Making RCEP work better for business: BCSDA's submission to the General Review
12 November 2026 | Navigate Sustainable Investment, Markets & Trade
BCSD Australia's submission is now publicly available through the Australian Government's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT). It calls for an implementation-first approach to the future of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (RCEP).
RCEP connects 15 economies across the Indo-Pacific and provides an important framework for regional trade and investment. As governments prepare for the Agreement's 2027 General Review, the question is not simply whether its rules remain relevant. It is whether businesses can use them effectively.
BCSD Australia argues that the Review should focus on removing avoidable administrative friction, improving regulatory interoperability and responding selectively to emerging trade challenges—including sustainability-related requirements.
Three priorities for the Review
1. Make RCEP easier to use | Businesses need clearer ways to navigate overlapping trade agreements, rules of origin and documentation requirements. Better guidance, electronic trade documents and practical utilisation monitoring can help firms use existing opportunities more effectively.
2. Reduce duplication across regional supply chains | Repeated testing, certification, standards compliance and data requests can create unnecessary costs and delays. BCSDA recommends evidence-led cooperation in priority supply chains, including limited pilots to test recognition, equivalence and data reuse.
3. Address emerging trade issues where there is a demonstrated business need | Carbon information, traceability, critical minerals and changing sustainability requirements increasingly affect cross-border supply chains. However, new RCEP initiatives should proceed only where there is verified trade or investment friction, a clear benefit from regional cooperation and a credible prospect of reducing—not increasing—business burden.
From international commitments to practical implementation
These recommendations are particularly relevant as international climate cooperation moves towards implementation. At COP31, governments and businesses are discussing how to translate climate ambition into investable projects, infrastructure and real-world delivery.
Trade agreements are a separate policy process, but they can influence whether clean-energy equipment, industrial technologies, materials and supply-chain information move efficiently across borders. For Australian business, the common challenge is practical: international ambition must be matched by systems that support investment, reduce unnecessary duplication and deliver measurable outcomes.
Measuring what changes
BCSDA recommends using existing RCEP institutions wherever possible and testing improvements against observable business outcomes: fewer duplicate documents, simpler procedures, shorter processing times and more useful guidance.
The submission also outlines a potential RCEP Business Usability & Interoperability diagnostic to help translate future review outcomes into practical business evidence.
BCSDA will continue monitoring the General Review and opportunities for Australian businesses to contribute implementation evidence.
Official sources
BCSD Australia | Policy, implementation and sustainable business performance
Comments