jul-2017 People’s Forum against FTAs and RCEP
Tell us who gains from RCEP: People’s Forum demands as RCEP talks end
“Tell us at least now who gains from RCEP,” People’s Forum challenges the Indian government as the 19th round of RCEP negotiations comes to an end -
26-Jul-2017 Newsclick, PSI, TNI and Focus on the global south
Video: "Can’t trade with our lives and livelihood" Hyderabad says no to RCEP
A massive protest march was organised in Hyderabad on July 24 at People’s Plaza against Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership with the slogan "You can’t trade with our lives and livelihoods." The march is part of a week long activities of People’s convention against FTAs and RCEP.
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26-Jul-2017 Forum Against FTAs
“Stakeholder consultation a sham” – Boycott by people’s organizations
The People’s Resistance Forum against FTAs & RCEP calls the so-called “Stakeholder Consultation” on 25th July 2017 by the RCEP chief negotiators a sham – it is neither a meaningful consultation nor includes most stakeholders.
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