RCEP in Its Second Year of Fermentation Accelerates Securing Critical Mineral Supply Chains

[Asia Economy Sejong=Reporter Dongwoo Lee] Our government is discussing ways to activate cooperation with the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) member countries to secure critical mineral supply chains.

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced that the 3rd Joint Committee of RCEP, which is entering its second year since enforcement, will be held online for three days from the 20th to the 22nd.

RCEP is an agreement that integrates the Asia-Pacific region into a single free trade zone, involving 15 countries including the 10 ASEAN member states, South Korea, China, Japan, Australia, and New Zealand. The agreement was finalized and signed on November 15, 2020, and officially came into effect on January 1, 2022, in countries that completed ratification. South Korea enforced it in February 2022 through parliamentary ratification.

The Joint Committee was attended by delegations from the 15 member countries and about 40 participants including the ASEAN Secretariat. Led by the co-chair countries Indonesia and Australia, the committee focused on key issues such as the establishment and operation of the RCEP Secretariat, plans for economic and technical cooperation projects, and the establishment of an implementation system. Our side was represented by Ko Hyun, Director General for FTA Implementation (chief representative), and officials from the Ministry of Economy and Finance (FTA Tariff Implementation Division).

At this Joint Committee, our side agreed that it is urgent to establish a prompt implementation system, including the establishment of a temporary secretariat and budget sharing plan, to ensure smooth implementation of the agreement by RCEP member countries. We requested to accelerate discussions so that the subordinate implementation committee can be held soon to discuss specific activities for activating economic and technical cooperation in areas of our interest, such as securing critical mineral supply chains and strengthening digital and green trade.

We also evaluated that, following the previous Joint Committee, the trade difficulties faced by our companies due to the delay in applying preferential tariffs caused by Vietnam’s non-conversion of HS codes 2022 after RCEP enforcement have been resolved as Vietnam began applying RCEP preferential tariffs from January this year.

An official from the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said, "As we enter the second year of RCEP enforcement, we will continue to cooperate to create a swift and smooth implementation environment among the contracting parties, and to resolve difficulties faced by our companies and enhance the utilization of RCEP through consultation channels such as the Joint Committee."