What Happened: India has extracted important concessions related to patent provisions on generic medicines and seeds in negotiations for the proposed Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), The Times of India reported July 1.
Why It Matters: Indian opposition has been preventing a final agreement among the proposed RCEP member nations as New Delhi seeks to negotiate a deal to boost its exports instead of widening its trade deficit, particularly with China. India's ability to extract concessions highlights the willingness of other states to accommodate New Delhi's demands to involve the country in a final agreement.
Background: RCEP is a proposed free trade bloc among the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and its six free trade partners: India, China, South Korea, Japan, Australia and New Zealand.
Read More:
- Asian Free Trade Proposal Is Broad in Scope, Narrow in Focus (March 25, 2019)
- Trade Profile: ASEAN Pulls the Threads Together (Nov. 20, 2017)
- As the TPP Founders, Southeast Asia Hedges Its Bets (Feb. 21, 2017)
