the exchange of information and the promotion of transparency measures to facilitate business and investment in the region, including economic and technical cooperation, in particular for SMEs. When RCEP was signed, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang declared it a “victory for multilateralism and free trade.” [7] Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong called it “a big step forward for our region” and a sign of support for free trade and economic interdependence. [15] Essentially, the objective of RCEP is to streamline and consolidate ASEAN free trade agreements with their dialogue partners (ASEAN + 1 FTA) into a single regional trade agreement that can help strengthen regional value chain activities in the region and make RCEP more user-friendly and simpler, especially for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). RCEP is not as comprehensive as the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, another free trade agreement in the region that includes some of the same countries. [9] RCEP “does not establish uniform standards for labour and the environment and does not commit countries to opening up services and other vulnerable sectors of their economies.” [16] The RcEP is the largest regional free trade agreement outside the WTO, and its member states account for about 30% of the world`s gross domestic product ($26.3 trillion) and 30% of the world`s population ($2.3 billion). The overall objective is to establish a modern, comprehensive and mutually beneficial economic partnership that brings together countries with different levels of development, stimulates regional value chains and promotes international trade and investment. Malaysia is a signatory to the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), a trade agreement between the 10 asean members, mainland China, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand. RCEP, an ASEAN-led initiative, marks the fusion of existing free trade agreements (FTAs) between ASEAN and partner countries. The objective of RCEP is to economically integrate the 15 countries of Asia and Oceania. It includes broader and deeper engagement among member countries with significant improvements over existing ASEAN Free Trade Agreements and Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreements. RCEP is the first free trade agreement between China, Japan and South Korea, three of Asia`s four largest economies. [9] At the time of signing, analysts predicted that this would help stimulate the economy amid the COVID-19 pandemic, “bring the economic center of gravity back to Asia,” and amplify the U.S.

economic and political decline. [7] [10] [11] The RcEP, signed on 15 November 2020, is one of the main regional free trade agreements currently under discussion. RCEP is the only free trade agreement that includes mainland China, Japan and South Korea. Promoting greater transparency, information exchange, trade facilitation, economic cooperation, standardization of international rules for e-commerce, The scope of RCEP`s negotiating areas is comprehensive and includes the following: RCEP serves as a key tool to accelerate access to regional markets and mitigate supply chain disruptions. Companies should begin the necessary preparations to reap the benefits of RCEP, including the following five areas of the agreement: RCEP members, which provide market access to a third of the world`s population, where intra-regional sources of raw materials at competitive prices, account for nearly a third of the world`s population and account for nearly 30% of the world`s gross domestic product. The new free trade bloc will be more important than the agreement between the United States, Mexico and Canada and the European Union. [17] The combined GDP of potential RCEP members exceeded the combined GDP of Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) members in 2007. It has been suggested that continued economic growth, particularly in China and Indonesia, could lead to the total GDP of the original RCEP members reaching more than $100 trillion by 2050, about twice the size of the projects of the TPP economies. [18] On January 23, 2017, President Donald Trump signed a memorandum in which he removed the United States from the TPP, a measure aimed at improving RCEP`s chances of success.

[19] promote, facilitate and protect investments in the region; Mutual recognition of international standards, trade in technical regulations and Mr. Mohd Nazri Abd Ghani DL: 03-6200 0391 E-mail: nazri.ghani@miti.gov.my companies should focus on the specific application of rules of origin (RoO) and the management of origin information. If you have any questions, please contact the FTA contact point(s) as follows: He responded to Senator Lim Hui Ying, who wished to be kept informed of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) and the RCEP, as well as the government`s interest in continuing negotiations at this time. “The government has intensified its efforts to finalize amendments to related laws so that Malaysia can ratify the CPTPP,” he said. The agreement comprises 20 chapters with specific provisions concerning, inter alia, electronic commerce, trade in goods, trade in services, investment, competition and intellectual property. In this Customer Alert, we summarize the main highlights of the e-commerce chapter of the RCEP agreement. The e-commerce chapter of the RCEP agreement focuses on introducing digitised solutions, building the trust of e-commerce users and improving cooperation between Member States in the development of e-commerce. Following the formal signing of the RCEP Convention, member countries will begin the national approval process and gradually introduce detailed measures to implement the Agreement.

Businesses should pay attention to updated announcements. Companies should analyse whether their exports and imports can benefit from the elimination or reduction of tariffs under RCEP. This also includes the assessment of tariff differences. In summary, Member States commit to the following with regard to electronic commerce: the RCEP Agreement pays more attention to intellectual property issues. Businesses should strengthen their risk assessment and management for international trade activities to mitigate compliance risks. Companies that have built an industrial network or traded in the rcep region should: Later in November 2019, at the ASEAN summit, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that India could not join the RCEP in its current form. The main beneficiary of this mega-free trade agreement will be ASEAN. Based on 2018 World Bank data, the 15 countries participating in the RCEP (PRC): India withdrew from the agreement in November 2019, mainly due to concerns about the dumping of industrial products from China as well as agricultural and dairy products from Australia and New Zealand, which could impact its own domestic industrial and agricultural sectors. [72] Due to India`s withdrawal, there is concern that China will dominate RCEP. [15] A general view of the Malaysian parliament, issued by the Ministry of Information AFP/KHIRUL NIZAM ZANIL RCEP negotiations began in November 2012 at the 21st ASEAN Summit in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, but negotiations were not officially started until 2013. In total, 29.7 percent of the world`s population, or 2.2 billion people, was the sixth country to ratify the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) earlier this week. Clarify the protection of intellectual property rights.

Combined gross domestic product (GDP) of $24.8 trillion, or 28.9% of global GDP. Competition policy (countries are allowed to implement national laws relating to state-owned enterprises), intellectual property rights, electronic commerce and public procurement (no market access, only for the exchange of information and the promotion of transparency measures), The remaining eight laws that need to be amended and approved include four laws of the Ministry of Human Resources – the Labour Law of 1955, the Trade Unions Act 1959, the Labour Ordinance (Sabah Chapter 67) and the Labour Ordinance (Sarawak Chapter 76). According to a forecast for 2020, the deal is expected to increase the global economy by US$186 billion. [7] [15] Lim said the RCEP was signed on November 15 last year by 15 countries – 10 ASEAN member states and five ASEAN dialogue partners, including Australia, China, South Korea, Japan and New Zealand. “To complete the RCEP ratification process, these laws need to be amended. This is necessary to ensure that they are in line with Malaysia`s commitments and commitments under the RCEP agreement,” he said during Dewan Rakyat`s question-and-answer session on Wednesday. Originally, RCEP was negotiated by 16 countries, consisting of 10 ASEAN Member States (AMS) and ASEAN partners for the Free Trade Area (FTA) or better known as the PFA. The AFPS are Australia, China, India, Japan, Korea and New Zealand. exemption from customs duties for trade in goods, including related chapters on rules or origin, customs procedures, sanitary and phytosanitary measures, standards, technical regulations and conformity assessment procedures, as well as trade remedies; Sonia is a partner in Wong & Partners` Intellectual Property and Technology practice group. After successfully serving as General Counsel for Hewlett-Packard Malaysia and Kimberly-Clark Malaysia, Philippines and Indonesia, she returned to private practice.

In 2019, Sonia was recognized as one of the leading in-house professionals of the Legal 500 GC Powerlist: Southeast Asia. Reduction and reduction of tariffs for commodities, including facilitating the export and import of goods between RCEP countries. According to him, six laws have been passed in parliament so far. Malaysia`s access to a wider RCEP market offers significant trade and investment opportunities. .