Forum concerned at ‘secret’ RCEP talks:

Forum concerned at ‘secret’ RCEP talks:

(RCEP mega FTA talk to be held in India)

Context: Talks to forge a mega free trade agreement (FTA) encompassing Asia and Oceania will take place in India this week with countries striving for an early settlement of the accord, the government said on Sunday.

Introduction:

• Civil society organizations and trade experts on Sunday raised concern over the secrecy surrounding the negotiations regarding a proposed mega-regional Free Trade Agreeement (FTA) involving 16 Asia Pacific nations including India and China.
• Technical level talks of the proposed FTA, officially known as Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnerships (RCEP), are being held from July 18 to 28 at the Hyderabad International Convention Centre.
• The 19th round of negotiations on the proposed Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), began in Hyderabad.

Key points:

• The RCEP, aims to liberalise investment norms as well as boost trade by eliminating/drastically reducing import duties on goods and bringing down ‘barriers’ in the service sector.
• The 16 nations account for a combined GDP of close to $ 50 tillion( about 40% of the world’s GDP) and are home to around 3.5 billion people
• The RCEP would have a wide range impact on agriculture, services, access to medicine, investment and e-commerce.

RCEP in India:

• RCEP involves the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, South Korea, Japan, China, India, Australia and New Zealand, with the emphasis centered on facilitating open trade without tariffs, duties and quotas that can stimulate commerce and benefit all sides.
• The current round of negotiations is crucial as members are expected to finalise the broad contours of the agreement.
• It will include members making their second round of offers on tariff reduction on goods, nations deciding on investment rules, as well as India going against ASEAN and China on market access for the services trade.