Preferential Rules of Origin in Regional Trade Agreements

The growing number of regional trade agreements leads to a high diversity of preferential rules of origin, that considered to be a powerful tool of trade policy on market access regulation. The complex and varied international practice of the rules of origin may have a negative impact on trade, complicating trade procedures and increasing costs of firms. In this paper the main features of the rules of origin and their impact on trade in RTAs were studied. Detailed analysis in terms of the rules of origin is made in case of the recently signed Free Trade Agreement between the EAEU and Vietnam, additionally the degree of restrictiveness of the rules of origin in this Agreement is compared with other RTAs. To determine the nature of the rules of origin's impact on trade flows an assessement of RoOs restrictiveness at the sectoral level in selected RTAs is conducted based on regression analysis.