Comprehensive economic cooperation agreement
Also called: CECA · Topic: International Trade Policy, WTO and Intellectual Property · NCERT: Beyond NCERT
Meaning
A comprehensive economic cooperation agreement (CECA) is a trade deal that mainly covers trade in goods. It cuts or removes tariffs (taxes on imports) between the partners. It also has some provisions on services and investment. In India's usage, the name signals depth: a CECA goes less deep than a CEPA.
Example
India signed CECAs with Singapore (2005) and Malaysia (2011). Both deals cut tariffs on goods and also carry some commitments on services and investment.
Don't confuse with
- Comprehensive economic partnership agreement (CEPA): this is deeper. It covers goods, services, investment, intellectual property, competition and regulatory cooperation. Examples are Korea (2010), Japan (2011) and the UAE (May 2022).
- Free trade agreement (FTA): the basic form, which removes tariffs on substantially all goods trade. CECA and CEPA are Indian labels for FTAs that go wider than goods alone.
Related concepts
- Stages of economic integration
- Preferential trade agreement
- Free trade agreement
- Customs union
- Common market
- Economic union
- Monetary union
- Trading bloc
- Regional economic groupings
- Regionalism