제주특별자치도 주요 품목의 RCEP 원산지규정에 관한 시사점

A Study on the RCEP’s Rules of Origin for Products in Jeju Island : Focusing on the Fruit and Fisheries Product

Among the agreements directly related to South Korea, the RCEP, which includes China and neighboring countries, became the biggest issue. It was originally expected that Japan would be a member country of the RCEP., but Japan was excluded from the RCEP. It was important for South Korea because it was a chance to sign an agreement with Japan, with which it had not concluded a regional trade agreement (RTA) among most trading partners of South Korea. However, it was not achieved. Afterward, it was discussed joining the CPTPP, and the Japanese market was an important reason for it. The RCEP will also greatly affect the basic agricultural and marine product sector. The industrial structure of Jeju-do Province is mainly composed of the primary industry and the tourism industry. Since it has to rely on the primary industry, the expansion of regional trade agreements such as the RCEP and the CPTPP can be seen as a threat, rather than an opportunity. This study aimed to evaluate the rules of origin for fruit crops using agreements and the RCEP signed by South Korea and implications for determining the country of origin for wholly produced products and not wholly obtained products. It cannot be said that the RCEP's rules of origin are more difficult or strict than the existing FTAs. The results of the rules of origin for marine products and fruit crops among the main production items of Jeju showed that the strictness for marine products was weaker than the previously signed FTAs because it applied the maritime flag state principle and coast state principle equally. In the case of fruit crops, wholly produced products were required to be grown and harvested. Considering the form of production, fruit crops had to be wholly produced products. Unlike industrial products, the difficulty of wholly produced products was practically not high.