The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (RCEP) will make it easier for Australian businesses to operate in the Indo-Pacific region. No other free trade agreement brings together the collective economic weight of the ASEAN nations and major economies of North Asia.

RCEP entered into force on 1 January 2022 for 10 countries: Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, China, Japan, Laos, New Zealand, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. RCEP entered into force for Republic of Korea on 1 February 2022 and will do so for Malaysia on 18 March 2022. Once in force for the remaining signatories, RCEP will be the world's largest free trade agreement (FTA).

By simplifying customs processes and reducing traditional barriers to trade, RCEP will encourage predictability, consistency, and transparency which will boost regional business confidence and economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Australian businesses no longer have to choose from 10 different FTAs with the 15 countries of the region, each with its own rules and procedures. Instead, RCEP will support regional value chains by providing a single set of rules and procedures for accessing preferential tariffs.

Businesses can still access Australia's high quality portfolio of existing FTAs to use whenever more favourable treatment is available.

RCEP's rules of origin, which ensure that goods ‘originating' in the RCEP parties will be eligible for its preferential tariffs, reflect contemporary production processes and simplify the movement of goods within the region.

Goods made from Australian exports—for example, iron ore, wheat, barley, milk powder, copper, nickel and wool—will benefit from tariff preferences under RCEP when processed in a second RCEP party and exported to a third.

As an ASEAN-centric agreement, RCEP is a platform to expand trade and security partnerships within the Indo-Pacific region. Through the agreement, Australia is able to support the development of regional economic architecture which will bring the region closer together.

To support the implementation of RCEP and the ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand Free Trade Area (AANZFTA), Australia will also deliver a $46 million development cooperation and capacity building program, known as Regional Trade for Development (RT4D).