The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) will enter into force on January 1, 2022. The 15 member countries of RCEP include the ten ASEAN countries, as well as China, Japan, South Korea, Australia, and New Zealand. Their total population, economic volume, and total trade account for about 30% of the global total. Therefore, RCEP is also known as “the world’s largest free trade zone”.
After RCEP takes effect, Chinese companies will be able to import advanced technology, important equipment, key components, and daily consumer goods at a lower cost, as well as import design and research and development, energy conservation and environmental protection and other productive services. In order to better meet the consumption upgrading needs of China’s domestic market. Moreover, through RCEP, China and Japan have reached a bilateral tariff reduction arrangement for the first time. The proportion of zero-tariff goods imported by China from Japan will expand from 8% to 86%, which will benefit many industries including textiles.
In addition, after RCEP takes effect, it means that 91% of commodity tariffs will be gradually eliminated, plus non-tariff With the reduction of barriers and the establishment of unified rules for services and investment, the level of trade and investment facilitation will be greatly improved. The agreement’s entry into force is of great significance to promoting intra-regional free trade, stabilizing industrial and supply chains, and promoting China’s high-level opening up. This will undoubtedly have a huge impact on the textile industry, which accounts for a high proportion of export business.
Recently, the customs issued a guiding interpretation of RCEP’s key rules of origin. Some of the details involve key content in the textile industry and deserve attention.
1. Accumulation rule
“Accumulation” is an important supplementary rule, which means that when determining the origin qualification of a product, the Materials originating from other parties to the free trade agreement used in production are deemed to be materials originating from the party where the product is produced. The free trade area is considered as a whole and trade freedom within the region is promoted.
The cumulative rule essentially lowers the threshold for products to obtain origin qualifications. It has a “softener” effect and helps encourage manufacturers to allocate production resources within the regions of each party and strengthen The coordination of upstream and downstream industries is conducive to the development of regional industrial economy and intra-industry trade.
2. Minimum content rule
The minute content rule is also called the “tolerance rule”. According to Article 7 of the Agreement, if a part of the substance used in production is not Originating materials do not meet the criteria for changing tariff classification. As long as the value or weight of this part of non-originating materials does not exceed 10%, the goods can still obtain originating qualifications.
The value of the original materials does not exceed 10% of the FOB price of the goods; for goods in Chapters 50 to 63 (textile raw materials and textile products), the small content can also be calculated by weight, that is, non-original materials that have not undergone changes in tariff classification are allowed. The weight of production materials shall not exceed 10% of the total weight of the goods.
3. Enterprise’s independent declaration of origin
According to Article 16 of the Agreement “Certificate of Origin”, RCEP will allow the use of original certificates issued by visa agencies. Certificate of origin, declaration of origin from an approved exporter, and declaration of origin from the exporter or manufacturer.
This marks that my country’s certificate of origin system will gradually transform from a model in which the certificate of origin is the main certificate of origin to a model in which authorized agencies issue certificates of origin and companies issue independent declarations of origin in parallel. . The introduction and vigorous promotion of the independent declaration of origin system is one of the important features of high-level free trade agreements, which can greatly save the administrative costs of the government and the operating costs of enterprises, and further improve the timeliness of customs clearance of goods.
In addition, according to the text of the RCEP agreement, in the next 10 years and no longer than 20 years, our country will also introduce no entry barriers, and any exporter or manufacturer can Model for issuing a declaration of origin. This model will exempt export enterprises from the relevant procedures of applying for a certificate of origin of goods or applying to the customs for approved exporter qualifications, further improve the efficiency of international trade logistics, reduce enterprise operating costs, and is of great significance to my country’s export enterprises in improving their international competitiveness.
4. The concept of back-to-back certificates of origin
Article 19 of the agreement stipulates the issuance requirements and verification of back-to-back certificates of origin. The back-to-back certificate of origin is actually a certificate that the goods still maintain their origin status without being processed beyond the provisions of this article. Its essence is the endorsement of the certificate or statement of origin.
RCEP back-to-back certificate of origin is a certificate of origin that the intermediate contracting party can flexibly issue in batches and installments for goods that have been issued by the original exporting party. The Chinese side can still enjoy preferential tariff treatment when importing, which greatly improves the flexibility of enterprises in sales strategies and logistics arrangements.
In addition, the customs suggested that the rules of origin under the RCEP agreement are complex and diverse, providing more opportunities for operators to optimize supply chain layout in the Asia-Pacific and even the world. Possibilities and choices. It is recommended that enterprises strengthen their study of RCEP rules of origin and make arrangements for production and logistics in advance based on the characteristics of their own products and industrial chains.��Establish a concept of transnational industrial development, optimize industrial layout, improve corporate management efficiency, and make good use of free trade agreement benefits.
In the future, RCEP will promote substantial growth in intra-regional trade and investment and bring about booming business opportunities. After the agreement takes effect, more than 90% of goods trade between approved members will eventually achieve zero tariffs, and the main tax reduction will be to zero immediately and to zero within 10 years. This means that countries will realize the goods trade in a relatively short period of time. liberalization commitments.
With the implementation of rules of origin, customs procedures, inspection and quarantine, technical standards and other goods rules, tariff reductions and the elimination of non-tariff barriers will have a superimposed effect and significantly enhance trade ties among members. . In the field of service trade, the openness level of each country under RCEP is significantly higher than that of their respective “10+1” agreements, covering many important fields such as finance, telecommunications, transportation, tourism, education, etc., and will be fully turned negative within 6 years of taking effect. list to further improve the level of openness. In the field of investment, each member has made high-quality commitments in the form of a negative list for investment in non-service industries. No new restrictions are allowed outside the list. At the same time, the level of investment protection has been strengthened, which is conducive to the mutual expansion of investment by companies in the region and is also conducive to Chinese companies. “go out”.
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