RCEP talks continue without India
April 28, 2020: Senior officials from 15 countries involved in the proposed Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership held a virtual meeting on April 20-24 2020. India did not take part.
Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP)
ASEAN secretary general says RCEP deal to be signed in late 2020
March 16, 2020: ASEAN Secretary-General Dato Lim Jock Hoi has reaffirmed that RCEP members intend to sign the agreement in late 2020.
ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights call for more transparency in RCEP negotiations
March 11, 2020: ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights, a regional network of current and former parliamentarians, has criticised the lack of transparency in RCEP negotiations and called for the released of the RCEP text and for governments to conduct open and inclusive public consultations.
New analysis shares learnings from Indian civil society campaign against the RCEP
February 4, 2020: A new analysis of the Indian civil society campaign against the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RECP) by GRAIN and the Indian Coordination Committee of Farmers' Movements shares important learnings for social movements across the region. However, they also warn that efforts to bring India back to the negotiating table could mean that the campaign against the RCEP has not yet been fully won.
No RCEP signing until November 2020 as India does a cost benefit study and is asked to re-join
January 23, 2020: In November 2019 15 governments announced they had concluded the talks for the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), but India withdrew from the negotiations. The target date for signing has now been postponed to November 2020, as other governments ask India to negotiate to re-join.
Media Release: 94 community organisations from Asia Pacific countries demand details of giant RCEP trade deal before signing
December 9, 2019: 94 community organisations from Asia Pacific countries demand details of giant RCEP trade deal before signing
Reports suggest Japan not considering RCEP without India
December 3, 2019: Japan’s Deputy Minister for Economy, Trade and Industry, Hideki Makihara, has stated that Japan is "not thinking at all" about a Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) deal without India, calling into question the future of the deal.
Women’s rights advocates warn of RCEP risks
November 20, 2019: Kate Lappin, Asia Pacific Regional Secretary of Public Services International, and Michelle Higelin, Executive Director of ActionAid Australia, have warned of the danger that the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership agreement (RECP) poses to the 1.1 billion women living in RCEP member countries, arguing that “a gender equitable trade policy is possible. But it would look nothing like the RCEP.”
E-commerce provisions important in India’s withdrawal from the RCEP
November 19, 2019: Kanksshi Agarwal, a policy and political researcher based in Delhi, has analysed the role that e-commerce provisions in the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) have played in India’s decision to withdraw from the agreement.
Economist decodes India’s decision to withdraw from the RCEP
November 11, 2019: Professor Biswajit Dhar from Jawaharlal Nehru University in Delhi has analysed the Indian government’s decision to withdraw from the RCEP. Highlighting the ongoing disagreement between India and other RCEP countries on market access provisions, the protection and promotion of foreign investment and e-commerce provisions as central to India’s decision to withdraw from the negotiations.