Under RCEP, however, the shampoo company can make shampoo safe in the knowledge that—as long as the content in the bottle comes from anywhere in the 15 markets in Asia meeting the ROOs for RCEP—it can be shipped to any of the 15 markets in Asia without any changes in formulation.  Given the size and diversity of these markets, this is a significant advantage to all Asia-based firms.  Even better, under RCEP, firms will need to fill out only one sheet of paper to prove that their products “qualify” for origin.  The new RCEP certificate of origin (CO) should reduce costs and time for companies.  The extent of the benefits, ie, the lower tariffs on offer, will vary in RCEP.  In some instances, the gap between the MFN rate or existing FTA benefits and new RCEP rates may be small.  But the ability to ship products, like shampoo, across all of Asia without change in formulation, is still extremely significant.  It means that firms will be competitive in markets that they may never have considered in the past. This apparently small element of RCEP is likely to be game changing.  Companies should start preparing now to use this trade agreement.