RCEP to enter into force in January 2022

The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), the largest free trade agreement by aggregated GDP of its members signed on November 15, 2020, will enter into effect on January 1, 2022.

The ASEAN Secretariat announced that as of November 2, 2021, six ASEAN members (Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam) had ratified the agreement together with Australia, China, Japan, and New Zealand. According to the provisions in the agreement, the RCEP will enter into effect sixty days after the above date, on January 1, 2022.

With an aggregated GDP of over 26 trillion USD (accounting for 30% of global GDP) and almost a third of the world’s population, RCEP is expected to boost trade and investments by removing barriers and 90% of the tariffs among the participating members within 20 years from coming into effect and providing preferential access into growing markets in the region.