This is the fifth annual report produced by the APEC Policy Support Unit on recent RTA/FTAs put in force by APEC economies. As agreed by APEC in 2014, this report is part of the APEC Information Sharing Mechanism. The purpose of this report is to provide an overview of the evolution of the RTA/FTA network in the APEC region; and to study the similarities and differences in the structure and content of the agreements.

This report includes an analysis of the chapters on intellectual property, investment and rules of origin in four trade agreements that were put in force by at least one APEC economy in 2018, namely: China – Georgia FTA; the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP); Hong Kong, China – Macao, China FTA; and the Philippines – EFTA FTA.