The trade pact involving 15 Asia-Pacific nations that entered into force in 2022 is the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, or RCEP.
RCEP was signed on November 15, 2020, after negotiations led by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. Its members are the 10 ASEAN countries plus Australia, China, Japan, New Zealand, and South Korea. India participated in the negotiations but withdrew before the agreement was signed.
The agreement took effect on January 1, 2022, for the first group of ratifying countries. It reduces tariffs over time, establishes common rules of origin, and includes provisions covering goods, services, investment, e-commerce, and intellectual property. Because its members include major Asian manufacturing and consumer markets, RCEP is often described as the world’s largest free-trade agreement by population and economic coverage.
RCEP is sometimes confused with CPTPP, another Pacific trade pact, but they are different agreements with different memberships. NAFTA is also unrelated in date and scope: it was replaced by the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement in 2020.