Rules of Origin in RCEP Agreement: Advancement and Convergence

The paper analyses the rules of origin (RoO) in the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), the largest free trade agreement (FTA) between Asia-Pacific nations. Despite some limitations, it is evidenced that origin provisions and product-specific rules in the RCEP manifest many advanced features as compared to the ASEAN Trade in Goods Agreement (ATIGA). Such advanced features narrow the gap between the ASEAN’s FTAsand new generation FTAs in terms of RoO regimes. The RCEP is also expected to become a stepping stone towards the convergence of RoO in the ASEAN’s FTAs. ASEAN, ATIGA, origin, RCEP, rules of origin, RoO